With the addition of new schools in 2007, both the North Piedmont and South Piedmont Conference schools found themselves having to make some hard choices this spring.
The North Piedmont 3A will play with 10 schools this season (adding East Rowan and South Rowan), and the South Piedmont 9 (adding two new schools). Gone are the recent years of having a very different kind of problem...finding lots of non-league games.
A 10 team league is a difficult thing, and although it will likely last only two years, with all schools playing each other that makes for only two nonconference football games. But kudos for not falling into the trap that the South Piedmont schools did in 1993. In that realignment year, the 10 schools at that time in Union and Cabarrus opted to play in two five-team leagues and have a 'mutual aid agreement' to play three schools from the other league. So four conference games and 6-7 nonconference tilts. And worst of all, since playoff berths at that time were based on the percentage of schools in each league, a five team league yielded two playoff berths three years and only 1 in one season. As Concord fans well know, that lone berth hit the SPC in 1995...and when the 9-0 Spiders lost the Bell Game finale in the rainstorm 5-0, the 4th ranked team in the state stayed home for the playoffs with 9-1 record.
So this season we look at schools like Northwest Cabarrus, AL Brown, Concord and others having to revamp their nonleague schedules. The folks at Kannapolis have decided to allow former Wonder coach (and pole vaulter extraordinaire!) Glenn Cook and Central Cabarrus another shot at the Wonders. The Vikings started playng Kannapolis in 1981, or thereabouts, and they are winless - despite a few close calls over the years. But a great gate opportunity, something not lost on the pair of schools, I feel sure.
While Central renews a series with the Wonders, they will call a halt for now to the 41-year series with crosstown rival Concord. In August of 1966, Concord played at brand-new Central Cabarrus, and the two schools have played each season since. For the first decade, Central and Concord was the season opener. That first decade also saw 10 straight wins for the Spiders, before the Vikings broke through in 1977. Over the years, Concord has by far held the upper hand, but there have been plenty of nailbiters and upsets along the way - like 1985, when the Vikings nipped Concord in the season finale to keep the Spiders from the outright SPC title...or 1987, when Concord's only losing team in the last 28 seasons managed to return the favor to Central, with a 9-7 win that forced the Vikings into a SPC tie with Northwest Cabarrus. The series record to date of Concord and Central was 35-6 Concord.
Northwest Cabarrus also started operation in 1966, and the Trojans played Concord all but two of these same years, but the two will not face off the next two seasons, at least. Northwest had a little more success than Central against Concord, and has won the last three meetings. In two of those years ironically, Concord went on to win state tites, leading some fans to view a loss to the orange and black as a not-so-bad thing. The two stopped play for two years in 2001-2002, although there was a playoff meeting one year. Concord holds the upper hand in this series, 30-11.
in Rowan County, South Rowan and East Rowan also had to make difficult choices about their non-league games...but neither is terribly upset all things considered, after finally getting a chance to move back to 3A (and play a lot closer top home).
It will seem strange not to see some of these old rivals line up against each other in 2007, but such is the mature of the situation. Meanwhile, in Kannapolis, Cook will look to break the Vikings streak of losses against his old alma mater. And in Concord, the Spiders will cease playing an endowment game, going back to a 10-game schedule for 2007...despite the potential playoff implications. But after two state titles in three seasons, few in The Friendly City are questioning his decision-making...