North defense, including KaMahri Feamster (50) and Mike Alford (10).

Jacqui Smith Watson photo.

JoJo Tarver scores on a long jaunt for the Cavaliers.

Jacqi Smith Watson photo.

By Mike London

mike.london@salisburypost.com

DENTON — School and county records fell as North Rowan senior quarterback Jeremiah Alford led the Cavaliers to a 55-13 romp at South Davidson on Friday.

North scored eight touchdowns in the 1A/2A Central Carolina Conference opener for both teams. Seven of those TDs came on passes by Alford, a county record for a single game. The previous record of six was set by West Rowan’s Noah Loeblein in a blowout of Central Cabarrus in 2021. A number of players, including Alford, have had games with five TD passes.

Alford broke the county record for career touchdown passes with 75, topping by one the county standard set by East Rowan’s Samuel Wyrick in 2014.

Alford completed 13 of 17 passes for 207 yards.

The record-breaking touchdown came on a jet sweep, which is usually a running play, but North makes the flip forward.

“We cheated a little at the end and ran a jet sweep, but ours is a forward pass,” North head coach Josh Sophia said.

On the receiving end of the historic 8-yard play was Mike Alford, Jeremiah’s younger brother, so that’s something the family can always treasure. It’s a North family. Jeremiah’s father, Brian, starred for the Cavaliers in the late 1990s. Jeremiah’s mother, Kami, is a North grad who is now North’s head volleyball coach.

A’son Best, who returned after missing several games with an injury, caught three of the touchdowns, including the first one. Emari Russell, North’s leading receiver for the season, Dyzarious Carpenter and Jaiden Brown caught one each.

Alford threw a 27-yard TD pass to Best, who broke a half-dozen tackles to open the scoring.

After South Davidson (0-5, 0-1) came back to make it 7-all, Alford hit Russell for a 51-yard score.

Jo Jo Tarver’s 54-yard scoring run made it 21-7 and closed the scoring in the first quarter. Tarver rushed for 181 yards on only six carries.

In the second quarter, North added an unusual TD when Carpenter reeled in a pass by Alford that ricocheted off another North receiver. Two South Davidson defenders were there, but Carpenter made the play.

Alford bounced off pass-rushers and threw a jump ball to the left sideline that Brown came down with and turned into a touchdown for a 35-13 halftime lead.

Alford TD tosses to BestDavio made it 43-13 in the third quarter, and then 49-13 in the fourth. Best had six catches for 57 yards.

Davion Williams had an interception for the Cavaliers. Tavon Lark had a fumble recovery. Salim Shamman kicked seven extra points.

 

“We had an outstanding performance on offense, scored on all but one possession,” Sophia said. “But defensively, we need to get a lot better. We need to fix some things assignment-wise. Guys aren’t getting bullied, but sometimes they’re just not in the right places.”

North has a big game with Thomasville next. In some respects, that will be the biggest game of the regular season. If North wins it, it’s assured of being the CCC’s “1” seed for the 1A state playoffs.

The game has been moved up to Thursday, as the weather forecast doesn’t look good for the weekend.