Hickory Tornadoes 2023 Stats:
QB Brady Stober has gone 187-265 passing for 3,318 yards with 42 TDs/2 INT./70.6% Pass Completion Rate
RB Isaiah Lackey 227 carries for 1,527 yards and 31 TDs…12 receptions for 180 yards…
RB Tylar Johnson 49 carries for 325 yards and 1 TD…
WR Jamien Little with 51 receptions for 1,129 yards with 16 TDs…
WR Deshawn Medley has 46 receptions for 746 yards and 9 TDs
WR Ellis Chappell with 36 receptions for 649 yards and 10 TDs
WR Damarion Lee with 33 receptions for 533 yards and 6 TDs…
LB Turner Wood with 157 Tackles/16 TFL/3 Sacks/3 QB Hurries/1 Interception/4 Pass Deflections
LB Tristan Williams with 144 Tackles/7 TFL/4 Sacks/4 QB Hurries/2 Interceptions/2 Fumble Recoveries/1 Caused Fumble
LB Jake Horyza with 105 Tackles/4 TFL/4 Sacks/2 QB Hurries/2 Interceptions/6 Pass Deflections
DE Quenshea Abernathy with 66 Tackles/5 TFL/14 QB Hurries/2 Sacks/3 Pass Deflections
CB Will Prince with 4 Interceptions/61 Total Tackles/1 Fumble Recovery/1 Caused Fumble
A look at the Hickory Tornadoes’ win over West Henderson in the 3-A West Regional Semifinal game at Hickory last Friday night, from Jason Koon, at the Hickory Record:CLICK HERE for the photos…
Hickory High’s football team is one win away from a state title game.
“We’re going to regionals!” That’s what one enthusiastic member of the Hickory marching band shouted over and over as the clock wound down in Frank Barger Stadium on Friday night. Hickory’s 28-16 win over the West Henderson Falcons (13-1) in the fourth round of the 3A state playoffs means Hickory (14-0) will be playing in the team’s first west regional finals since 1996.
The Falcons were trailing 14-3 midway through the third quarter. The Hickory defense forced West Henderson to punt when Will Prince broke up a deep pass attempt on third-and-long. Prince also ended and earlier offensive series when he intercepted Falcons’ quarterback Cade Young.
Jamien Little fielded the punt for Hickory near midfield and ran to the West Henderson the 23. That was when Isaiah Lackey went into what Hickory fans call Beast Mode. The 220-pound junior running back took the direct snap, crashing into the line of scrimmage and moving the pile forward for a big gain. Within two plays, Lackey had rumbled forward for enough yardage to give Hickory a first and goal on the 10-yard line.
Lackey picked up a couple yards on the next play, but he went down hard and slowly made is way toward the sideline.
Without Lackey, Hickory went to the air. On third down, quarterback Brady Stober found Little on the 2-yard line. Little slipped past a defender and into the end zone to give Hickory a commanding 21-3 lead.
Lackey wouldn’t stay out of the game long. He and the rest of the Hickory offense was back on the field after Tristan Williams came up with another interception a few plays later. It was the third interception West Henderson quarterback Cade Young had thrown in the game.
Lackey took the handoff on first down and pounded the ball forward for seven yards. On second down, he broke loose, going 35 yards for the touchdown. West Henderson was able to put two touchdowns on the board in the fourth quarter, but it wouldn’t be enough. Hickory held on for the win.
Stober threw for 120 yards and two touchdowns on 15 of 22 passing. He was also intercepted twice and sacked three times. Lackey ran for 100 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries and Little scored twice, picking up six receptions and 54 yards along the way.
On defense, Prince, Ellis Chappell and Tristian Williams all notched interceptions. Williams also recovered a fumble on a key first quarter play to stop a West Henderson drive. Hickory’s Jake Horyza seemed to be everywhere, stopping West Henderson ball carriers in their tracks and picking up key third and fourth down stops to preserve the Hickory lead.
Questions answered
There were a lot of questions coming into the game for Hickory. First, how would the high-powered Red Tornadoes’ offense fare against a stingy West Henderson defense that has held opponents to an average of 10 points per game this season?
Hickory answered quickly. Ellis Chappell took the opening kickoff 42 yards to start the first drive at the West Henderson 32-yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, Stober tossed a 32-yard touchdown pass to Little. Only 16 seconds had ticked off the clock, and the Red Tornadoes were up 7-0.
West Henderson made some adjustments from there, slowing the Hickory down and holding them to the fewest points they had scored all year. Still, 28 was more than enough for Hickory to advance.
Defense
Does Hickory have enough defense to win a state title? That was another question the Red Tornadoes answered emphatically on Friday night. Hickory has scored practically at will against every opponent this season, but defense has been a question on more than one occasion. This week, head coach Joe Glass said they made some adjustments.
“We knew we had to make some changes to some of the stuff we were doing,” he said. “We played less zone. We feel like, athletically, we were just as quick as them, maybe even a little bit faster, so we felt like we could play some man.”
It worked. Hickory shut down running back Carson Dimsdale, one of the top 3A backs in the state. He came into the game averaging 160 yards per game. Hickory gave him just 52.
Overall, Hickory shut down the Falcons, blanketing defensive backs, clogging the middle, hitting hard, wrapping up and following through.
“The kids played gritty and came up and we got a win,” he said.
Up next
Hickory will face the undefeated Dudley Panthers in the west regional finals next Friday in Hickory. Dudley, a Greensboro high school, comes into the game off of a 46-34 road win over the West Region’s top-seeded Crest High School. Dudley has been dominant all year, rolling through regular season by an average score of 54-6.
On offense, Dudley is led by a balanced core of receivers and backs. Eight different Panthers have visited the end zone at least five times this season and quarterback Andrew Attmore II has racked up 51 touchdown passes and more than 3,700 yards. On the other side of the ball, defensive end Sa’mad Bell is the state 3A leader in sacks with 17.