Just
like a good book, this week’s games kept fans on the edge of their
seats. Some of the moments were unforgettable, to others though, they
can’t be forgotten soon enough.
The biggest storyline of the
opening week could have been the streaks. The nation’s longest active
winning streak was snapped, as was the state’s longest active losing
streak.
West Rowan held the nation’s longest active winning streak
at 46 games. The Falcons have won three straight 3-A state
championships and have bullied teams out of their way. It almost looked
like they would never lose another game again until they faced
Mooresville this week.
The Falcons were in control leading 14-7 in
the late stages of the game when Mooresville fired the shots heard
around the nation. In a desperation attempt on 4th & 22, Shawn Lester wrestled away a tipped pass that was nearly intercepted and raced
36 yards for the game tying touchdown.
On the very next
possession, and inside of two minutes remaining, Blue Devils quarterback
Deonte Black ran for 62 yards in two plays, the last one a 36-yard
touchdown run that sealed the victory and ended the Falcons 46-game
winning streak.
It was Aug. 29, 2008, the last time West Rowan had
lost a football game. You would have to go back to Sept. 28, 2007,
when Green Hope had last won a game. That night it was a 27-20 victory
over rival Panther Creek, who had no seniors on its varsity team.
But
on a night that one Falcon team ended a winning streak, another Falcon
team ended their losing streak. After 38 straight defeats, Green Hope
finally broke into the win column with a 38-0 victory over
Smithfield-Selma.
Central Cabarrus had the state’s second longest
losing streak at 35 games. It had been since Aug. 31, 2007, since the
Vikings had last won a football game. They were facing a team they had
not beat since 1973, but managed to defeat South Rowan 31-23 on Friday,
despite allowing the Raiders to rack up over 400 yards of total offense.
The
most shocking story of the weekend could be the fact that five of the
eight defending state champions lost their season-opening game.
Defending
4-AA champion Butler saw their 31-game winning streak end at the hands
of Mallard Creek, while 4-A champ Hillside lost a 27-19 game to New
Bern, ending the Hornets' 16-game winning streak.
Tarboro had won
24-straight games and was the defending 2-A state champions, but the
Vikings saw their streak end at Nash Central on Monday night.
Albemarle,
which has been one of the most dominant 1-AA teams over the past
decade, had its 12-game winning streak end with a 9-7 loss to West
Stokes.
It is possible that we could see a sixth defending
champion lose their season opener this Friday as 3-AA champs Northern
Guilford faces Greensboro Page on the road.