In Their Own Words - Voices of the PAC-6 - Jordan vs. Hillside (10/19/2010)

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." seems to be fitting for Friday night's game between the visiting Falcons and Hornets, although I think the words could easily be changed for the Falcons to say - "It was the best of halves, it was the worst of halves..."  The Falcons, capitalizing on turnovers and a long kick-off return by T.J. Thorpe, scored twice in the first half to keep pace with the undefeated Hornets.  But the second half was a different story as the Falcons turned the ball over leading in part to a monsterous 20 point third quarter and an eventual Hillside victory to move to 8-0 overall and 3-0 in conference play.  In our preview of the game [PAC-6 Breakdown (Week 4) - Falcons visit Hornets - The Alamo visits Your Destiny] one of the most obvious facts heading into the contest was the Falcons' contrasting rushing statistics between their wins and losses.  In their wins they had moved the ball effectively, while in their losses they had managed to barely break the line of scrimmage per attempt.  This is something that Coach Briggs has discussed after previous games [In Their Own Words - Voices of the PAC-6 - Southern vs. Jordan (10/13/2010)]. On Friday night, the Hornet defense ranked first in the league against the rush, came to play and limited the Falcons to just 28 total rushing yards.  On the other side of the ball, the Falcon defense was ranked number one against the pass and they didn't disappoint allowing Hillside just 60 yards through the air.  But in the final analysis the Hornets were able to run the ball to the tune of over 300 yards, consistent with how they've performed in the past, and the Falcons, as has been the case earlier in the season, yielded the majority of their points in the second half to the opposition.  The following quotes are from the voices of the PAC-6 and were included in articles from the News and Observer and Durham Herald-Sun.  For more information on the game, follow the links provided at the end of the post.

Going into the game, Coach King commented on how the Hornets approached the game offensively and how that yielded over 300 yards on the ground.

"We wanted to come out and show we can run the ball," Hillside coach Antonio King said. "For some reason, our conference foes want to call us soft.  We wanted to show people that we can run with anybody."

In many ways the Hornets were two different ball clubs between the first and second half.  Early in the game the Hornets opted to go for a fourth down conversion in their own territory as opposed to punting the ball and  Coach King commented on this decision and its eventual ramifications.

"My quarterback thought we could do it so I trusted him and made the call," King said. "It put our defense in a bad predicament and [Jordan] scored. [Later] they got a good kickoff return."

With the score tied 14 all going into halftime, Coach King commented on how he responded.

"I can't really repeat what I said at halftime," King said. 

One of the Hornet's leading defenders during the 2010 season, Treshawn Council spoke about how the coaches counseled the Hornets during the break as they prepared to play a different type of ball in the second half.

"The coaches told us we weren't playing our game," Hillside linebacker Treshawn Council said. "We came out and took care of what we had to do in the second half.  That was the real Hillside in the second half.  The first half, I don't know, that was a fluke."

After staying close in the first half, things didn't go so well for the visiting Falcons in the second half and head coach Mike Briggs spoke about the flow of the game and the outlook for the Falcons as they move forward next week against Person and further.

"We played them tough in the first half and I think we could have played them tough in the second half if it hadn't been for those turnovers," Briggs said. "They're a very good football team and we hung right there with them.  We've lost to three very good teams in a row.  We've had troubles in the second half against them but it's not like we've gotten blown out.  If we keep fighting, we can still do some things to finish the season."

Hillside head coach Antonio King made clear his disappointment in the number of turnovers the Hornet's had and it's clear that for Coach King that moving forward not simply in the PAC-6, but further into the playoffs will require the Hornets to play a cleaner style of play from start to finish.  Even with the miscues the reality is that the Hornets came away with the ultimate prize on Friday night, their third win in conference play to zero defeats.

"I'm still upset about the turnovers," King said.  "Early on we just missed a couple of plays.  But to leave with a 20-point victory and shut a team out in the second half again, I'll take it."

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