Bobblehead goes to the playoffs

This is a week late so I'll get right to the point. Hickory came ready to play last Saturday down in Kings Mountain. They faced a tough challenge to begin with but then it became more acute once it was confirmed that the Red Tornadoes would not have rushing leader Rakim Barrett. Without the 1,000-yard rusher it would be even more important to contain the explosive Mountaineer offense.

Kings Mountain came into the game averaging 343 yards in total offense. That broke down into 243 yards rushing and 100 yards passing. When the game finally ended, however, the Mountaineers only had 261 total yards (209 rushing yards, 52 passing). Kings Mountain didn't light up the scoreboard until late in the third quarter. It was a good job by the Hickory defense, no question about it.

The Terrible Terry Tate Defensive MVP Award for the game goes to Tyler Barnette.

The junior outside linebacker, playing his final game on defense before moving permanently to the offensive side as next season's starting quarterback, led the team in total tackles with 14. One of those was a tackle for loss. Barnette was also credited for a "quarterback pressure."

Honorable mention honors go to senior safety Michael Shook and junior outside linebacker Buddy Withers. Shook and Withers were second and third on the tackles list with 12 and nine total tackles respectively. Shook broke up three passes and caused a fumble. Withers recorded two tackles for loss and had a "quarterback pressure." Also recording tackles for loss were David Dula, Drew Siciliano, Tyshon Chisholm and Clay Johnson.

Serious case of BCRS...

Somewhere the Evil Genius is smiling

It's unfortunate that no matter what gameplan a team comes up with to win a game a crew of bonehead officials can screw it all up. Whether through incompetence or an inability to resist the urge to make themselves bigger than the game and more important that the players, coaches and ticket-buying fans, the result is the same: tainting of the game.

I'm still sickened by what happened in our game with Kings Mountain on Saturday night. For the record, not only did Hickory have two first-half touchdowns called back on bad calls but the idiots in striped shirts also incorrectly flagged the Hickory defense for pass interference in the end zone on a 4th-down play that should have turned the ball back over to the Red Tornadoes but instead gave Kings Mountain a first down. The Mounties then scored their second touchdown of the game to push their fourth-quarter lead to 17-7.

Here are the three key incidents that helped change the momentum of the game:

1. In the second quarter Hickory began a drive on its own three that burned nearly five minutes off the clock. That's exactly the kind of drive that the Red Tornadoes needed in order to keep Kings Mountain's explosive offense on the sideline and bring the action to KM's end of the field. But the drive stalled on the Mountaineer 31. Facing a 4th-and-4 situation, Kevin Shelton completed a nice pass to Trevin Parks who raced into the end zone for an apparent touchdown. It was a gutsy call and a perfectly-executed pass play. That is until the side judge on Kings Mountain's side decided that somebody must be guilty of holding. Hickory had no choice but to punt.



2. After the Red Tornado defense hung tough on Kings Mountain's next possession the offense went back to work. Hickory drove into Mountaineer territory again and appeared to score when Trevin Parks took a reverse and then lofted a pass to Shelton on the sideline. Kevin not only made the catch but then got himself into the end zone for a 38-yard touchdown. A perfectly executed trick play that should have given Hickory a much-needed early lead. But the side judge on Hickory's side, a genuine hanky-tossing douchebag, threw a flag. Although he wasn't even in position to make the call he decided to flag Hickory for a phantom block in the back. It simply didn't happen.
   
   And here's the real human cost of such a boneheaded call by the official. Not only did it cost Hickory a touchdown but it also ruined a special moment for Kevin Shelton. It's not often that a quarterback gets to be on the receiving end of a pass, not to mention a touchdown pass. As I said, the play was perfectly executed by all 11 Red Tornadoes on the field, especially Trevin Parks and Kevin Shelton. They deserved to have that touchdown. There simply was no foul. But for all time, thanks to the jackass in stripes, the play will only live on in our collective memories (and the game film, of course). That's not much of a consolation prize after the play of a kid's career in his final high school game was stolen by some worthless stooge afflicted with acute BCRS!
   
   The Hickory fans who actually made the trip exploded in rage. People - even women - came out of the stands and down to the fence to yell at the knucklehead who threw the flag. I myself was threatened by him with ejection from the stadium because of a comment I made. Go figure!
   
   To complete the farce, Hickory maintained the drive and got into the red zone. A hard hit by a Mountaineer linebacker forced a fumble inside the five that was recovered by the players in black and gold. Give a team enough mulligans and they will find a way to take advantage sooner or later.



