My favorite Hickory-St. Stephens game

There's been some chatter this week that maybe the Indians have Hickory's number this year. I seriously doubt it... Yes, the Indians have the same overall record as Hickory and they do have some weapons. But the 2008 St. Stephens Indians have nothing on the 2001 team. Now that team was a challenge for Hickory.

If you recall, when Hickory hosted St. Stephens at Frank Barger Stadium on October 12, 2001, the Indians boasted a 6-1 overall record. They were on a six-game winning streak after dropping their opener to Newton-Conover. They had senior tailback Thomas Gordon, the most producive back in the conference. Gordon was averaging 167 yards and two touchdowns per game. Even more impressive was the fact that he averaged exactly 10 yards per carry.

In a chilling preview of what Hickory could expect from Gordon and the Indians, St. Stephens had annihilated Fred T. Foard the week before, 68-6. Gordon was Superman that night, rushing for 277 yards on 10 carries, scoring five touchdowns on the ground and also catching a 13-yard TD pass. That same evening the Red Tornadoes had celebrated Homecoming by throttling the R-S Central Hilltoppers, 55-0.

But Hickory's record was only 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the conference. Their losses (to Statesville, Newton-Conover and Crest) had all been by wide margins. Prior to crushing the Hilltoppers, Hickory's other victories (over East Burke and South Caldwell) had been close contests that had not been particularly inspirational for the Tornadoes. Coming a week after suffering a bad defeat down at Crest (and falling below .500) the romp over R-S Central provided a big boost for Hickory's football psyche. It paved the way for what was shaping up to be an epic Battle of Hickory.

As usual, there was plenty of trash talking and promises on the part of Indian players and fans that they were going to humiliate the Red Tornadoes in their own stadium. They said that St. Stephens was the program of the future in Hickory while the Red Tornadoes were in decline. Gordon was going to run all over the Tornado defense. Quarterback Shane Matthews would pass at will to his top receiver, Brent Downs. They were going to do this in Hickory's stadium...

WBTV's "Mountain Man" Steve Ohnesorge was there to film the game for Football Friday Night. Frank Barger Stadium was packed as it always is for the Battle of Hickory. But the Indian fans made a crucial mistake. They placed a large paper banner on the front of their stands that read OUR HOUSE. I was infuriated. I know everybody else on the home was not at all pleased by this bit of disrespect. The Indians, under then-head coach John Jarman, were notoriously rambunctious. Just the year before Jarman had denied Hickory the use of the visitors locker room in the Indian field house. So Coach Elder had warmed up the team at Hickory and then bussed over, arriving after the National Anthem. Then the Red Tornadoes walked silently onto the field. A year later the Indians were really full of themselves. They thought they had good reason to be...

On the first play from scrimmage, the Indians lined up in an peculiar, unbalanced formation and tried to throw deep. Well, Shane Matthews threw it deep all right but right into the arms of Tornado safety Brian Parson at the Hickory 29. It took the Red Tornadoes six plays to score the first touchdown (a 42-yard pass from Cole Kenworthy to Roddy Long). Ryan Succop's PAT made the score 7-0 in favor of the "underdog" Tornadoes.

Succop's kickoff pinned the Indians deep and the defense forced the Indians into a 3-and-out situation. The snap sailed over the punter's head and through the end zone for a safety. After a 19-yard return by Desmond Burch on the free kick gave Hickory possession at its 48, the Red Tornado offense went back to work.

Kenworthy hooked up with Sterling Sanders for a 47-yard pass completion to the St. Stephens eight. Hickory was flagged for illegal procedure, pushing the ball back to the 13. Fullback Craig Barnette scored on the next play. Succop's kick made it 16-0 with 6:29 left in the opening quarter. Hickory put two more touchdowns on the board before halftime (5-yard run by Parson and a 13-yard run by Barnette) to take a 31-0 lead into the locker room. Mysteriously, the OUR HOUSE sign vanished from the Indians' wall.

St. Stephens saved some face in the second half, scoring a couple of touchdowns in the third quarter and one more in the final 12 minutes. But Hickory also scored a couple of touchdowns after the half, both involving Barnette. Craig caught a 9-yard pass from Kenworthy (whose dad was a former Indian quarterback in the early '80s) and also got in on a 3-yard run. The final score was 45-20. The humiliation and humbling of the upstart Indians was a beautiful thing for every member of the Tornado Nation. What a night it was! I must have watched the segment on Football Friday Night a thousand times. It never gets old. That's what this rivalry is all about!

GO HICKORY!!