South lineman Ryan Walden and QB Brooks Overcash are pleased.

 

By Mike London

mike.london@salisburypost.com

LANDIS — Forty years ago, the Detroit Tigers ruled baseball, coach Bobby Knight and young Michael Jordan led Team USA basketball and BYU had a heck of a football team.

On local football fields, area fans were accustomed to watching South Rowan run over people (71-19-1 from 1977 to 1984). Folks who were sick of watching the Raiders win every Friday looked forward to the South Piedmont Conference’s largest school moving up to the 4A ranks in 1985.

Forty years is a long time. South Rowan’s football team, searching for respect for a long time, brought back memories of 1984 on Friday, celebrating a crisp homecoming night with a 17-0 victory against old adversary Concord that was emphatic and convincing.

There were some who thought South could compete against a Concord squad that had a winning record, but not many outside the South locker room thought the Raiders actually could win for the second straight week in a row in the SPC.

South hadn’t beaten Concord since South’s wishbone trampled the Spiders 31-0 in Week 6 of the 1984 season for the Raiders’ fifth straight victory. South won eight games that year.

“We talked about the 40 years all week,” South head coach Chris Walsh said. “And we talked about what winning this game would mean for our program and what it could mean for attaining our goals for this season. We asked our guys to be great for one play — and then to go do it again. We made big play after big play.”

How did South win on Friday? Start with four interceptions, two by Zach Barham and one each by Gavin Bisco and Trevon Sloan. Those picks more than compensated for the two fumbles the Raiders lost.

Concord had a fifth turnover when Tristian Littlejohn caused a fumble. Bryan Velasquez recovered for the Raiders.

“We had the best defensive effort we’ve had during my time here,” said Walsh, who is in his fourth season. “To beat Concord, we were going to have to do it with physicality. This is the most physical team that we’ve had. They embraced it.”

South quarterback Brooks Overcash muscled in two short rushing TDs. South had a bad snap on the first PAT attempt, but made up for it with a successful 2-point conversion when Overcash threw a jump pass to Bisco, who made a juggling catch. That gave South a 14-0 halftime lead, and the Raiders were determined to hold it.

South’s defense got stop after stop, and the only points of the second half came on a Jadon Moore field goal. Moore has been playing through a groin injury, but he let Walsh know he had one kick in him if the Raiders needed it. His point-blank field goal made it 17-0, a three-score game, and the way South’s defense was playing, it was over.

Bryson Frieze carried 24 times for 67 yards, tough yards against a stout defense for a modest average per carry, but he helped the Raiders control the ball, get some first downs and eat clock.

Overcash supplied most of South’s offense. He was 12-for-21 passing for 155 yards. Moore had four catches for 75 yards. Bisco, Marshal Faw and Cayden Wood contributed big catches.

Velasquez, a defensive end, made eight tackles. He was credited with two of South’s six tackles for loss. Owen Smith, Conner Richards, Brayden Mahaley and Bisco also had TFLs.

“I thought our guys did a great job of staying in the moment, of handling the next play,” Walsh said. “I’m just so dang proud of all of them.”

South defensive coordinator Ron Riddle had a good night from start to finish, not only with the defensive game plan, but saving Walsh from a freezing Gatorade bath at the end.

South Rowan ( 3-4, 2-2) is 29th in the 3A West RPI rankings, so making the 32-team playoff bracket for the first time in 15 years is a realistic goal for the Raiders. Concord is 30th. West Rowan is 26th.

Undefeated Robinson is next for South. That’s unlikely to be a notable night for the Raiders, but South plays East Rowan and Carson after that. Concord (4-3, 3-2) still has games with Northwest Cabarrus, West Rowan and A.L. Brown.