3. The final injustice occurred in the final period when Hickory was trailing 10-7. When you consider that Kings Mountain was the champion of the Southwestern Conference and the #2 seed in the bracket while Hickory finished fourth in the CVAC and was a lowly #15 seed playing on the road, a three-point deficit was very impressive and still manageable.
   
   After Kings Mountain had finally broken the scoreless tie late in the third period with a 29-yard field goal the Red Tornadoes quickly answered with a 64-yard scoring drive of their own. T.J. Wimbush led the way, picking up 41 yards. He capped it with a 13-yard touchdown run. Patrick Smith's PAT cut the Mountaineer lead to 10-7.
   
   On the ensuing kickoff the Mountaineers returned the ball to midfield. Despite the good field position the Tornadoes battled them, giving ground reluctantly. It came down to a 4th-down play, a pass to end zone. Not only was the ball not catchable but the receiver managed to fall down. The linebacker who was in coverage was watching the ball and not interfering with the receiver. Nevertheless, out came the flag. Instead of Hickory taking over at the 13 the Mounties were given an automatic 1st-and-goal. They scored on the next play. The extra point boosted the Mountaineer lead to 17-7.

Facing a 10-point deficit in the final quarter with time running out, the Red Tornadoes had no choice but to start gambling with the pass. Sure enough, on Hickory's next possession Kevin Shelton was intercepted by Zach Hopper. The Mountie linebacker then zoomed into the end zone to provide his team with an insurance touchdown that sealed the fate of Hickory's upset bid.

Earlier tonight I listened to the game between Shelby and Bandys. Bandys, a team from Catawba County, the underdog, playing down in Cleveland County. The Trojans pulled off an upset victory in overtime. I couldn't help but think that it could have been Hickory last week with the big upset down in Kings Mountain.

Of course, we'll never know for sure what would have happened if Hickory's two touchdowns hadn't been nullified and Kings Mountain's second touchdown hadn't been facilitated by a bad call. Maybe the Mountaineers would have found a way to win anyway. They were, afterall, the heavy favorites.

But you have to think that being down 14-0 at halftime would have had an effect on the Mountaineers. It's true, Kings Mountain did make adjustments in the second half that helped their offense. Yes, Hickory's kickoff and punt coverage units gave up too many yards to the Mountaineers that allowed Kings Mountain to have a short field. But all of that should have been in an effort to simply catch up - not forge ahead. If Hickory is winning 21-17 late in the game then maybe it's the Mountaineers having to gamble with the passing attack. Maybe Hickory intercepts and returns it for a game-clinching touchdown. We simply will never know. That's the sickness of it. That's the fault of the so-called referees. That's the real cost of Burke County Referee Syndrome.

Look at the assholes run!

Directions to Kings Mountain HS

Just in case anybody needs them...

Take Hwy 321 South for about 31 miles...

Merge onto I-85 S toward KINGS MOUNTAIN, go about 6 miles...

Merge onto US-74 W via EXIT 10B toward KINGS MOUNTAIN/SHELBY...

Take the US-74-BR exit toward KINGS MOUNTAIN...

Merge onto E KING ST/US-74 BR W...

Turn LEFT onto COUNTRY CLUB RD...

COUNTRY CLUB RD becomes PHIFER RD...

The school is on PHIFER RD

Time to take a Gamble

From the 2003 Hickory-KM game

It's finally time to get it on down in Kings Mountain as the #15-seed Red Tornadoes challenge the #2-seed Mountaineers. Hickory has had considerable success on the field at John Gamble Stadium. In 2001 Hickory defeated the Mountaineers 9-7 in the first meeting of the two teams since their epic struggle in the semifinals of the 1964 WNCHSAA playoffs. Two years later Hickory returned to Gamble and whipped the Mountaineers, 38-14.

Two years later Hickory and Kings Mountain were no longer conference rivals but Hickory still found a way to win at Gamble. That time it was against Crest in the Cleveland County Jamboree. Hickory's wild victory over the Chargers in the Jamboree remains the only time Hickory has beaten Crest, unofficially or otherwise, in football.

Tonight's game will feature two battles: Mountaineer quarterback Michael Roberts versus Hickory's defense and Hickory's offensive line versus Mountaineer monster nose tackle, Thomas James. How the Red Tornadoes perform against Roberts and James will go a long way towards deciding the winner in this contest. That's a simplification, of course, but an appropriate one.

First, some basic statistics.

