Of the four games that Hickory and Kings Mountain played against each other earlier in this decade I think my favorite was the first one. Like tonight, the Red Tornadoes made the trip down to Kings Mountain to take on the Mountaineers. Like tonight, the game turned out to be KM's last game of the season. The thing that sticks out in my mind the most is not that fact that Hickory won but how the game was won. And what exactly does Billy Jack have to do with it? Well, it's all about a very talented and dangerous foot.
In 2001 the foot belonged to Hickory's freshman kicking specialist, Ryan Succop. As I am typing this it occurs to me that I was wrong the other week when I said that you had to look to the early- and mid-1990s to find a freshman starting for the varsity in the regular season. I forgot about Ryan Succop. He was a four-year starter on the varsity and was outstanding from beginning to end.
The 2001 encounter between Hickory and Kings Mountain was definitely a defensive struggle. Succop kicked off to the Mountaineers to start the game. The Red Tornado defense forced Kings Mountain to punt after three plays. After the punt Hickory started its drive from the Kings Mountain 42 yard line. Anytime you begin a drive inside enemy territory after a punt you know you're winning the field possession battle.
Hickory used 10 plays to score. The touchdown came on a 10-yard pass from Cole Kenworthy to Craig Barnette. Succop's PAT made the score 7-0.
Kings Mountain looked like it would tie the score late in the second half when Aquino Simmons appeared to have scored on an eight-yard run. But he fumbled as he crossed the goal line and the ball was recovered in the end zone by Hickory resulting in a touchback.
By the end of the third quarter the scoreboard still showed a 7-0 lead for Hickory. Succop missed two field goals (45 and 50 yards) in the second half but more than made up for it with his punting. But Kings Mountain could not be held out of the end zone forever.
Simmons finally scored for the Mountaineers, on a five-yard run. Pablo Peralta nailed the extra point to tie the game at 7-7. In a game as tight as that anything is possible. But nobody expected what happened next.
Hickory was unable to move the ball. With about 2:00 left in the game Succop was back to punt and he boomed a 52-yarder that was downed inside the Mountaineer one yard line. The Mountaineers ran a play that had Renaldo Tate trying to run to the right. He was hit by Hickory's Richard "Big Cat" Parker and Jamey Yarbrough and buried in the end zone for a safety.
Just like that, Hickory was up 9-7. Hickory then received the kick off and ran out the clock to preserve the stunning victory. The win boosted Hickory to 5-1 in the conference and 7-3 overall. The Red Tornadoes would ultimately finish as the runner-up behind undefeated Crest. Kings Mountain dropped to 6-4 and 3-3. It was the end of their season because they did not make the playoffs.
So, remember what I said about the power of the foot? Here's how it relates to everybody's hero, Billy Jack. Check this out!
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