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Hickory's Brady Stober, 10, runs to the outside to get by South Caldwell's Eli Good, 34, Friday in Hudson. Stober completed 15 of 21 passes for 276 yards and five touchdowns as the Red Tornadoes defeated the Spartans by a 53-27 final.
Hickory's Isaiah Lackey, 34, runs down the sideline while South Caldwell's Garrett Ashley, 8, attempts a tackle from behind Friday in Hudson.
HUDSON — During the opening half of Friday night’s football game, South Caldwell had an answer for every Hickory touchdown. But in the second half, the visiting Red Tornadoes exploded for five touchdowns on their way to a 53-27 win over the Spartans.
Sophomore quarterback Brady Stober completed 15 of 21 passes for 276 yards and five scores to lead Hickory’s offensive attack, with fellow sophomore Damarion Lee hauling in six receptions for 121 yards and two TDs and junior Dashawn Medley catching five passes for 91 yards and a TD. Tenth grader Isaiah Lackey paced the Red Tornadoes on the ground with 17 carries for 93 yards and a score.
On the other side, South Caldwell did most of its damage on the ground. Junior Suan Moore finished with 136 yards and two TDs on 19 carries, while fellow junior Anderson Raynor had three completions for 58 yards and a score and senior JB Robbins had two catches for 45 yards and a TD.
According to Hickory coach Joe Glass, the key to the Red Tornadoes’ second-half spurt was “not making stupid mistakes.” After the defense gave up a couple of long passes and a kickoff return for a TD in the opening half, it settled down in the second half as the offense pulled away from South Caldwell despite missing four defensive starters and playing small up front.
“That wasn’t our defensive line. We don’t have anybody left,” said Glass of playing only two defensive linemen all night. “So I can’t say enough about Kevin Puga, Jacob Miller, Anthony Bravo and Deke Young because the game plan we had was to kind of get small and try to get up under their guards to keep them from pulling, and they did everything we needed them to. ... Those guys are running backs and linebackers and we’re just trying to do whatever we can, we’re banged up so bad right now with injuries so we just kind of do what we can.”
Hickory (1-1) never trailed on Friday, although South Caldwell tied the contest on three occasions in the first half. The Red Tornadoes struck for a TD on the second play from scrimmage when Stober hooked up with Medley for a 60-yard pass, but a bobbled snap on the point-after attempt led to a failed 2-point conversion pass that left Hickory’s advantage at 6-0.
The Spartans (1-1) put together a scoring drive of their own later in the opening quarter. Following a 39-yard run from Tyler Eggers two plays earlier, Moore broke multiple tackles on his way to a 32-yard TD run. However, a penalty on the initial point-after attempt pushed South Caldwell back 5 yards, with Hickory blocking the second try to keep the game tied at 6-all with 4:45 remaining in the first period.
The Red Tornadoes countered with their second TD drive, moving the ball 65 yards in nine plays and scoring on a 5-yard run from Ellis Chappell with 35.5 seconds left in the first quarter. Hickory also converted the ensuing 2-point conversion when Jamarion Hewitt ran to the left and crossed the goal line for a 14-6 lead.
A 20-yard TD pass from Raynor to Robbins at the 9:06 mark of the second quarter was followed by a 2-point conversion pass by the same combination, but Hickory’s Stober registered his second scoring strike of the night just under seven minutes later when he found Lee for a 30-yard completion that was followed by Josh Tyree’s extra point. However, South Caldwell’s Moore galloped into the end zone just 16 seconds later to cap a 90-yard kickoff return, with Andrew Pruette adding the extra point to even the score at 21-all entering halftime.
After a three-and-out by South Caldwell to open the third quarter, Hickory took a 28-21 lead on a 26-yard TD pass from Stober to Tyquan Hill and the ensuing extra point by Tyree midway through the period. The Spartans tried their second fake punt of the contest on the next drive — the first one went for a 16-yard run and a first down by Moore — but Moore was stopped after a 4-yard gain, giving the ball to the Red Tornadoes on the Spartans’ 15-yard line, from where Lackey scored on the next play to increase the lead to 34-21.