Roberts is the only 1,000-yard passer and runner that Hickory has faced this season. He is KM's leading rusher (1,111 yards) as well as its top passer (1,016 yards). By comparison, Hickory's top rusher, Rakim Barrett, has compiled 1,126 yards.

Roberts touches the ball on every offensive play and when he does he will do one of three things: hand it off, keep it and run or throw a pass. The mere fact that he is a three-dimensional threat places a great deal of pressure on a defense.

Completely stopping Roberts may be out of the question. The defense will need to do the best it can to contain him as much as possible. Plus there is the other top rusher for Kings Mountain, tailback Joe Chambers. Joe the Tailback has 1,097 yards for the season. It's always scary to think about one 1,000-yard rusher handing off to another 1,000-yard rusher. Carlos Young, a junior, is another quality back who doesn't have the stats but definitely has the talent.

When Roberts takes to the air he can rely on the sure hands of wide receiver Terrance Young (30 receptions for 679 yards and 7 TDs) and big tight end Devon Thompson (6'4, 220). The running backs, Chambers and Young, will also be used as receivers from time to time.

Probably the best defense Hickory can employ would be to control the ball on offense and limit his opportunities. So the keys to victory for Hickory would be to eliminate the kinds of mistakes (turnovers and/or penalties) that make it easy for the Mountaineers. Obviously KM doesn't need any help like that! Hickory has to make everything as difficult as possible for Mountaineers.

Also, Hickory needs to play the game in Kings Mountain territory. That means getting good special teams play (good punts that put the ball back on KM's side of the 50... good kickoff and punt returns that, again, put the ball in KM's side of the field... sustained drives that either result in points or at least leave the ball in Mountaineer territory. The farther KM has to go the greater the likelihood a mistake will be made. If the game is played mostly in Hickory territory then it will be too tough to keep the Mountaineers out of the end zone.

Two things that have helped Hickory on offense in recent games have been the continued use of Trevin Parks at quarterback and the elevation of sophomore tailback T.J. Wimbush and freshman fullback Casey Stinson to starting positions on the varsity. I think the Red Tornadoes can be successful on offense but they need to win the time of possession battle, have sustained drives and not miss any opportunities to put points on the board. Because of the presence of Thomas James we may see Hickory in the shotgun a lot tonight...

The lineman who ate Shelby

#62 nose tackle Thomas James

Kings Mountain utilizes a 3-4 defense. If you're an SEC fan then you may recognize this scheme as the same one that Alabama uses. And one of stars of the Tide's defense is Terrance "Mount" Cody, the 6'5, 365-pound nose tackle. Before he was injured Cody was a serious threat to an opponent's rushing attack. He was a disrupter. He forced offensive coordinators to adjust their gameplans in order to deal with him.

Kings Mountain has an impact player just like that, although not as gargantuan as Mount Cody.

The Mountaineer 3-4 defense is anchored by hardhitting nose tackle Thomas James. He's got the size (6'3, 265), the strength and the aggression to wreck an offensive line. I would compare him favorably to Newton-Conover's Jordan Gibbs (#76). CVAC fans are all painfully aware of what a beast Gibbs was all season. Thomas James is the same kind of player.

Other comparisons could be made to former Alexander Central defensive linemen such as Cameron Millsaps and Kyle Linney. They could and did dominate offensive lines, including Hickory's. The good news is that Hickory beat Millsaps and the Cougars in 2002 and beat Linney and Central's other big 'uns in 2006. But the Tornado linemen who played in those games can testify as to the nature of the trench warfare in those contests.

James will definitely have to be double-teamed, no doubt by Darrin Willis and Alex Martin, which will make things a little easier for one of KM's four linebackers. This will, in turn, mean that the Tornado fullback will have to be diligent in his blocking. Everybody is going to have to block in this one.

James was selected Cleveland County Player of the Week after he led the way in a 21-0 demolition of the Shelby Golden Lions. Here is a quote that best sums it up:

"Shelby simply had no answer for blocking James. No. 62 was a constant presence in the Lions' backfield. Besides his nine tackles on the night, the two-year starter hurried several throws, recovered a fumble and forced another fumble with a hard hit. His energy also helped fire up his fellow Mountaineer defenders..."

I wonder how big #62 will do against the Wild Tornado formation?

First look at Kings Mountain

Mountaineer quarterback Mike Roberts

When discussing the Mountaineers you have to start with their quarterback. For those who aren't familiar with Mike Roberts (6'0, 170, Sr.), let me say that if you were to take the best aspects of Newton's A.J. Bazzle and Hibriten's Jamichael Walton, you'd have Mike Roberts.

