Football Preview: North Lincoln Knights vs. Hickory Red Tornadoes
The North Lincoln Knights will venture away from home to challenge the Hickory Red Tornadoes at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Both teams are still undefeated (North Lincoln has four wins , while Hickory has 20 dating back to last season).
North Lincoln will bounce into Monday's game after beating Statesville, who they hadn't topped in six consecutive meetings. North Lincoln blew past Statesville 39-14 on Friday. Given the Knights' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina football rankings (they are ranked 33rd, while the Greyhounds are ranked 90th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Shannon Wingate was his usual excellent self, rushing for 151 yards and four touchdowns. His rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his fourth straight game with at least 151 rushing yards dating back to last season. Landen Agee handled things on the ground, rushing for 88 yards.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: North Lincoln was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 331 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 177 rushing yards in 14 consecutive matches dating back to last season.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to North Lincoln's defense and their four sacks. Brady Rinkus was particularly dangerous to the passing game, picking up twohimself.
Meanwhile, Hickory made easy work of East Lincoln on Friday and carried off a 42-21 win. Fans of the Red Tornadoes have seen this all before: every one of the games they've played this season has ended in a blowout of 20+ points.
Isaiah Lackey continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 164 yards and four touchdowns. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 104 rushing yards per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Brady Stober, who threw for 230 yards and two touchdowns while completing 87.5% of his passes.
North Lincoln pushed their record up to 4-0 with the victory, which was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season. As for Hickory, their record is now 4-0.
North Lincoln might still be hurting after the 48-28 defeat they got from Hickory when the teams last played back in November of 2023. Can North Lincoln avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
