Have heard the old saying many times over, and to hear it when you are on the wrong end, well it never stops stinging….But I heard it before and I am sure I will hear it again….The guy that said it must have read it, off of site for sad slogans, ’cause this one never stops ringing, and it never stops stinging…
You know that old saying, and how it goes….”You Can’t Win Them All”….Sometimes, you just look back, and the reality of that statement starts to seep in…
“You Can’t Win Them All”…And the Dudley Panthers finish their season with a (14-1) record in 2023…One point away from a Tie…Just two points away from a win/victory, as the Dudley Panthers football team falls 42-41, at the hands of the Hickory Tornadoes/Crawdads, on Friday night at Frank Barger Stadium, at Hickory High School…..
It was on the David Elder Field, where the Panthers fell, and this was one of those back-and-fourth ball games, that felt like it would go the direction of the last team to have the football…In fact Hickory scored with just 1:36 left in the football game, and that Tornado TD pass from Hickory’s QB Brady Stober to Jamien Little was a real back-breaker for the Dudley Panthers…
With Hickory up 42-41 and just 1:36 left in somebody’s season, the Dudley Panthers still had a chance to be the team that would punch their ticket to Chapel Hill, for the 3-A Football State Championship…..
But the Dudley last possession drive stalled on Fourth Down and Five, and for the Dudley Panthers, their 2023 football season, and all of those dreams that went along with that season, they were gone….
For Dudley, the pill is bittersweet to swallow, but the Panthers had an outstanding 2023 campaign, and no need to slump over if you are the Dudley Panthers, because 2024 is just a few months away, and all Dudley needs to do is to find out who their starting QB is going to be, and the rest will get rolling…
The Panthers just need to find a new quarterback to replace graduating senior Andrew/Drew Attmore II, and that won’t be easy to do, but if you find that new QB, and upload his work approach, by connecting him with the Dudley returning lettermen, they you can’t help but win again…At (14-1) they’re shooting for even a better mark and finish, in 2024…..
And when you look and see who all Dudley has coming back for the 2024 season, you have to like what they will be bringing to the table in 2024…Set to return are:Nasir Newkirk, CJ Neely, Kordell Bartley, LJ Southern, Jayden Brown, Antonio Lee, Jerron Blackwell, and others…And all of the young men that I just named are part of the junior class, at James B. Dudley High School…
Find out who will be the new QB, and the future will start looking bright for the Dudley HS football team, in 2024…
And as far as this Friday night December 1 goes, all was tough, and Dudley just did not have enough time and temperature to roast those Tornadoes in the West Regional Final/Championship Game…
Dudley will get it rolling again, just like our man at the GreensboroSports.com said…Just got to find themselves a quarterback to go along with all of those wideouts, and receivers out of the backfield…
Strong effort by the Dudley Panthers in Hickory Friday night, and those were some super grabs by WR Nasir Newkirk on his two TD receptions….
It did not end up the way the Dudley Faithful wanted it to, but you do know how that old saying goes, “You Can’t Win Them All”, and it sure came into play today/tonight/Friday night in Hickory….
For Hickory, their BIG runningback, Isaiah Lackey just tore the house down, out there on the Tornado Turf this evening…That kid from Hickory was running for 212 yards on over 30 carries and Lackey was catching the football, and he was also out there passing the football, and leading his Tornado Team to Touchdowns….
Lackey was The Total Package for the Hickory Tornados….Lackey had the yards rushing, the yards receiving, and the yards passing in this game….Lackey must have taken at least 8 direct snaps from his Wildcat quarterback position…I would say Lackey was the difference in this game, for the Hickory Tornadoes…
Here is how the Game Scoring Went…
10:35 First Quarter Jamien Little caught a 19-yard TD pass from Brady Stober…Braedon McCourt PAT Kick is Good…Hickory 7, Dudley 0…First drive of the game, Hickory scores…
3:30 First Quarter Hickory kicker McCourt hits a 33-yard FG and gives Hickory a 10-0 lead over the Dudley Panthers…Hickory 10, Dudley 0
1:11 First Quarter Jayden Brown gets Dudley on the scoreboard, with his five-yard TD run, the PAT Kick from Andre Cummings was good…Hickory 10, Dudley 7
End of First Quarter:Hickory 10, Dudley 7
6:20 Second Quarter Dudley LB Robert McCollum recovered a Hickory punt in the Tornados endzone, Cummings kick for Dudley was good,
and score now, Dudley 14, Hickory 10…First lead of the game for the Dudley Panthers…
4:14 Second Quarter Tylar Johnson takes off for 22-yard TD run for Hickory….The PAT kick was blocked…Hickory 16, Dudley 14…
1:10 Second Quarter Hickory’s Dashawn Medley with a 30-yard TD pass from Stober…McCourt Kick was good…Hickory 23, Dudley 14…
Halftime:Hickory 23, Dudley 14
10:40 Third Quarter Kordell Bartley on 5-yard TD run for Dudley..Cummings kick was good…Hickory 23, Dudley 21…
4:15 Third Quarter Deke Young with a 5-yard pass from his QB Brady Stober…PAT was no good….Hickory 29, Dudley 21…
3:40 Third Quarter QB Drew Attmore runs the ball from 4 yards out, and Jayden’s Two-Point conversion run make the score, Dudley and Hickory are all tied up at 29-29…
End of Third Quarter:Dudley 29, Hickory 29
10:56 Fourth Quarter Hickory’s Lackey on 1-yard run for the TD, and the PAT Kick from McCourt is also good…Hickory 36, Dudley 29
9:24 Fourth Quarter Nasir Newkirk with a 37-yard TD pass from Attmore, plus the PAT attempt was No Good, So the score on the board reads, Hickory 36, Dudley 35…
7:25 Fourth Quarter Newkirk on the move again, after a 30-yard TD pass from Attmore….PAT play fails…Dudley 41, Hickory 36…The Dudley Panthers have a 41-36 lead, with just Minutes left in the contest….
1:36 Fourth Quarter Jamien Little with a 9-yard TD reception from his Hickory QB Brady Stober and the PAT fails…Hickory 42, Dudley 41…
Final Score:Hickory 42, Dudley 41
Dudley Numbers:
QB Drew Attmore was 13-27 for 240 yards passing for 2 TD’s/0 INT./1 TD rushing…
RB LJ Southern had 11 carries for 127 yards and 2 receptions for 29 yards…
RB Jayden Brown with 8 carries for 41 yards/1 TD…
WR Nasir Newkirk had 5 receptions for 106 yards/2 TDs…
WR CJ Neely with 3 receptions for 58 yards…
WR Kordell Bartley with 2 receptions for 46 yards and 1 TD…
A great run for the Dudley Panthers this season and they finish at (14-1), and what about the way the traffic was running coming back down I-40 and headed East on the way home from Hickory HS…Must have sat in a traffic backup for almost an hour on the other side of Statesville, and I wasn’t sure if we were ever gonna move again, but we did, and all got back safely, thankfully….Thankful for a successful high school football season in 2023, and it is now over, but the memories will linger a bit longer…It was fun, we have to run, we will do it all again in 2031….Nope, do it again, in 2024…..