Staff report

MOUNT ULLA – West Rowan trampled Concord 42-0 in South Piedmont Conference football on Friday.

The Falcons were supposed to win comfortably, but the magnitude of the romp wasn’t expected. West had never shut out the Spiders in the history of the series and never had squashed them by such a lopsided margin.

The previous low offensive output for Concord against West came in the Falcons’ 17-3 victory in 2000, a win that helped take the first conference championship in program history.

“We’re playing our best ball now, at just the right time,” West head coach Louis Kraft said. “Everything is going in the right direction.”

West has won convincingly against South Rowan, as well as Concord, so there’s no doubt about who the SPC’s third-best team is. It’s West (5-4, 4-2).

The Falcons have had some losses similar to those being suffered by Catawba College. The Falcons aren’t far from 7-2, but the games against A.L. Brown and Northwest Cabarrus slipped away.

Brant Graham threw four TD passes against the Spiders, with two going to his favorite target — Evan Kennedy. Brennon Stevenson and Kaden Feaster caught one TD each.

Jaylen Neely had a rushing TD.

Backup QB Jalen Moten threw a TD pass to Jacob Kirk for a 41-0 lead, and Carter Durant’s PAT triggered a running clock.

Avion Casey led West’s strong defensive effort with two interceptions and a forced fumble.

“We made big hits all night.” Kraft said.

The Falcons are up to No. 22 in the 3A West RPI rankings, but they are just about certain to be a road team in the first round of the state playoffs. West will be heavily favored to finish the regular season with a 6-4 mark, as it closes with East Rowan (0-9).

Concord (4-5, 3-4) has completed SPC play, but still faces a non-conference game with A.L. Brown to wrap the regular season. The Spiders are 35th in the 3A West RPI rankings. They’d have to beat the Wonders to have a shot at making the playoffs. The Wonders are in an equally desperate situation, as they are 34th in the 4A West RPI rankings.