Staff report

Friday night previews …

Salisbury at East Rowan

The Hornets are favored by a very substantial amount by the Massey Ratings.

WSAT is broadcasting and will be hoping for a more competitive game than the teams provided in 2023 — a 65-7 Salisbury victory — or 2022 when it was 65-0.

The Mustangs’ most recent win in the series was in 2016. Salisbury leads the all-time series 31-15.

The Hornets (1-1) suffered a disappointing home loss on Monday to an improved Walkertown team despite putting up 33 points. Meanwhile, East (0-2) got wiped out early by two North Stanly pick-sixes.

The most frequently asked question this week was whether East head coach Brian Flynn would be able to coach against Salisbury.

He can and he will.

Flynn exited Monday’s North Stanly setback early, but there’s a big difference between disqualification (you’re done for the night) and an ejection (you’re done for this one and the next one).

For second offenses, it gets really serious.

Sometime during the week, this removal became a disqualification, so Flynn is good to go.

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West Rowan at Mooresville

West’s Brant Graham leads the county in most passing categories, Jaylen Neely is the county’s leading rusher, and Evan Kennedy has been Evan Kennedy, which means he’s getting major rushing and receiving yards.

West also has displayed a much improved defense, but this matchup still isn’t expected to go well for the Falcons. The Blue Devils are favored by a ton.

Mooresville (1-1) beat Davie 66-20 but lost a close one last Friday to Reagan.

West (1-1) won against Davie on Monday, so Mooresville has a significant rest and preparation advantage, as well as a lot of firepower.

Mooresville crushed the Falcons 48-7 last season and has won the last six meetings. West last won in the series in 2016.

Mooresville leads the all-time series 31-22.

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Hickory Grove Christian at South Rowan

South Rowan (1-0) is the county’s only undefeated team.

South Rowan had an unusual situation last week, with a Friday weather postponement after South Stanly had made the trip and with no makeup date on the horizon.

South Rowan was open this week, but South Stanly didn’t have any interest in driving to South Rowan again on Monday and then getting ready for Lexington on Friday.

South was able to find a replacement game and will be take on Hickory Grove Christian tonight at 7 p.m.

It will be the first meeting of the teams. The Hickory Grove Christian Lions are 3-0 and have shown a strong running game. How good the private schools they’ve been playing are, relative to South Rowan, is hard to say.

This would be an important one for the Raiders to win, as they will be substantial underdogs in the next three — A.L. Brown, Northwest Cabarrus and West Rowan.

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Carson at Piedmont.

Carson won 21-3 last season in the first meeting of the programs.

Piedmont (1-1) has played a South Piedmont Conference schedule so far, beating Central Cabarrus after losing to Concord on opening night.

The Cougars (1-1) lost to Mount Pleasant but had a solid win on Monday against a West Stanly team that beat them last year in overtime.

Carson is favored by about a touchdown.

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Anson at North Rowan

North Rowan (1-1) is favored by about two touchdowns against the Bearcats (0-2), who have lost to North Stanly and Sun Valley.

North Rowan owns a one-sided win against East Rowan and a loss to Forest Hills.

North won 38-28 at Anson in 2023 in the first meeting of the programs.

North senior Jeremiah Alford breaks a record just about every time he drops back to pass — or takes off on a run. Hopefully, he’ll be full go. He got banged up some last week.

Jo Jo Tarver is among the county rushing leaders. Emari Russell is among the county receiving leaders.

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A.L. Brown played Thursday and lost to Northwest Cabarrus 47-21. CJ Gray accounted for the Wonders’ touchdowns, two on runs and one on a pass to Jason Brown.