While Hickory's win against East Lincoln wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. The Red Tornadoes narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past the Mustangs 31-28. The Red Tornadoes haven't had any issues with the Mustangs recently, as the game was their third consecutive win against them.
Ronan Nieland
| 10/17/25 @ East Lincoln | 214 |
| 09/12/25 @ Newton-Conover | 101 |
| 10/10/25 @ West Iredell | 88 |
| 08/29/25 vs Alexander Central | 59 |
| 09/19/25 vs Foard | 41 |
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Hickory to victory, but perhaps none more so than Ronan Nieland, who picked up 214 receiving yards and four scores. Those 214 receiving yards gave Nieland a new career-high. Another signal caller making a difference was Maddox McRee, who threw for 342 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 15.5 yards per attempt.
When it comes to explaining why East Lincoln lost on Friday, don't look at Grant Lawless. Despite the final result, he threw for 274 yards and three TDs on only 19 passes, and also rushed for 43 yards. Tyson Maggs also helped out with an impressive 82 receiving yards.
Hickory's victory bumped their record up to 8-1. As for East Lincoln, their loss was their first of the season and also makes their record 8-1.
We've got plenty of inter-conference action coming up soon. Hickory is set to challenge their familiar foe Bandys at 7:00 p.m. on the 31st. Meanwhile, East Lincoln will square off against rival Maiden at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The two teams might be coming in a bit winded given these two teams combined for 880 yards in their previous games.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
