Hickory football looks to complete fullcircle moment by bringing home 1st 3A championship crown since 1996 Red Tornadoes set to collide with Seventy-First at UNC Chapel Hill on Friday night
HICKORY, N.C. - Prior to the 2021 season, it was a rough time to be a Hickory Red Tornadoes varsity football fan.
A once notable force, the Red Torndaoes saw some cracks in the foundation during its run from 2014 through 2020.
Looking to fix the leak, Hickory High School made the decision to move on from its prior coaching regime and head into a new direction with former Lincolnton Wolves coach Joe Glass.
Glass took over the helm in 2021 and the program saw improvements from the outset.
Glass guided Hickory to a 7-5 overall mark that year, the program’s first winning season since 2012 (8-5). It also went 5-2 in the conference.
Prior to Glass’ arrival, the Red Tornadoes had backback 1-10 seasons in 2014 and 2015, a 2-9 mark in 2016, as well as an 0-7 mark in the shortened 2020-21 season.
During the 2021 campaign, the Red Tornadoes won its first 3A state playoff match-up since 2012 in a victory over Smoky Mountain, 37-34.
The following season in 2022, the Red Tornadoes finished with a 7-4 overall record and 5-2 once more in conference play. Thus, Glass and company led the program to its second-straight state playoff appearance.
Flash forward until now, the Red Tornadoes took that improvement and ran away with it in 2023.
Hickory will enter Friday’s North Carolina High School Athletic Association 3A state championship contest with an unblemished 15-0 record.
The Red Torndadoes finished the regular-season with a 7-0 Western Foothills 3A Conference record; they were crowned conference champs for the first time since the 2007 season when it finished 12-1 overall and 8-0 in conference action.
Hickory has had heavy contributors in every facet of the game in 2023, starting at the top with junior quarterback Brady Stober.
Stober was given the keys to the castle in 2022 and has handled it nicely. He has amassed 3,695 yards on a 220-for-313 outing which includes 47 passing touchdowns while only throwing four interceptions.
In the NCHSAA 3A West Regional, Stober and his team survived a stout Dudley program for a narrow 42-41 win.
Stober connected to junior receiver Jamien Little in the end zone inside the final two minutes to capture the lead.
Stober went 19-for-26 with 267 yards and three TDs, two of which went to Little.
Little obtained four receptions for 52 yards; however, junior Damarion Lee was the leading receiver with 69 yards on four grabs. Senior wide-out DeShawn Medley and junior Isaiah Lackey followed up with 55 yards eaach.
Lackey, the Red Tornadoes leading tailback, rushed for 182 yards and a TD on 37 carries. Lackey also connected on a 5-yard TD pass to senior Deke Young.
In the backfield, junior Tylar Johnson rushed once, but he made it count as he collected a 27-yard TD. He also corralled a reception from Stober for 24 yards.
Defensively, Johnson also paced the Red Tornadoes with 15 total tackles. The senior trio of Turner Wood, Tristian Williams and Henry Pitts followed suit with 11, 10 and nine total tacckles, respectively.
Wood, who was initially the starting quarterback in 2021 and part of 2022, has taken his job as a linebacker in stride. Wood has totaled a team-best 168 tackles including 69 solo, 17 tackles for a loss, three sacks and an interception.
In the game against Dudley, Pitts and senior Von Gwyn each had a sack. Gwyn rounded out with seven tackles.
The offensive and defensive savviness will be necessary up against an unbeaten Seventy-First squad (15-0). Kick-off in Chapel Hill is slated for 7 p.m.
Hickory’s Jamien Little (2, above) and Isaiah Lackey (34, below) against Dudley in the 3A West Regional.