The North Moore football team didn’t have much time to dwell on its heartbreaking 16-14 loss to South Davidson last Friday.

The Mustangs and the coaching staff had to turn right around and start preparing for their next Yadkin Valley Conference foe North Rowan. North Moore hosts the Cavaliers Friday with the visitors coming into the contest as one of the most improved teams in the 1-A ranks.

First-year coach Joe Nixon has the Cavaliers playing at high level, having gone 4-2 thus far in the season and more importantly 2-0 in conference action. This is the best start the Cavaliers have had in more than four years with Nixon coming from West Rowan where he was the offensive coordinator for a team that played for the state 3A championship the past four seasons.

“They’re (North Rowan) a good football team,” said North Moore coach Greg Simmons. “They’re big and athletic and maybe the best team we’ve played so far this season. They have a good quarterback that transferred from West Rowan. He’s a good athlete with good size and speed. They’re a 50-50 team that passes and runs the ball. They’re a well coached team.”

The Cavaliers’ quarterback is sophomore Alexis Archie, who has good size and has a good arm. He’s starting to get the grasp of playing quarterback, coming off his best game passing in a 42-13 victory over East Montgomery. Archie’s passing staked his team to a 32-0 halftime lead where he finished passing for 210 yards and threw for four touchdowns.

Archie’s favorite receiver is fellow sophomore Sakil Harrison, who had three of those touchdown receptions in the East Montgomery victory. Harrison finished with five catches for 140 yards. Another offensive weapon is sophomore running back Jareke Chambers, who leads the Cavaliers in rushing yardage and is also a dangerous return man, having returned a kickoff against the Eagles Friday.

North Moore has struggled on offense, especially when near the end zone. The Mustangs are moving the ball on offense, but are having a hard time scoring when in the red zone. North Moore is also having to deal with not having its offensive coordinator Michael Loutzenheiser, who is having to help with the principal duties, since North Moore’s principal Jonathan Jessup is on leave for undisclosed personal reasons.

“We have to find a way to get into the end zone,” said Simmons. “And it doesn’t help that we don’t have our offensive coordinator. But we’ll step up as a staff to get through this.”

The offense showed some spark in their loss to South Davidson with sophomore Kirby Lambert sharing quarterback duties with Luke Auman. Lambert threw a pair of touchdown passes last week to senior receiver Landon Auman. With Lambert calling signals, Luke Auman can play a running back position, giving the Mustangs more offensive weapons on the field.

The Cavaliers are pretty strong on defense as well with defensive lineman Oshon West, who has good size and good speed. Going both ways along the line is all-conference performer Will Robertson, who is on several colleges recruiting lists. They also have Xavier Robinson, one of the top linebackers in the conference.

“By this time of the year, we know what we can do well and what we can’t do well,” said Simmons. “We will deal with the situation we have and see what comes out.”

The game is the Mustangs’ third straight home game and is scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m. Friday.