The Hibriten Panthers, returning from a bye week, made their debut in the new Northwestern 3A-4A Conference and served notice that they will be a force to be reckoned with. Hibriten forced six turnovers by the Hickory en route to a 42-6 rout in the conference opener for both schools.
Hibriten (5-0, 1-0) ran wild, amassing 314 yards rushing with 10 different Panthers touching the ball with three players gaining 65 or more yards.
The Panthers opened up the game with an 8-play, 80-yard drive with four different runners making first downs on the drive. After a tough 34-yard run by Tripp Patterson to the 2-yard line, he finished the drive with a 2-yard TD run for a 7-0 lead.
Hickory (2-3, 0-1) stormed back down the field with a lengthy drive of their own as Shaquan Reid and Corey Stinson combined for 49 of the Red Tornadoes' 54 yards rushing, to Hibriten's 19-yard line.
Tyler Barnette then threw a pass to the left flat into the waiting arms of Panthers' cornerback Darius Lipford, who sprinted untouched for an 83-yard interception return for a TD.
On Hickory's next possession, Barnette threw his second interception, this time by Josh Dula. Hibriten took advantage of the miscue and drove 72 yards on 7-plays. A personal foul call by Hickory on a run by Tyler Harshaw set the Panthers up on the Red Tornadoes' 33-yard line. From there, Kaylen Pearson took a pitch and sped past the defense to the 13-yard line. Two plays later, Leo Guevara punched it in from the three for a 21-0 lead.
Hibriten pushed the lead up to 28-0 on the next possession as Michael Isbell hit Josh Dula on the for a 57-yard touchdown pass with 7:11 remaining in the first half.
With a layoff of 17 days since their previous game, Panthers' head coach Chuck Cannon was pleased with how his team responded. "We were really worried about that," said Cannon. "Then I was concerned about the delay. We had fresh legs and were ready to play."
For Hickory, also returning from a bye week, the results were devastating to Coach John Worley. "We got outplayed, got outcoached, and got beat in every facet of the ballgame. There was nothing positive about that game."
Hickory opened the second half at the Panthers' 35-yard line after a 40-yard return by Ferrious Anderson and a personal foul by Hibriten. The Red Tornadoes drove the ball to the 4-yard line before Lipford corralled his second interception of the night, as Barnette's pass bounced of a receiver in the end zone.
From there Hibriten put together an 80-yard drive, keyed by a 41-yard run by Pearson, before Guevara scored his second TD of the night on a 5-yard run.
Hickory scored their only touchdown of the night on the next possession as TJ Wimbush put together a pair of 20-yard runs, the second for a TD to cut the lead to 35-6 after a missed PAT.
However, Hibriten returned the favor on an 8-play 72-yard drive, with Harshaw scoring from 3 yards out after a 26-yard run from Guevara.
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