Bobblehead is back!

I hope that there won't be anymore rain delays this season. The rain that never really came down on October 24th but forced Hickory's game with Hibriten to be postponed till last Monday night created all kinds of delays and hassles. So I'm just now able to hand out the Terrible Terry Tate Defensive MVP Award for the Hibriten game. Better late than never!

Against Hibriten there were four Tornadoes finishing in double digits for tackles. At the top of the list was senior safety Michael Shook with 16. Right behind him was junior outside linebacker Tyler Barnette with 15, including two tackles for loss. Coming in third was senior Kyshell Geter with 12 total tackles. Right behind him was sophomore Tyshon Chisholm with 11 total tackles, including one for loss.

And the bobblehead goes to... Tyler Barnette in a squeaker. On the strength of his two tackles for loss Tyler edged out Mikey Shook for the coveted award. Of course this will be Tyler's one and only varsity season on the defensive side of the ball as he is the heir apparent at quarterback. But as the 2008 season has progressed, so has Tyler as a football player. Hats off to him!

As far as the overall defensive effort against the Panthers is concerned, I was pleased to see the adjustments that were made. Against Hibriten the Red Tornado defense lined up in a 3-5-3 alignment designed to clog up the middle with one less down lineman but with an additional linebacker. It did not shut down the Panther offense but it did slow it down enough to allow Hickory's offense to keep up. The fact that it was 28-28 when time expired proves that the strategy worked.

Once the game went into overtime, it truly was anybody's ballgame.

Another aspect that pleased me was to see continued contributions by younger players. The entire linebacking corps all season long has been comprised of underclassmen. Against Hibriten sophomore Alex Williams got his first varsity start. He wound up with eight total tackles. That makes two sophomores who have now started at least one varsity game at linebacker.

The other one, Tyshon Chisholm, has even won the prestigious TTT Defensive MVP Award. That's a strong investment in the future. Also keep in mind that it was a freshman, Dametrius Lewis, who had the monster hit on the Panther kickoff returner that caused the fumble that was quickly converted into the game-tying touchdown.

It was a pretty good night for the down linemen, particularly seniors Clay Johnson and Chavis Shuford. They both recorded eight total tackles.

Another name that pops out is Rakim Barrett. This was his first game to see significant playing time on the defensive side of the ball. He made the most of it by racking up six tackles, five of which were solo hits. Barrett plays with so much heart. I am very proud of him.

I am very proud of all the Red Tornadoes for how they fought in a game that nobody expected them to win. As I mentioned in a previous post it was truly inspiring to be on the sideline, watching the players enjoying the moment. Good times.