Tornado JV clinches another CVAC title

Jake Meade executes the perfect tackle

It's become pretty routine by now, of course, but it should not be lost on the Tornado Nation that your all-powerful junior varsity clinched sole possession of yet another CVAC title. Everybody talks about "The Streak," as they should. But it's also true that the Young Tornadoes have now won seven conference championships in the past eight years. As Borat would say, "I like. Iz nice..."

The Young Tornadoes racked up a lot of style points in the victory. In the 56-8 victory the scoring parade included two TDs by sophomore T.J. Wimbush, who is having a great year. But the rest of the JV's offensive touchdowns were scored by freshmen. Quai Linebarger got a pair of TDs. Shaquan Reid, Daniel Frederick and Dalvin Parsons each rushed for a touchdown. Jordan Walls-Davis hauled in his first high school touchdown pass. I suspect it was merely the first of many touchdown catches to come.

It was great to see sophomores Nick Bush and Robert Whaley back in action after being sideline all year by early injuries. Whaley punctuated his return (literally) by intercepting a Warrior pass and returning it 56 yards for a touchdown. Style points.

The defense continues to be excellent. The best compliments you can give to a defense are that it swarms and it hits hard. That's what we can say about the 2008 JV defense. The Young Tornadoes swarm to the ball and they hit hard and finish plays. Do they always make the play? No. Have they allowed some points to be scored? Of course. Obviously there is still plenty of development that needs to happen. But the talent is there. The athleticism is there. Perhaps most importantly, I believe the heart is there. The determination to win is there. These young players will duplicate on the varsity the success they have earned on the junior varsity.

There is one more challenge to overcome this season. On Thursday night the Young Tornadoes will travel to Claremont to face the Bunker Hill Bears. The Bears are 6-2 in the CVAC and 7-2 overall. They now have no shot at the title but they are definitely a threat to end "The Streak." The Bears are not to be taken lightly and this week's season finale will be an exciting one. I can't wait!

GO HICKORY!!

Payne and Davenport corral a Warrior runner