Border Bash II: Mission accomplished in Waynesville!

After months of anticipation Border Bash II finally became a reality on Friday night. I made a decision early on to promote the heck out of the event and I had three main reasons:

1. I'm a big fan of games against out-of-state opponents and the idea of Hickory facing a top team from another state is exciting.

2. I wanted to make the Tornado Nation aware of the strength of the Fulton program so that they could appreciate the significance of the contest.

3. And most importantly I wanted to do my part to challenge the players themselves. So I repeatedly threw the Falcons in their faces. All the videos, the championships, the mystique of the Falcons and, finally, their pre-season #1 ranking. I wanted any player who saw this stuff to feel personally challenged by the Falcons and rise to the occasion.

And guess what?

The Red Tornadoes rose to the occasion - big time.

The Border Bash consisted of two parts: a "controlled" situation in which each team started at the 40 yard line and had eight plays to score. Each team had four turns on offense. In this portion the Falcons outscored Hickory 4-1. Three of their scores were on pass plays. Sophomore Tyshon Chisholm scored for Hickory. Hickory also forced two turnovers.

It's a fact that Fulton was able to don full pads and start hitting on Monday, July 28th. Meanwhile, like all North Carolina schools, Hickory wasn't allowed to even gather the entire team together on the practice field until Friday, August 1st. The Tornadoes weren't able to put shoulder pads on until Tuesday, August 5th. That same day Fulton had it's first scrimmage. By the time Hickory was able to don full pads and start hitting on Friday, August 8 Fulton was having its second scrimmage. And Fulton had yet another scrimmage the night before the Bash.

Fulton had a huge headstart on Hickory in terms of preparation. More reps, more hits, more passes thrown, more opportunities to be tested by another team and mistakes corrected. So when the Red Tornadoes stepped onto the turf of Weatherby Stadium in Waynesville Friday night they had to catch up in a hurry. The advantage for Fulton was so great that I really can't even consider the "controlled" part of the scrimmage as anything more than a warm-up for the 2-quarter contest that followed.

In the 2-quarter game when a team turned the ball over they didn't get a "do-over" from the refs. Consequently the Tornadoes came very close to beating the Falcons by two touchdowns. It was a clear victory for Hickory. The final score of the 2-quarter game was 14-6. Kevin Shelton threw a couple of touchdown passes to Trevin Parks and junior Patrick Smith did his job by nailing both PATs. Kyshell Geter and Rakim Barrett ran the ball well. Geter was on the verge of scoring what would have been Hickory's third touchdown of the 2-quarter game but was stripped of the ball at the 1-yard line while trying to fight his way across the goal line and Fulton recovered the ball in their endzone. In general it was a remarkably hard-hitting contest, as expected. Hickory didn't look like a team that had only been hitting for a week. They traded blow for blow with Fulton.

I can't say enough about the outstanding play of Trevin Parks. He was in the game for almost every snap on offense and defense, catching a couple of nice touchdown passes from Kevin Shelton and then picking off three Fulton passes. The first score was a 30-yarder to the endzone where Trevin beat double coverage. It was a great pass that became a great catch.

Trevin Parks

Two touchdowns, three interceptions and just plain ol' senior leadership. In the end, it's that last quality - leadership - that may be the most valuable of all. Leadership is the gift that keeps on giving. I think this senior class has shown quite a bit of it already and this is just the beginning!

After all the hype that I myself helped to generate it is really incredible to think that this was actually Hickory's first scrimmage. Just a scrimmage...and yet not just a scrimmage. This was a truly significant victory by the Red Tornadoes in a truly unique setting. Being involved and doing well in it gets the 2008 season off to a good start.

The attitude of the player was excellent. There was a fairly long wait in between the two portions of the scrimmage. The players weren't at all rattled or disgruntled by the way the early portion had gone down. They were quietly determined to make a statement and they were quietly confident that they could and would get it done. These kids support each other and trust each other and don't believe that there's anything they can't achieve on the football field. When faced with the challenge of the Fulton Falcons they chose to - and did - rise up and overcome it. They made their statement.