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Coaching debuts highlight opening night

By Steve Winzenread | Independent Tribune

Published: August 20, 2009

Answers start coming tonight when high school football teams open the 2009 season.
In Cabarrus County, the week one schedule is: Statesville at A.L. Brown, Marvin Ridge at Concord, Mooresville at Northwest Cabarrus, Albemarle at Mount Pleasant, Carson at Hickory Ridge, West Rowan at Central Cabarrus and Cox Mill at Thomasville.
All kickoffs are scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Tonight marks the debut of three head coaches: Glen Padgett at Concord, Chris Shinn at Central and Greg Neuendorf at Cox Mill, a first-year school.
The 12-week regular-season schedule concludes on Nov. 6. Each team plays 11 games with one open week.
The oddity tonight is six of the seven nonconference games being home contests.
Statesville and A.L. Brown played each other for years, either conference or nonconference, until each wound up in leagues with so many teams they couldn't continue the series.
The Wonders' tradition speaks for itself. Kannapolis football frequently winds up winning or sharing a league title, and the Wonders made it to the 3AA final last year.
Statesville is coming off back-to-back nine-win seasons, and the Greyhounds' turnout of players this season matches the Wonders'.
Kannapolis enters the season with a new starting quarterback and an untested offensive line.
Concord is trying to put last year's 3-7 season to rest while meeting a Marvin Ridge team that was a conference opponent last year and a lopsided winner over the Spiders.
Northwest sees the return of star quarterback Jeremy Cannon, a senior who missed his entire junior season because of injury.
The Trojans' opponent, Mooresville, was a league foe a year ago and has a new head coach, Steve McCurry. Mooresville was one of only three teams last season to beat A.L. Brown.
Another game matching teams that used to be league opponents is Albemarle at Mount Pleasant.
Actually, Mount Pleasant's four nonconference games are all against ex-league foes.
The Carson-Hickory Ridge game pits two still-new schools. Carson opened in 2006 and Hickory Ridge in 2007.
After going winless its first two years, Carson won three games last year. Hickory Ridge went from one win its first season to five victories last year.
Central Cabarrus and Cox Mill will be clear underdogs tonight.
Central faces defending 3A state champion West Rowan. The Falcons are led by all-world running back K.P. Parks.
"Having to open with them is not ideal, but it's going to be a good test for us," Shinn said. "Any deficiencies are going to be immediately visible."
The Cox Mill Chargers play their first-ever regular-season game at perennial power Thomasville, 1AA champion four of the last five years, including in 2008.
The nonconference games are the build-up to the start of the South Piedmont 3A Conference season.
For six of the eight league teams, the SPC season starts Sept. 25.
The exception comes on Sept. 4, when Hickory Ridge is at Central to open conference play.
Jay M. Robinson has an open date this week.