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1958 backfield l-r: Rudisill, Jackson, Isenhour, Huffman


1958: The Red Tornadoes celebrated Homecoming by crushing their archrivals from Newton-Conover by a score of 45-6. Hickory's offensive backfield, led by junior halfback Larry "Red" Rudisill, was stellar against the Red Devils. Rudisill racked up 204 yards and two touchdowns on just 14 carries (14.6 yards per carry). Also scoring touchdowns for Hickory were junior halfback Richard Jackson, senior quarterback Harper "Hoppy" Huffman (twice), sophomore fullback Gene Isenhour and junior fullback Barney Deal. Newton-Conover avoided the shutout by scoring in the last minute of the contest. The win improved Hickory's record to 5-0. The Red Tornadoes would go 11-0 before losing Asheboro in the WNCHSAA title game.

1969: Hickory defeated the Eagles of East Mecklenburg in a key District 6, Southwestern 4A Conference matchup. In a defensive struggle the difference maker was senior Chuck Munday's remarkable special teams performance. Munday, who would play in the Shrine Bowl, punted four times for an average of 46.5 yards. Time and time again he got the Red Tornadoes out of bad field position and put the pressure back on East Meck. Hickory scored first with 7:14 left in the first quarter. Halfback Claude "Cool Breeze" Evans broke loose for two large gains as the Tornadoes moved 66 yards on their first drive of the game. On the first play Evans ran around right end for 18 yards. On the next play Evans again got the call and scampered for 28 yards to the Eagle 28 yard line. After two plays gained only one yard quarterback Ricky Dula kept the ball on a sweep around left end and gained 26 yards to the one. He scored on the next play. Fullback David Williams kicked the PAT and Hickory had a 7-0 lead. East Meck got on the board in the third quarter on a 64-yard touchdown run by James Barber. Quarterback Joe Thompson completed a pass on the 2-point conversion attempt but it was nullified by a penalty. On the next attempt the Tornado defense snuffed it out to preserve a 7-6 lead. That's how the game ended. The Hickory defense was led by Lee Bost and Marvin Everett (who would join Chuck Munday in the Shrine Bowl).

1975: The Big One. Hickory played Newton-Conover for the first time since 1967. Many oldtimers still consider Don Patrick's 1975 Red Devil squad to be the best in school history. Newton-Conover featured two great running backs, Butch Baker and Dennis McCorkle, and a rock-ribbed defense. The Red Devils were 4-0 going into the contest. Hickory was 3-1 and also had a quality tailback in Herbert Thompson. The Red Tornadoes also had a stout defensive unit. In the end, it was the two defenses who ruled the evening. In those kinds of games the special teams will always decide who wins. Such was the case on this night 33 years ago. It would have been a good night for David Bumgarner simply because he recovered two Red Devil fumbles. But with 2:20 left to play in a 0-0 game Bumgarner gave the Tornado Nation something to shout about when he calmly nailed a 25-yard field goal. Newton tried to win the game in the final minute by going to the air. Barry Wilson's first-down pass fell short. His second pass caused a controversy when it looked to some that Donnie Newsome had made a great catch but the officials ruled that he had trapped the ball. On third down Wilson's pass was deflected by Hickory's Berry Dunlap. On Newton's last gasp Ronnie Hopper (yes, Coach Hopper!) knocked the ball away. The final 3-0 score was extremely sweet for Coach Frank Barger and his Tornadoes.

1997: Hickory slaughtered the East Lincoln Mustangs, 35-6. The victory was Hickory's 22nd in a row, which broke the previous school record. There was no emotional letdown a week after the huge victory over Mooresville. The Red Tornadoes spread the scoring opportunities among several key players. Lee Wilson began the touchdown parade on a three-yard run. Anthony Foust got on the board next with an 11-yard run. Then it was quarterback Tim Swanson's turn when he connected with Menyel Flowers on a 49-yard touchdown pass. Wesley Gatewood got in on the act with a 49-yard touchdown run. Even rarely-used tailback Thomas Farley hit paydirt. He scored on a 30-yard run. Cory Morgan was A-U-T-O-matic on his PATs. The Mustangs avoided the shutout in the third quarter on a two-yard quarterback keeper.

2003: Hickory racked up 509 yards of total offense and 56 points against St. Stephens while holding the Indians to a mere 84 yards and no points. Quarterback Chris Rogers scored on a 12-yard run to start the scoring. Fullback Paul Martin followed that up with a burst from four yards out. The Tornadoes exploded for four touchdowns in the second quarter. First Rogers scored again from the four. Ryan Succop's PAT went wide. Then Alex Wilson scored from the 10. Rogers sneaked in for the 2-point conversion. Martin bulled his way in on a seven-yard run. Then came the shocker: Rogers went deep to split end Keon Hill for a 49-yard touchdown. Coach Worley took his foot off the gas pedal in the second half. Wilson got his second touchdown of the night on a 28-yard run. Finally, third-string tailback Ryan Greene reached the end zone from six yards out. Ironically, Hickory's leading rusher, Kejuan Wright, finished with 162 yards on just 9 carries (18 yards per carry) but never got into the end zone.

Good times!