After the first two offensive series of Hickory's scrimmage with Crest last night at the Cleveland County Jamboree I was feeling pretty good. The Red Tornadoes took the opening kickoff and proceeded to drive the ball down the field for touchdown. The backs looked good and Rakim crossed the goal line for the score. After Smith's PAT Hickory led, 7-0.
Then the Tornado defense did its job and forced Crest to punt. So far so good...
The next time the Red Tornadoes got the ball they started driving again. I'm sure that everybody watching could see that Rakim Barrett, Kyshell Geter and David Dula were effectively running the ball. But Geter had the ball knocked away from him at the end of a good run and Crest recovered. Then Crest scored. Hickory got the ball back and promptly turned it over again with another fumble. And once again the Chargers took advantage of the situation and scored. After that it was all Crest.
A great run is meaningless if it ends in a turnover. It's that simple. Turnovers are evil because they are demoralizing to your team and electrifying for the opposing team. That's what happened last night. In the pre-season and the early season games momentum is big part of a team's success. When you turn the ball over you also effectively surrender "big mo" to the other side. And we can't have that!
The final score was 35-7 in favor of a young but extremely talented Crest Chargers. Thank God it was just a pre-season scrimmage. Nothing like getting your nose bloodied without lasting consequences. Next year the Tornadoes will have to deal with the Chargers in a regular-season game.
The key now is for the Red Tornadoes to realize that they must practice hard during the week. They must practice the way they want to play. Protect the football in practice and it will be safe on Friday nights.
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