On the Hornets' senior night, signal-caller and de facto leader, Vad Lee put on yet another show throwing for two scores and combining for over 200 yards of total offense. The numbers were simple going into the game; the Hornets had dominated almost every statistical category, while the Wildcats, especially on defense had struggled. The landscape was fertile for the picking and as we discussed in our breakdown [PAC-6 Breakdown (Week 6) - Wildcats visit Hornets - Halloween = Treat for Someone, Guess Who?] Coach King is one of the master conductors of his offensive symphony - the concerto for Friday was well planned - movement one portrayed the dominance of the Hornet rushing attack (over 13 YPC), movement two expounded on Lee's dual-threat ability with two early touchdown strikes and an impressive +12 YPA and movement three emphatically exclaimed the Hornets were ready when the opening whistle was sounded as they sped to 34 first quarter points.
The score could have arguably been much worse as Coach King opted to clear his bench to start the second half - giving time for back-ups to gain valued game-time experience. The Hillside offense dominated, but the swarm of the Hornet defense made a mark as well, eliminating the rushing attack of the Wildcats while contributing on the scoring end as well.
The Wildcats have lived off of the pass in their Air-Renner system and Jackson Boyer put up another admirable effort in lieu of injured starter Drew Davis, throwing for over 200 yards and connecting on a 48 yard strike in the fourth quarter that eliminated the shut-out.
For the Wildcats, with the playoffs out-of-reach, they'll close out the 2010 season against the Person Rockets this week, while the Hornets, even at 10-0 on the season have a monumental game this Friday against the upstart Knights of Northern Durham - win and you claim much more than simply the PAC-6 title - lose and chaos just might ensue. The following quotes are from the voices of the PAC-6 and were included in articles from the News and Observer and Herald Sun. For more information on the game, follow the links provided at the end of the post.
If there has been a potential weakness to the Hornets, it's been in the early game where mental miscues have mounted to create close affairs that probably should be anything but close. Coach King has commented on this in the past as recently as their game against Riverside [In Their Own Words - Voices of the PAC-6 - Hillside vs. Riverside (10/27/2010)] and it appeared clear on senior night that a message had been received that Hornet football is played for a full 48 minutes - nothing less.
"The guys were focused," King said. "It was senior night, their last official game at home and they just came out and did everything they were supposed to do."Early game domination by the Hornets created a situation that any coach would love to be in heading into halftime, a huge positive point differential with tons of time still to play. The opportunity to rest your first line players, coupled with valuable game-time experience for those behind them is huge and only the very best teams each year have this opportunity on multiple occasions. Coach King commented on this angle to Friday's game.
"At halftime, I told the guys we're going to play the back-ups," King said. "What do you tell your team when you're up 47-0 at halftime?"First year East Chapel Hill head coach and noted spread-guru Bill Renner spoke about his focus at halftime to his team and how they should approach the last 24 minutes of play. His words did not fall on deaf ears as the Wildcats continued to play and eventually scored in the fourth quarter to snatch a potential shut-out from the Hornets.
"I just asked them to keep battling," he said. "They did a good job of that."After taking care of business, Hillside finds themselves exactly where they wanted to be entering the season, undefeated and controlling their own destiny for the PAC-6 crown. On Friday they will travel to the newly renovated Durham County Memorial Stadium and take on an unlikely conference challenging opponent in Northern Durham. Standing with just one loss in conference, the Knights are in a prime position to not only snag a share of the PAC-6 title with a win over the Hornets, but also to create chaos in the playoff process. A win by the Knights will force a three-way tie that will be broken through a random draw - a draw that could see the Hornets named co-conference champions, but named a three seed in the PAC-6 for playoff consideration, a possible outcome that nobody in the Hornet community would like to see. With a game of this magnitude left on the schedule, Coach King commented on how he'll approach their contest.
"We're going to treat it like any other PAC-6 game. Win, lose or draw, we're going to play our game," said King. "The only team we're going to worry about is Hillside."The bounty of winning on Friday night will be significant for the Hornets, sole possession of the PAC-6 title and a higher probability of gaining one of the top four seeds in the 4A playoffs, leading to the potential for more home games to begin their playoff run.
"If we win the title, we will play all playoff games at home until Fayetteville," he said. "That's an even bigger incentive."Durham Herald-Sun (article by Steven J. Gaither)
News and Observer (article by Bonitta Best)
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