An interception by the Red Tornadoes’ Jayden Maddox on the Spartans’ next series led to a 62-yard TD pass from Stober to Lee with 1:03 left in the third quarter, and Tyree pushed the advantage to 41-21 with another successful extra point. Hickory committed its only turnover on an interception by South Caldwell’s Bryson Genwright early in the fourth, but got the ball back two plays later when it recovered a fumble at the Spartans’ 3 and crossed the goal line on a short run from Chappell shortly thereafter.
After a 19-yard TD scamper from Moore broke Hickory’s streak of 26 unanswered points with 4:31 to play, the Red Tornadoes responded with a 19-yard score of their own. Following runs of 28 and 4 yards from Maddox, Stober found Tayshawn Wright for his fifth and final TD pass at the 2:51 mark. An interception by Hickory’s Will Prince on the second play of the ensuing drive gave the ball back to the visitors, who took three kneel-downs to run out the clock.
“He’s a special kid, he really is,” said Glass of Stober’s play, pointing out that he's easy for offensive coordinator Mike Natoli to coach. “So he did a great job, especially hitting D-Lee on that one to kind of put everything to rest.
“We’ve got to get healthy,” he added. “It’s still a day-by-day situation, we’re still not healthy. ... We’ve got to get back healthy and make it work.”
Hickory hosts Newton-Conover next Friday, while South Caldwell will also be at home for a matchup with the Hickory Hawks.
H — Dashawn Medley 60-yard pass from Brady Stober (pass failed), 11:29
SC — Suan Moore 32-yard run (kick blocked), 4:45
H — Ellis Chappell 5-yard run (Jamarion Hewitt run), :35
SC — JB Robbins 20-yard pass from Anderson Raynor (Robbins pass from Raynor), 9:06
H — Damarion Lee 30-yard pass from Stober (Josh Tyree kick), 2:11
SC — Moore 90-yard kick return (Andrew Pruette kick), 1:55
H — Tyquan Hill 26-yard pass from Stober (Tyree kick), 5:17
H — Isaiah Lackey 15-yard run (run failed), 4:16
H — Lee 62-yard pass from Stober (Tyree kick), 1:03
H — Chappell 1-yard run (run failed), 8:09
SC — Moore 19-yard run (run failed), 4:31
H — Tayshawn Wright 19-yard pass from Stober (kick failed), 2:51
First Downs: Hickory 14, South Caldwell 11
Rushes-yards: Hickory 36-160, South Caldwell 39-203
Comp-Att-Int: Hickory 15-21-1, South Caldwell 3-15-2
Passing yards: Hickory 276, South Caldwell 58
Fumbles-Lost: Hickory 1-0, South Caldwell 1-1
Penalties-yards: Hickory 6-70, South Caldwell 10-57
RUSHING — Hickory: Isaiah Lackey 17-93 and 1 TD, Jayden Maddox 2-32, Dashawn Medley 4-27, Brady Stober 7-16, Ellis Chappell 3-6 and 2 TDs, Team 3-(-14). South Caldwell: Suan Moore 19-136 and 2 TDs, Tyler Eggers 3-50, Garrett Ashley 6-9, Anderson Raynor 11-8.
PASSING — Hickory: Stober 15-21-1 for 276 yards and 5 TDs. South Caldwell: Raynor 3-15-2 for 58 yards and 1 TD.
RECEIVING — Hickory: Damarion Lee 6-121 and 2 TDs, Medley 5-91 and 1 TD, Tyquan Hill 2-30 and 1 TD, Tayshawn Wright 1-19 and 1 TD, Jamarion Hewitt 1-15.
Josh McKinney is the sports editor for the Hickory Daily Record.
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Hickory Daily Record photographer David Scearce took photos during Friday's varsity football game between Hickory and South Caldwell in Hudson.
Hickory's Brady Stober, 10, runs to the outside to get by South Caldwell's Eli Good, 34, Friday in Hudson. Stober completed 15 of 21 passes for 276 yards and five touchdowns as the Red Tornadoes defeated the Spartans by a 53-27 final.
Hickory's Isaiah Lackey, 34, runs down the sideline while South Caldwell's Garrett Ashley, 8, attempts a tackle from behind Friday in Hudson.
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