Hickory beat Bandys with defense

I am so proud of the Red Tornado defense. In years past the Achilles Heel on defense for Hickory was the secondary. The primary threat posed by the Bandys Trojans on Friday was the throwing ability of junior quarterback Kyle Houser. The area's leading passer, Houser lit up the Tornado coverage last season for nearly 300 yards and five touchdowns to erase Hickory's 21-0 lead and force the game into overtime. The fact that the Tornadoes eventually won the game did nothing to diminish the effect of Houser's passing. He was only a sophomore. How much more damage would he do with a year's worth of maturation?

Fast forward to last week. As expected, Houser began the season in a blaze of passing yardage despite being one of only three returning starters on offense. After his first three games he was quickly approaching the 1,000-yard mark already. And what about big Seth Cranfill, the 6'3, 215-pound wide receiver? How on earth would the Tornado cornerbacks match up with him? Some of the "professional experts" were picking the Trojans to win, despite their 1-2 record. A common sentiment on the message boards was that while Hickory "should win" there was something out there that made it seem like Bandys might shock everybody and pull the upset. And then there was the thing about the last time Hickory's varsity visited Gary Butler Stadium the Trojans got their only win over the Tornadoes.

But the Red Tornadoes had the cure for all the doubters: just win baby! For the fourth consecutive time the game was decided in the final 12 minutes of the contest and for the third time in four meetings it was Hickory that came out on top. And now that Bandys has joined other area schools in refusing to play Hickory anymore this marks the end of this faux-rivalry. All the talk of the great new rivalry between Hickory and Bandys turned out to be just that: a lot of hot air.

Except on the field.

I can't remember seeing four consecutive years where the game was as tight as these games with Bandys. The average margin of victory over the course of the four games was less than a touchdown.

In 2005 Hickory led 10-7 after three quarters only to see Bandys surge ahead, 19-13. Darrien Burch's 84-yard kickoff return for a touchdown brought the score back to a tie at 19-19 (San San Te's PAT failed). Carlos Shade scored the game-winning touchdown after LeQuan McCorkle lost a fumble. The final Trojan scoring threat ended with less than two minutes to go in the game on an interception.

The 2006 game ended in a Bandys victory only after Hickory failed on a 2-point conversion attempt that would have sent the game into overtime. Last year's game did go into overtime. Last Friday's game probably would have gone into overtime if not for the kind of late-game heroics we are becoming accustomed to from Kevin Shelton and Trevin Parks.

Please don't let the headline of this piece fool you. I am definitely not overlooking the accomplishments of the offense. It gives us the fans a great sense of confidence whenever we see the team finding ways to put points on the board exactly when the team needs them the most. Even in the loss to Statesville it was gratifying to see the offense still pounding and passing its way down the field.

But in my mind the unit that faced the biggest test was the defense. The Bandys defense was very green - not just in uniform but in experience. They only had one starter returning from last season. So to a certain degree it was expected that Hickory's offense would have success against a young Trojan defense. But nobody had stopped the Bandys passing attack. And if Bandys picked up exactly where it left off at the end of the 2007 game then last Friday might have been a bad, bad night for Hickory.

For the record, Kyle Houser entered the contest averaging approximately 328 passing yards per game. By the time the Tornado defenders were done with him 48 minutes later, he only had 98 yards on 11 completions. His completion percentage was a mere 39%. He had no touchdown passes. And Cranfill? He suffered from an acute case of David Dula all evening long and wound up with only one reception for 14 meaningless yards. And this is why I say that the defense won this game. The opponent's primary weapon was simply taken away.

To give Bandys head coach Randy Lowman a little credit it should be mentioned that he did make a sound adjustment at halftime and turned the ball over to senior tailback Josh McCombs and junior fullback Trenton Millsaps. The Trojans had some success on the ground. But even then it took a blocked punt and a bogus call by a line judge to set up the second and third Bandys touchdowns.

Although he doesn't get nearly as much acclaim for his passing skills as Houser and the kid from Maiden, our own Kevin Shelton has been very sharp in all three games thus far. Against Bandys he went 7-13-1 (54%) for 158 yards and a touchdown. And even his interception was actually a catchable ball that landed in the arms of the Bandys cornerback after being tipped by the intended receiver.

So yeah, the Hickory quarterback had a much higher completion percentage as well as 50 more yards. Shelton had two touchdown passes...the phenom from Balls Creek had exactly none. How do you like them apples?

I did not get the two 100-yard rushers that I was hoping to see. Instead I got a couple of 80-yard rushers. But that's ok by me. We'll get 'em next time. Rakim Barrett runs as hard on every play as anybody I've seen out there. When the offensive line finally gets their act together he will shine. And Tyshon Chisholm has proven to be not just a great runner but also a reliable receiver coming out of the backfield. His versatility will be key in the crucial games coming up in the next six weeks.

