Sam Kirkland and the Hornets Win Big in Hickory
It was a windy, rainy, storm-ridden night, my friends, as I traveled to South Chesapeake to see the Deep Creek Hornets play the Hickory Hawks in a game that could well decide who makes the playoffs and who does not.
Sam Kirkland is an impressive athlete who scored the game winner in this game.
I'm sitting in the stands for this game under a little bit of cover because standing on the sidelines for this game would be akin to swimming right now. Perfect weather for smash mouth, pound-out-yards-on-the-ground football. John Madden should be calling this game so that he could repeatedly point out how tough the players are and how much he loves seeing them slop around in the mud.
The two teams spend the first quarter of action feeling out the weather and each other's defense as neither team appears to be able to get into a rhythm. End of a very quickly played first quarter, we're tied at 0-0.
Sidebar: I love some of the time-honored traditions of high school football -- players breaking through the cheerleader's paper sign, coaches patting their kids on the helmets after plays, and cheerleaders plastering the stands with signs. Speaking of that, I doubt that there is a cheerleading staff in the state as artistically prolific as the Hickory girls. The stands literally look like the outfield fences at a Single A baseball stadium. There are signs everywhere and many of them are really well done.
Back to the action, Deep Creek has scored. An eight-yard run by Sedrick Jones in the second quarter gives the Hornets a 7-0 lead.
A muffed punt by Hickory inside their own 5-yard line is recovered by Deep Creek which they promptly turn into a 3-yard touchdown run by fullback Calvin Wilson. Given the weather conditions and the way the Hornets defense has played tonight, fourteen points may be completely insurmountable.
Then again, Hickory may have just caught a break. A bad snap on a punt by Deep Creek has given the ball to Hickory deep in Hornets territory late in the second quarter. That could be just the break the Hawks needed because sometimes it just takes one score to open the floodgates.
Hickory fails to score on three attempts and elects to go for it on fourth down from the Deep Creek one. Fullback Giavanni Ruffin scores, but there's a flag on the field. Offsides, Deep Creek, but the touchdown does not count.
High School Football Rules 101, Lesson 22: When encroachment is called, the play is immediately dead regardless of what happens. Unlike pro football, there is no "free play" if you draw the other team offsides.
Hickory is stuffed on their second fourth down try and the kid who jumped offside has instantly become a nominee for the Player of the Game award. "That was the best penalty that we've had in a while," Deep Creek Coach David Cox would later say after the game.
Sidebar: After a scrambling play on the field, the public address announcer just made a reference to Fran Tarkenton which probably led over 100 kids on the field to say, "Who?!?". Might have wanted to go with a Michael Vick or Steve young reference there. Also, getting old stinks.
Outside of the excitement generated by a scramble, nothing happened in the third quarter. Really. Deep Creek leads 14-0 entering the fourth.
A Deep Creek field goal makes the score 17-0 early in the quarter.
Hold on. Hickory just got a touchdown from Logan Tillery on a three-yard run to get within ten. 17-7.
Sam Kirkland knifes through the Hickory defense for a 46-yard touchdown run with six minutes to play to salt the game away as the score now stands 24-7.
Recruiting note: I'm not sure which schools are chasing Sam Kirkland these days, but he'll be a great pick up for someone. I don't think that he will get a shot at playing quarterback at the next level, but his athleticism is evident. He runs well, is very shifty, and has been on the money with his throws. He'll likely end up at defensive back at the next level, but coming from QB, he'll have a nice working knowledge of the game.
Hickory's got more fight than Rocky Balboa [the PA announcer will appreciate the dated reference] as they've just scored on a Tillery one-yard run to cut the deficit to ten at 24-14.
I'm down on the field now. It's raining hard. Should I have just stayed home? Nah. This is a pretty good game, I spent some time with friends, and I like football in this weather.
Lookout! A Hornets fumble is recovered by Hickory and their offense took advantage by hitting a 35-yard scoring pass down the seam from QB Brian Inghram to tight end Matt Shick. A failed two-point conversation makes it 24-19 with 1:14 to play.
The ensuing onsides kick is recovered by Deep Creek. Time to take a knee and shake hands.
Good win for the Hornets.
"We came out and played good football, but a couple of blown coverages against a good football team is all that it takes to make it close," said Coach David Cox in our post game chat, "that kids' a good quarterback and when you give him a wide open receiver, he's going to hit him."
How does the coach sum up his own team thus far this season?
"We've got some gritty kids though. We're just playing hard-nosed football. There's nothing flashy about it and we're just finding ways to win. We're obviously not moving the ball the way that we want to, but we're not beating ourselves."
