By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — The statistical landscape for Rowan County football has changed tremendously over the years.

Here’s an excellent example of how much the numbers have changed. South Rowan quarterback Brooks Overcash threw for 1,589 yards this season. He was fourth in Rowan County in that statistic, behind Salisbury’s Hank Webb, North Rowan’s Jeremiah Alford and West Rowan’s Brant Graham.

Believe it or not, Overcash threw for 1 more yard than East Rowan legend CM Yates did as a senior in the fall of 1970 when Yates and aerial partner Johnny Yarbrough were putting up passing/receiving numbers that were mind-boggling and revolutionary at that time.

The air was filled with footballs this season in Rowan County.

West’s Graham is still mostly unheralded, but he’s been the starting quarterback for the Falcons for two seasons, and he’s got another one ahead of him. He wasn’t All-South Piedmont Conference or All-Rowan County this year, but he already has amassed 3,421 passing yards and 32 touchdown passes, so as long as he stays healthy his senior year, he’s going to finish high on the county’s all-time leaderboards. He hasn’t been a runner so far, but he could wind up with something like 5,000 passing yards and 50 TD passes. That’s one heck of a career.

Overcash produced a strong senior season and broke three major South career records — 32 touchdown passes, 3,838 passing yards, 4,351 yards of total offense. He became an effective runner as a senior. That success as a scrambler provided a boost to his total offense numbers. He wasn’t far from breaking the record for single-season offense at South. He needed one more deep pass to Jadon Moore or Marshal Faw.

Moore finished fourth on South’s all-time list for receptions with 74. He broke the school record for receiving yards in a game with 151 against Central Cabarrus. That Adrian Parker record had stood for 30 seasons.

Salisbury’s Webb put together an outrageous season, especially for a quarterback starting at that position for the first time. He’d been a regular wideout, so he’d been on the field, but no one could have anticipated the runaway success he had taking the snaps. Webb threw 32 touchdown passes. The only season total for the county higher than that appears to be the 38 touchdowns Samuel Wyrick threw for East Rowan during his amazing 2014 season. Wyrick threw at least one TD pass in all 14 East games games and threw five TD passes in three of them.

Besides breaking the school record for TD passes in a season, Webb threw for a school-record 2,483 yards. That’s the sixth-highest total all-time in the county.

Webb broke the school record for passing yards in a game (295). His receivers also broke records. Macari House’s 60 catches broke the school record. Jay’lin Johnson set school records for receiving yards in a game (197), receiving yards in a season (964) and TD catches in a season (15).

Webb’s record-setting spree extended to his right foot. His 49-yard field goal against Walkertown on a cold night in the playoffs was the longest in Salisbury history and also  the longest in county history for a playoff game. Webb kicked 11 field goals this season, which is probably a county record. South’s Robby Basinger kicked 10 in 2000, but research hasn’t turned up any kicking seasons of 11 or more.

North’s Alford broke stacks of records this year, including the school record for total offense with 10,092 yards. That’s the second-highest total of all-time in the county, behind West Rowan’s all-world back KP Parks. Alford also broke long-standing county records with 82 TD passes and 7,220 passing yards. He accounted for 129 touchdowns in a brilliant career.

West’s Evan Kennedy didn’t break any records this season, but he finished fifth all-time in Rowan County for career receptions (138) and receiving yards (2,466),

Jaylen Neely and Kennedy made the Post’s all-time rushing list as they topped 2,000 yards for their careers.

Neely, who had to battle West Charlotte in the playoffs to surpass 1,000 for this season, rushed for 2,290 yards in two varsity seasons. Kennedy finished with 2,075 rushing yards.

On the coaching front, Salisbury’s Clayton Trivett is 34-5 in three seasons, including 18-0 in conference games. That’s a winning percentage of .872. That’s the highest in county history for anyone who has coached three or more seasons.