Roberts is a better runner than Bazzle and a better passer than Walton. Last Friday Roberts punctuated his season with a career performance against Burns. Roberts finished the game with 216 yards on the ground and 133 through the air, accounting for four touchdowns. He surpassed the 1,000-yard milestone in both rushing and passing for the season.

Naturally Hickory's defensive gameplan must be geared toward stopping the quarterback. But Mike Roberts is not the only threat posed by the Mountaineer offense. He is joined in the backfield by Joe the Tailback (aka Joe Chambers). I'll talk about him in another post.

Unifour playoff seedings

It appears certain that nine Unifour teams have made the playoffs in five different brackets. One of the teams with their fingers crossed, hoping to get into the dance, were the Alexander Central Cougars. The Cougars upset South Caldwell last night in a must-win game. Nevertheless, the Cougars will be staying home this season.

Another development, as mentioned a little earlier, is that despite Saint's shocking upset of Fred T. Foard to clinch the CVAC's second automatic 3A berth, the Indians only received a #14 seed - just ahead of Hickory's #15 seed. I'd say the NCHSAA did not display much respect for either program. Call it the curse of the CVAC...

Here is a list of the teams that got in and their opponents. I'm including A.C. Reynolds and Watauga because they play in the Northwestern 4A Conference along with several Unifour teams.

4A West

#10 South Caldwell at #7 R.J. Reynolds
#11 South Meck at #6 East Burke
#15 North Davidson at #2 A.C. Reynolds
#14 Watauga at #3 Crest

3AA West

#14 St. Stephens at #3 Anson County
#15 Hickory at #2 Kings Mountain

3A West

#12 North Buncombe at #5 Fred T. Foard

2AA West

#14 Chase at #3 Hibriten
#12 Bandys at #5 Ashe County

2A West

#15 Graham at #2 Newton-Conover
#13 Maiden at #4 Starmount

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

Tornadoes draw #2 Kings Mountain

Hickory will go into the 3AA West playoff bracket at the #15 seed. The Red Tornadoes will face the #2 team in the bracket, Kings Mountain. The game will be at KM's Gamble Stadium. The Mountaineers, old conference foes during the four-year run of the Southwestern Foothills Conference, are the champions of the Southwestern 2A/3A Conference.

Hickory won four straight against Kings Mountain from 2001-2004 but in the past four years the Mountaineers have gotten a new coach who has orchestrated a renewal of the Kings Mountain program. The Mountaineers have always had size and athleticism but seemed to lack discipline and determination. Now they have the discipline, determination, good coaching combined with size and athleticism to be successful. They are champions.

But not only are the Mountaineers former opponents - they are also future opponents. Beginning next season the Red Tornadoes and Mountaineers will resume their rivalry as non-conference opponents. So this will provide an interesting preview of the future for both teams. And Tornado fans are familiar with Gamble Stadium, too. That's a good thing when you consider the possibility of having to go to Charlotte or Winston-Salem.

After all the drama about which team would get the coveted second automatic 3A berth from the CVAC, well...

It turns out that it wasn't much of a prize afterall. After pulling off the upset of the year by beating Fred T. Foard, the St. Stephens Indians did clinch the CVAC's second and final automatic playoff berth. But the Indians wound up getting the #14 seed: just one place above Hickory. It's like this for the Indians:

We shocked the world and ruined Foard's championship season and all we get is this lousy tee-shirt that says "14" on it? wtf??

Ain't that a kick in the pants? lol

Playoff alchemy, Part 2

In light of what I posted the other day about the likelihood of Hickory facing either West Rowan, Tuscola or Carver (in no particular order) there has been a new wrinkle added to the scenario.

It is confirmed that Carver has forfeited its September 5th victory over West Forsyth due to the use of an ineligible player. What does this mean for Carver? Well, now the Yellow Jackets will not be in the running for the #1 seed in the 3A West bracket.

Instead of being seeded as a 10-0 team Carver will now be considered a 9-1 team. So now it would be Tuscola and West Rowan flipping a coin to determine who gets the #1 and #2 seeds. Meanwhile, assuming that Fred T. Foard can beat Bandys tomorrow night and St. Stephens next week the Tigers will be treated as a 9-1 team, too.

Unless Hickory slips past St. Stephens to get that coveted automatic berth the Red Tornadoes will probably play the #3 or #4 seed. One of those teams will be Carver. The other will be Fred T. Foard.

