TOP 5 THINGS TO WATCH: Bandys chases 10th win

Record Sports Editor Chris Hobbs asked former Maiden and Bunker Hill head coach Tom Brown to help him pick the top five things area fans should look for in each week’s high school football games this season:

1. DOUBLE DIGITS AGAIN?: If Bandys (9-3) makes what is nearly a 280-mile round trip to Smoky Mountain (6-6) and wins a second round 2AA playoff game, it returns to very familiar territory.

The Trojans are chasing a 10^th victory for the sixth time in 10 seasons and 11^th time in the last 19 years under Randy Lowman, who played on one Bandys team that got as far as the third round (1970) and has been head coach of eight more that got that deep in the bracket.

Friday night’s 7:30 p.m. kickoff is Lowman’s 309^th game as head coach at Bandys and his 437^th as a player, assistant or head coach at his alma mater.

“Ole Randy just sits back every year and hangs around,” said Coach Brown. “I’ve always liked the way Randy prepares a high school football team for the playoffs.”

Including a 10-win season in 1993, Lowman’s teams have since gone 174-73 with 28 postseason wins.

“The more times you go to the trough, the fatter you get,” Coach Brown said of the value of tradition. “And he’s got a bunch of t-shirts. … (that say) been there, done that.”

2. REMATCH I: In a rematch of a 2010 first round 2A playoff game, Maiden (8-4) again makes the trek to Polk County (9-3).

The last time up the mountain, the Wolverines smacked the Blue Devils 52-21 to knock Maiden out after one postseason game for the third straight season.

“That put a bad taste in their mouths,” said Coach Brown, whose son (Brian) enters his fifth postseason game as Maiden’s head coach. “(But) they are thinking positive now and they’re excited about what they are doing.

“Since the second half of the South Iredell game, they’ve just been playing better and better.”

Maiden’s resume features 47 postseason victories, but the Blue Devils are 16-15 in away playoff games.

3. REMATCH II: South Iredell (12-0), ready to play Forest Hills (8-4) in a 2AA second round game, has come full circle.

After going 11-0 in the regular season last year, the Vikings were knocked out of the playoffs in the first round, losing 31-30 at home to Forest Hills.

That quick exit has always seemed to leave a bit of a cloud over South Iredell’s head when conversations turned to state title contenders.

“It goes back to the rich tradition of being in the playoffs,” Coach Brown said of why he feels the Vikings will have to play well to win. “When you see the Forest Hills, the Shelbys, Crests, A.L. Browns and Swain Countys in your bracket, you’d sort of like to be in that other bracket.”

4. BETTER BUCKLE UP: Hickory (8-3-1) takes a four-game win streak to Lawndale to face Burns (11-1) in a second round 3A game.

Coach Brown says he’s seen film of the Bulldogs and is impressed.

“They (the Red Tornadoes) have to be very focused this week,” he said. “They (Burns) have some skill people that can flat out fly.

“They run the spread and what’s going to be so challenging for Hickory is to try to find a way to slow them down.”

The Red Tornadoes and Bulldogs last met in the postseason in a 3AA first round game in Hickory and Burns won 42-32.

5. RURAL VS. CITY: Visiting Myers Park (8-4) stands between South Caldwell (11-1) and a trip to the third round of the state 4AA playoffs.

Glancing at the bracket, South Caldwell is the most rural school left in the “big boys” bracket and, says Coach Brown, will soon begin to have to deal with sheer enrollment numbers.

“It’s a numbers game because the sky’s the limit,” said Brown of the ceiling for the number of students a school can have and be classified 4A. “It’s very difficult for a Watauga, Alexander Central or South Caldwell to go to even the third round and the fourth round would be tremendous.”

Based on the number of speedy athletes Myers Park is expected to have, Coach Brown said a high-scoring game is not what the Spartans want or need.

 “(South Caldwell) has a great football team but what they don’t want is to get into some short of shootout with Myers Park… a 54-46 Myers Park,” Brown said.