There is a lot at stake tonight when the Red Tornadoes host the Cougars of Alexander Central at Moretz Stadium. It's rare that Hickory loses two games in a row. The last time it happened was in 2005 and the back-half of that 2-game losing streak was Alexander Central. What a terrible week that was! Bad weather forced the Homecoming game against Newton-Conover to be postponed till the following Monday. After coming up short in a 7-3 loss to the Red Devils, the Tornadoes had to get back on the field four days later up in Taylorsville to face the Cougars for their Homecoming game. That game ended in a frustrating last-minute loss. Hickory then rolled through the rest of the schedule to clinch a share of the CVAC title.
Before that one bad week in 2005 you have to go all the way back to 2001 to find an example of a Hickory 2-game losing streak. So, it's rare and it definitely does not need to happen tonight! That's one reason for the Red Tornadoes to explode on the Coogs.
Another reason why Hickory needs a big-time performance tonight is to get the taste of losing out of everybody's mouth. It's bad business to lose an opener because it blows away all of the off-season and pre-season mental preparation. It causes questions to be asked that go directly to the heart of the matter: Does this year's edition of Red Tornado Football have the heart, the dedication, the determination to maintain the tradition?
Frankly, there is concern that this group doesn't have the "fire in the belly" that last year's group did. I reject the notion that this team has less talent than the 2007 squad. I have argued that, in fact, this year's squad has more overall talent. But a team plays the way it practices and the feedback I have received is that the practices have not gone well. Too much lazy, listless, unfocused "effort" during the week will get us beat on Friday night.
For the sake of the team psyche tonight's ballgame needs to be big and it needs to be a victory for the home team. Hickory has not started a season at 0-2 since 1991. The Red Tornadoes must have some momentum built up before heading down to Bandys next week. The players are not used to losing. As a group they've only experienced a couple of losses in their high school careers. But those losses have now occurred back-to-back and it needs to stop. Even though separated by a long off-season the fact remains that Hickory is on a 2-game losing streak dating back to the Catholic loss last November. Hickory hasn't won a varsity football game since November 16, 2007. It's time for a W!
From a more technical standpoint it needs to be mentioned that Hickory can still enter the playoffs with an unblemished record. For playoff seeding purposes only, teams are allowed to drop one loss from their record. So when the folks at the NCHSAA get into the bracketology of the 2008 playoffs they will ignore the Statesville loss. If the Red Tornadoes can run the table, starting tonight, they can still grab another #1 seed in the West. Being 10-0 is not a guarantee, of course, if there are multiple teams with spotless records but it definitely would put Hickory in strong contention. Sometimes it comes down to a flip of the coin. But that's a bridge to cross some other day. By the same token, every loss from now on will hurt - and hurt badly.
I know this: Last week's loss has left me reeling all week. I feel like I've been sluggish and out of sorts for the past seven days. I need a victory tonight. The team needs a victory tonight. We all need a victory tonight! What we don't need is anymore nonsense.
MAKE IT HAPPEN!!
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