In Their Own Words - Voices of the PAC-6 - Hillside vs. Northern (11/11/2010)

So much was on the line this past Friday night for the Knights and Hornets and with such a big game in front of both, only one could grab the ultimate prize.  With a convincing 38-6 [DFBFan Pick - Hillside 20, Northern 10] victory the Hornets captured an undefeated regular season and more importantly sole possession of the PAC-6 conference crown.  The Hornets, powered by Shrine Bowl selectee and Georgia Tech recruit Vad Lee, took charge early and often behind a powerful running attack that saw Lee rush for over 100 yards including a dazzling first half run where he split Northern defenders on either side to set-up an early score.  The Hornet attack complemented a brutal rushing attack with surgical air strikes to the tune of 161 yards on just 18 attempts.  Defensively, Hillside swarmed the Knight offense and kept a previously consistent rushing attack in check while limiting Northern's passing attack until a few plays late in the game made the stat sheet a bit more respectable.

Numbers don't always tell all of the story and Friday night was a good example.  In our breakdown of the game [PAC-6 Breakdown (Week 7) - Hornets visit Knights - One Game - Bull City Crown at Stake] we focused in our Final Analysis on the fact that the first quarter of play would be a huge determining factor in the outcome of the game, not so much in the score, but in the tone of the game.  Hillside set the tone early and the Knights although they were able to move the ball on the ground in small spurts were never able to put together a consistent drive early to combat an offensive showcase by the Hornets.  Momentum was slowly moving the Hornets way even in the first quarter and with each additional score or big play by the Hornets you could tell that  picking up first downs for the Knights seemed like a 20 yard chore as opposed to 10, at least in the minds of those trying to accomplish that goal.

The Hornets rushed for over 250 yards officially, but had close to 50 yards negated in the final few drives when the back-ups entered the game (due to issues in the quarterback and center shot-gun exchanges).  On the flip side, the Hornet defense limited the Knights to less than 50 yards of total offense deep into the game before a few late game strikes by the Knights pushed their passing total over 100 yards.  This game was won early and in many ways was not as close as the 32 point differential indicated.

For the Hornets as they move forward, penalties and turnovers continue to be a potential issue.  Multiple fumbles and countless unforced mental lapses that led to penalties for the Hornets have been with this team throughout the year and with the playoffs starting this week have to be corrected for this team to reach their ultimate goal.  The Knights struggled to pass the ball all night and it was clear that their comfort zone is on the ground spreading their opponent out and running the ball, but too many second and third and long situations exposed the Knights' passing game and allowed the Hornets to capitalize defensively.  The Hornet defense is one of the best the Knights will see and as the game wore on Northern was able to pick up some plays through the air, something they'll have to use as momentum as they move forward into the first round of the playoffs.

The Knights finish the regular season as the third place finisher in conference and received an automatic bid to the playoffs [Selection Saturday (TODAY) - PAC-6 Playoff Picture & More].  They'll play at home this Friday evening against Lee County out of the Tri-Nine conference.  The  Hornets took the overall top seed in Eastern side of the 4A bracket and will begin their march to a state championship this Friday night against Southeast Guilford out of the Metro conference.  The quotes are from the voices of the PAC-6 and were included in articles from the Durham Herald-Sun and News and Observer.  For more information on the game, follow the links provided at the end of the post.

After capturing sole possession of the PAC-6 crown, Hillside head coach Antonio King spoke about what his team has accomplished to-date.

"We're outright champs at 11-0.  It's the best record in school history," King said. "Of course, the 1943 team was 8-0 but they didn't play 11 games.  This is what we set out for.  We can enjoy until Sunday when we have to start thinking about the playoffs."

Hillside quarterback Vad Lee had a dynamic performance on Friday night tallying over 300 yards of total offense and he spoke about what it meant to be outright conference champions for 2010.

"This one is special," Lee said.

"When we won it my sophomore year [2008] we shared it with two other teams so it wasn't as special," Lee said. "This one, we know we're the best team in the PAC-6.  I'm happy for all my teammates to have this experience.  We're just getting better and better every week."

Northern head coach Anthony Sullivan knew going into his teams regular season finale that in order to share the conference crown they would need to play one of their top games of the year and he spoke afterward about the game.

"They came in 10-0 and you're not undefeated this late for no reason," Sullivan said.  "We had to play our 'A' game tonight and we didn't do it.  We knew we had to take care of the football and put together some drives and get some stops defensively. I know it sounds basic but we knew we couldn't give them too many opportunities."

The Durham Herald-Sun (article by Joe Johnson)
News & Observer (article by Terry Hill)