By Mike London
Salisbury Post
SALISBURY — The “Massey Ratings” correctly picked the winners for all the local high school football games in Week 1, so we can’t completely dismiss their picks for Week 2, although some of the Week 2 picks for Friday, Aug. 29, may flabbergast, flummox and fire up fans.
For instance, North Rowan is a 28-point underdog at Salisbury.
North displayed considerable firepower in the loss against West Rowan on opening night with a 300-yard passer and two 100-yard receivers. Salisbury displayed limited offense at Forest Hills while being shut out for the first time in six seasons.
But history does favor the Hornets, who have beaten the Cavaliers five straight times. North hasn’t won against Salisbury since 2018. The Hornets own a 32-25-2 edge in the series.
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It was also a little bit of a shock to see Davie predicted by the Massey Ratings to edge West Rowan in Mount Ulla.
It’s basically a 50/50 game with Davie, under first-year coach Brian Hinson’s direction, getting the nod for a “projected” 28-27 victory even with the War Eagles coming off a 42-8 loss on opening night and even with West Rowan boasting a pair of 100-yard rushers in the comeback win against North Rowan.
This is meeting No. 57, and Davie leads the series with West 32-22-2, although the Falcons won in 2024. Davie put a 60 on the scoreboard to win against West in 2023.
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Realignment and reclassification means change, so the 7A A.L. Brown Wonders and 5A Concord Spiders will tangle in Week 2 at Concord.
This is a game meant to be played in November, but it is what it is. Both teams are 0-1.
The Wonders are favored by 28 by the Massey Ratings, although most would expect the Spiders to play then tougher than that. After all, this is Concord’s biggest game of the season.
The Wonders have won 10 straight times in the series, something no one thought they’d live long enough to see. With their recent dominance, the Wonders lead the long-running series 50-44-2.
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South Rowan is expected to be 2-0 as the Raiders will play at Langtree Charter Academy — somewhere in Mooresville.
The Raiders won a tough opener against a stronger academy, 14-10, mostly with defense. Langtree Charter lost 64-0 to West Wilkes. South is favored by 40, probably the first time in 50 years for that sort of point spread for the Raiders. School records may be set in the first meeting of these schools.
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East Rowan will play at Pine Lake Prep — that’s also in Mooresville — although the PLP Pride is far more highly regarded than Langtree Charter.
PLP lost to Bessemer City 14-10 on opening night.
The Massey Ratings are unimpressed by East Rowan’s opening win against Wheatmore that broke a 21-game losing skid. East is a 21-point underdog on the road at PLP, although I think most football fans would be happy to take the Mustangs and 21.
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Carson played pretty well in its opener, especially on defense, but the Cougars are expected to take another loss in Week 2.
Carson is playing at Mount Pleasant. MP is favored by 25 points. The Tigers, coached by former South Rowan Raider and former Carson coach Daniel Crosby, won against Concord in Week 1 and have beaten the Cougars five straight times.
Carson hasn’t won against Mount Pleasant since the first meeting of the schools back in the Joe Pinyan days in 2013.
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Teams generally take their biggest step forward from Week 1 to Week 2, so we may see some completely different teams this Friday. Salisbury may look really different. North Rowan may look different and may get its running game going. Carson may look different and may get it passing game going. A.L. Brown may be different.
One thing everyone agrees on is no one wants to start 0-2.
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Rowan QBs, a lot of them new, combined for four TD passes (three by North’s Mike Alford) and nine interceptions in Week 1. This week’s stats should be better.
Rowan kickers may have set a record for fewest points scored in Week 1. West kicked three PATs, while East kicked two. That was it. There were no field goals.