Long story short...Hickory could face Fred T. Foard in the first round of the playoffs. Let that sink in for a little bit...

HERE WE GO, TORNADOES!!

Playoff alchemy, Part 1

The ADM numbers have been released, giving us a clearer idea as to how the playoffs will shape up.

"ADM" stands for "Average Daily Membership" which is basically the number that represents the size of a school's enrollment. This is the same kind of number that determines classifications every four years. For playoff purposes the ADM number determines whether a team goes into the "A" or "AA" bracket.

Since the playoffs were expanded in 2002 Hickory has always participated in the 3AA West bracket. But the latest ADM numbers indicate that the Red Tornadoes may be headed into the 3A West this season.

The ADMs of the 15 Unifour schools are as follows:

Alexander Central 1,655
South Caldwell 1,599
Freedom 1,293
East Burke 1,123

St. Stephens 1,288
Hickory 1,184
Fred T. Foard 1,103

Hibriten 1,048
Patton 1,008
Bunker Hill 935
Bandys 917
West Caldwell 879
Maiden 837
Newton-Conover 751
Draughn 723

Hickory was on the bubble last season, flirting with going 3A but in the end did wind up as the #1 seed in 3AA. But with another drop in ADM (in 2007 Hickory's ADM was 1,265) my cyphering has the Red Tornadoes just missing the cutoff for 3AA.

St. Stephens will definitely go into the 3AA West again this season. There is also no question that Fred T. Foard will go into the 3A West. Based on what I've seen so far, I believe that Hickory will join Foard in the 3A West bracket.

I said this time last week that Hickory needed to win out in order to clinch the CVAC's second automatic playoff berth. Bandys came through for us by tagging Saint with a third conference loss. That means that the Indians will probably wind up with four CVAC losses. And the way that Maiden is playing right now they could also knock off the Indians. In fact I wouldn't even consider that an upset anymore.

But even if Hickory doesn't get an automatic berth they are still almost guaranteed a wildcard berth. It would take three straight losses to keep Hickory out altogether. At worst Hickory should finish 6-5 overall and 5-4 in the CVAC. For seeding purposes the loss to Statesville will be dropped. Which means that Hickory would be considered to have a 6-4 record, including five conference wins. That will be more than enough to get into the dance.

A Hickory win tonight against Hibriten would set up the Tornadoes to go into the playoffs with an "adjusted record" of 7-3. The significance of that would be a higher seed and (in theory) a more manageable first-round opponent. I don't see Hickory getting a home game in the first round this year. So get ready to travel.

And where will the Tornadoes travel to? Assuming that I'm right that Hickory is destined for the 3A West bracket and based on current information (prior to tonight's make-up games) I estimate that Hickory's first-round opponent will be one of the following:

West Rowan
Fred T. Foard
Anson County
Western Alamance
Asheville
North Buncombe

Just some Monday morning food for thought.

GO HICKORY!!

Getting back on track

Tonight the playoffs truly begin for our Red Tornadoes. Earlier this week I laid out a scenario that requires Hickory to plan on winning all four of its remaining games in order to finish ahead of St. Stephens in the final CVAC standings. Remember, the two teams must not finish in a tie because the tiebreaker goes to St. Stephens by virtue of last month's historic victory over Hickory.

The Red Tornadoes already have three CVAC losses. St. Stephens only has two. Hickory is favored to win three of its final games with next week's home game against Hibriten providing the big challenge. If Hickory goes 3-1 in the last four games and St. Stephens goes 3-1 (assuming a loss to Fred T. Foard in the season finale) then the Indians finish a game ahead of Hickory. If St. Stephens goes 2-2 and Hickory goes 3-1 then they finish in a tie, which is the same as a win for the Indians.

Of course it is possible, perhaps even likely, that Hickory will get a wildcard spot in the playoffs. Generally speaking, a team needs to have four wins in order to qualify for a wildcard berth. But the bottom line, of course, is that the brackets must be filled. Teams with only three wins have made the playoffs in the past. So if the final four games don't quite work out the way I have described, the Red Tornadoes can still go. It's just not guaranteed and you can expect to see Hickory go on the road to face one of West's top teams.

But there is only one priority tonight: Just win baby!

Did Grandview win? Yep.

Did Northview win? Yep.

Did the JV win? Duh!

Now it's time for the varsity to get in there and take care of business. Then we'll see where we are when the night is over.