Finally, I can't say enough about senior Trevin Parks. I've yet to see him lose focus or lose his cool in a game, even when the team seems to be struggling. I remarked on it after the Border Bash and I've seen it in every game since then. Like the outstanding pointguard that he is, Trevin wants the ball in his hands when the game is on the line, period. I saw it again Friday night. Not only did he catch Shelton's pass late in the game but he kept himself from falling out of bounds and got into the end zone with second effort. He turned a completed pass into the game-winning touchdown. It won't be the last time. Of that I am absolutely certain.

Folks, business is about to pick up.

Not quite there yet...but moving in the right direction!

Sooner or later Hickory will solve its two biggest problems: mastering a sophisticated new defensive scheme and forging a cohesive, precision-oriented offensive line. When that happens the Red Tornadoes will begin to roll over and crush any team that gets in their way. Until then, the Tornado Nation will happily settle for the kind of gritty, never-say-die victory that we witnessed Friday night.

No, it wasn't pretty. Yes, the Cougars actually outgained the Tornadoes in total offense (320 to 251). In fact Central had more first downs, more rushing yards (and a higher per carry average) and more passing yards. But in the end it was Hickory that won the only statistical battle that really counts: 19 for us, 14 for them.

Despite their advantage in total yards the Cougar offense was shutout in the first quarter and the entire second half. The Cougars managed to score on a touchdown pass right before halftime and tie the game at 7-7. After that it was Hickory's offense that made things happen. The only points Central could manage in the second half was the 91-yard kickoff return by Logan Chapman that gave his team the lead. Chapman's return came immediately after Hickory had taken the lead on Rakim Barrett's short touchdown run. The only scoring in the fourth quarter was Rakim's game-winning 34-yard touchdown dash.

Ahhh, the kickoff return. That kind of thing should never happen against a team like Alexander Central. Not to take anything away from the Cougars. I was impressed with the abilities of their backfield. But there's no way that any of them should be able to go 91 yards on us. Crest? Yes. Statesville? Yeah, maybe. But not Central. I've said it before and others, as well. Hickory needs to be the one dealing out punishment on special teams. Hickory is the kind of team that could be murduring opponents on kickoff and punt returns. It's almost like free points! And nobody should be able to get a freebie on Hickory.

Another of my concerns has to do with our run production. Rakim had a great game, racking up 168 yards and two TDs on 28 carries (6 yards per carry). He is on track to get the 1,000-yard season that I predicted for him. But after him there just hasn't been much going on. Tyshon Chisholm and Kyshell Geter combined for 20 yards on six carries (each carried the ball three times). Keep in mind that last year against Central the Red Tornadoes had three ballcarriers finish the game with over 100 yards apiece.

In that contest, a 40-12 victory, Geter had 146 yards on 17 carries and Barrett had 109 yards on just six carries (Burch led the way with 157 yards on 20 carries). And those rushing yards did not come at the expense of the passing game, either. Shelton's numbers against the Cougars last year were good: 8-13-0 for 101 yards. That game was also memorable for the Trevin Parks halfback pass that resulted in a 63-yard touchdown for Jordan Wilson.

The difference this year is the inexperience of the work-in-progress that is our offensive line. Last year's squad came into the season knowing what to do, having paid their dues in 2006. Well, it's dues-paying time again. There is only one cure for inexperience: time.

Also, the line was not at full strength against Statesville. Hickory lost. With Clay Johnson at 100% this week the O-line was at full strength and the running game was clearly better. This coming Friday I expect the O-line will be even more improved. So, it's a process. "Better" is the goal every week for the line.

Hickory has been outrushed each of the past two weeks. That is rare. Statesville did it with 187 yards to Hickory's 68 (-119). Central did it with 225 yards to Hickory's 181 (-44). So, Hickory's rushing total is going up while the yardage deficit is going down. That's a positive trend.

Normally I would say that this week's benchmark would be to outrush the opposition altogether. However, because the Trojans have accomplished very little with their rushing attack so far, I think that simply outrushing them would not be much of an accomplishment. So instead I'm looking for Hickory to have two 100-yard rushers this week. It could be Rakim and Kyshell or Rakim and Tyshon or any combination you'd like. But Hickory needs to control the ball, move those sticks and dominate the rushing statistics. If this happens then we will know that the line is becoming what it needs to be: a precision machine.

It was definitely an exciting, dramatic game. What a huge moment when the Red Tornadoes went for it on 4th-and-9 at the Cougar 22 and got a crucial first down when Shelton found Parks on the sideline for a 19-yard gain. Barrett scored on the next play. Clutch plays pay dividends far beyond that play itself. The confidence that builds every time a team comes face-to-face with one of "those moments" and succeeds is priceless. Hickory has shown the ability to make clutch plays and, more importantly, has yet to quit. It's only a matter of time before the more "routine" aspects of Hickory's game get on track. And when it all comes together and the Tornadoes play a complete game some team is gonna get blasted.

GO HICKORY!!