Each of these big-name head coaches had the benefit of talented assistants. Freedom's defensive coordinator was Mike Biggerstaff. His counterpart at East Burke was Wayne Fletcher. Both Biggerstaff and Fletcher went on to create notable head coaching careers of their own. Frank Barger was assisted by one of his former players, Larry Wittenberg, who would eventually take over the program after Barger's retirement.
Frank BargerThe Western 4A also featured some of the state's top players, including four who would be selected to represent North Carolina in the 1978 Shrine Bowl: Mark Ervin and Darren Wilson of Freedom, Mike Roberts of Asheville, and Bill Wood of Hickory. Not surprisingly, the conference was particularly well-known for its rock-ribbed, bone-crunching emphasis on defense. And no game that season better illustrated this than Hickory's 6-2 upset victory over Freedom on October 27, 1978.
In those days it was much more difficult to secure a berth in the state playoffs. The Western 4A had seven hardnosed teams slugging it out all season long in order to secure the league's two playoff spots. Going into the games of October 27th, the race for the playoffs was neck and neck, with Freedom and East Burke both possessing 4-0 conference marks (and both were 7-1 overall), while Ashbrook, also 7-1 overall, was a game behind them with a 3-1 conference record (a loss to Freedom).
At 2-2 in the conference (5-3 overall), Hickory was already out of the hunt, having lost close games to East Burke and Ashbrook. But with the Patriots up next the Tornadoes could still celebrate a Homecoming win and play the role of spoiler.
Freedom entered the game ranked 3rd in the state for Class 4A. The Patriots were heavily favored to beat Hickory. The only blemish on Freedom's record was a loss to Watauga in the third week of the season. Watauga was in the midst of its best season ever and the Pioneers went on to win the Class 3A state championship that year.
In addition to dropping games to East Burke and Ashbrook, the Red Tornadoes had also lost to Red Fitzpatrick's South Caldwell Spartans in Week Two. Hickory had racked up wins over St. Stephens, Newton-Conover, Wilkes Central, Hunter Huss and McDowell.
Neither Hickory nor Freedom could generate much offense in the first two quarters. Freedom had rolled to the Hickory 18 on its first possession, but turned the ball over on downs. The only other Patriot threat ended when quarterback Jay Suh's pass was intercepted by a diving Al Young of Hickory.
It looked like the teams were headed into halftime with a 0-0 deadlock. But with less than a minute to go before the half, Mark Erwin punted to the Hickory 33 yard line with 0:12 showing on the clock. Biggerstaff's Patriot defense prepared for a desperation heave downfield. But Barger had a trick up his sleeve to exploit the "prevent" defense. On first down, junior quarterback Jeff Bolch tossed a seemingly harmless, shallow pass to Stanley Burch in the flat, who immediately turned and lateraled to Al Young coming down the sideline. Young electrified the crowd as he turned on the jets and streaked down the sideline to complete the 67-yard touchdown play. Mark Dirks' kick was no good, but Hickory went into the locker room with a 6-0 lead and the momentum.
The second half featured more hard hitting by both defenses. But with Freedom's Darrell Avery gaining good yardage on pitches - the only play Hickory had trouble stopping - the Patriots kept pressure on Hickory's defenders throughout the final two periods.
The Tornado defense, with ferocious hitting, continually brought the home fans to their feet by fending off the Freedom attack time and again. The Tornadoes applied tremendous pressure on Jay Suh, who was sacked several times and completed just 3 of 17 passes.
Hickory's best defensive stand came after a 13-yard burst up the middle by Bobby Michaux gave the Patriots first-and-goal at the Hickory 7 yard line.
A holding penalty pushed Freedom back to the 20 and Freedom gained only three yards on three attempts. On 4th down, Avery took another pitch and reached the 10 yard line before being stopped in his tracks.
Then it was Hickory's turn to choke. Having stopped Freedom, Hickory's offense was unable to make any forward progress. Backed up almost to the goal line, Hickory attempted a double reverse to split end Chris Morrison, who was nailed in the end zone by James Davis and Gary Dixon. The safety made the score 6-2 in Hickory's favor with 9:19 left in the contest.
Needing a touchdown to win, Freedom could do nothing with the football following the free kick and was forced to punt. Al Young fielded the punt and returned it all the way to the Freedom 36. Hickory was unable to move the chains and turned the ball over on downs, giving the Patriots one last shot. But on 4th-and-20 at their own 43, the Patriots tried an option play to Michaux that was stopped just three yards short of the first down. Hickory took over and was finally able to run out the clock to clinch the victory.
As expected, the loss to Hickory put Freedom's playoff hopes in jeopardy with East Burke and Fat Friday looming on the horizon. The same night that Hickory knocked off Freedom, Ashbrook defeated East Burke. This created a 3-way tie between the Patriots, Cavaliers and the Green Wave. The following week East Burke defeated Freedom on Fat Friday, eliminating Freedom from playoff contention.
Just a week earlier the Patriots had been the state's 3rd-ranked team in Class 4A. But in the Wild Western, the name of the game was simple survival. Those were the days!
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