Football Preview: Hickory Red Tornadoes vs. West Iredell Warriors
Hickory is 3-0 against West Iredell since October of 2021, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Hickory Red Tornadoes will host the West Iredell Warriors at 7:30 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Hickory has 23 straight victories, West Iredell has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Last Friday, everything came up roses for Hickory on the road against North Iredell as the squad secured a 44-6 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.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Hickory to victory, but perhaps none more so than Jaheem Jenkins, who rushed for 80 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries. The team also got some help courtesy of Brady Stober, who threw for 213 yards and three touchdowns on only 17 passes.
Hickory wouldn't let North Iredell keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force three fumbles. It was truly a group effort as Tylar Johnson, Brett Rowland, and Carter Toney picked up one apiece. The dominant performance also gave Johnson a new career-high in rushing yards.
Meanwhile, Friday just wasn't the day for West Iredell's offense. They came up short against Statesville on Friday, falling 26-0. While losing is never fun, the Warriors can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina football rankings (they are ranked 282nd, while the Greyhounds are ranked 79th).
Hickory's victory was their ninth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 7-0. As for West Iredell, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-4.
Hickory took their win against West Iredell in their previous matchup back in October of 2023 by a conclusive 51-27. Will Hickory repeat their success, or does West Iredell have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
