"Oh What a Tangled Web We Weave"
"When We Lose to East Rowan and Try to Get a Seed"
"1997 State AAA Playoffs Begin for Wonders"
Test #12, Round #1 Asheville Cougars
Test #12 (Pass) Kannapolis-21 Asheville-6
Wonders Start Slow, but Finish Big in Gods Country
Test #13, Round #2 Burns Bulldogs
Test #13 (Pass) Kannapolis-17 Burns-16
As Round #2 of the State 3A playoff began it would look like things were going to be easy as Nick maddox and company made it look easy from the start with these two big plays that resulted in a quick touchdownon an eight yard scamper by Traun Brown set up by Nick Maddox preceeding run. Not so fast though. Just as quickly as the Wonders can score so too can the Burns Bulldogs who just six years prior had taken the Wonders to triple overtime before being beaten by a longshot gamble on the part of the Bulldogs.
With 7:20 left in the first quarter the Bulldogs knot it up 7 to 7 on this long pass connection for a touchdown. Now the Bulldogs began to show their teeth letting the Wonders know early they could match big plays with anybody. This was going to be a long scary night in K-Town.
The Wonder offense was having a tough go of it as the Burns defense was physically taking over the line of scrimmage keeping the Wonders high powered quick strike offense from getting on track. Here the Bulldogs with 41 seconds left in the first quarter would take the lead 13-7 on this nine yard touchdown run. The blocked PAT would be all the difference in the world at the end of this game.
After intermission the Wonders would find themselves tied with the Bulldogs going into the waning moments of the third period. Both the Wonder and Bulldog defenses had stiffened not allowing either offense to be productive.With 47 seconds left in the third period Justin Hardin who had replaced QB William Craft earlier in the game handed the ball off to Nick Maddox at the Wonder 33 yardline. Maddox would make a few jukes and find clear sailing all the way to the goaline putting th Wonders back in front of the Bulldogs 14-13. A precarious lead to say the least, and with the strength of Burns definitely not a comfortable lead.
With 4:49 left in the ball game the burns offense stalled in Wonder territory, but close enough for the Bulldogs kicker to be in range to make the go ahead field goal of thirty three yards. A collective sigh could be heard over Memorial Stadium as the crowd in attendance knew the Wonders would have to make a quick yet partially time consuming drive to at worst get into field goal range for them to have the opportunity to advance. The Wonders again would find themselves behind the eight ball.
The Homer Simpson award has to go to the brilliant mind who decided it was a good idea to kick the ball to Nick Maddox in the waining minutes of the fourth quarter, and Maddox made them pay. This run would put the Wonders in great field position to execute a drive to get the Wonders within range of kicker John Garver's foot. How big would that missed PAT in the first quarter be for Burns be now?
Its never easy when you have to bet the farm on the hopes that your kicker on a foggy night, and on a muddy field can take you into the third round off his foot, but thats exactly how the game would end on this night. after being set up on some clutch running by Nick maddox, and Traun Brown, John Garver's kick would ring true, and get the Wonders back on top with just 37 seconds left in the game 17-16.
Test #14, Round #3 Concord Spiders
"Bell Game II, The Week of Hype
As Kannapolis and Concord prepared to face eachother for the second time in two weeks in the third round of the state AAA playoffs at Concord's Bailey Stadium the psychological "Game within the Game" began in the area newspapers. Newspapers spoke loudly about the abilities of both teams while each coach and selected players downplayed the game as just another step in the ladder. In reality the game that became known as the "Battle for the Bell II" took on a whole different meaning with the stakes much higher than the first meeting.
Kannapolis had played in some tight match ups with Asheville and Burns while Concord had put up marathon points on the likes of Mooresville and defending state champ Hickory. Obviously the game would be played on the field, but for five days the media was already playing it, and it eventually became sensory overload. Here is an example of what I'm talking about below.
Kannapolis had played in some tight match ups with Asheville and Burns while Concord had put up marathon points on the likes of Mooresville and defending state champ Hickory. Obviously the game would be played on the field, but for five days the media was already playing it, and it eventually became sensory overload. Here is an example of what I'm talking about below.
Test #14 (Pass) Kannapolis-9 Concord-0
"The TV 13 Game of the Week"
For the second time in the decade the Wonders and Spiders would meet again in the playoffs for the right to advance, and the winner would either face Kings Mountain or East Rowan in the western regional championship. Now the odds of beating your most hated rival after beating them once in the regular season is pretty tight and especially if in the regular season you beat then as handily as the Wonders did 33-20 in the Battle for the Bell game. The story of this meeting would be defenses. Both the Wonders and the Spiders boasted defenses that had beaten some pretty good teams up to this point, and nobody was riding higher than the Spiders after beating the defending state champion Hickory Red Tornados the week prior. The Wonders would have to step up huge in this game defensively which they most certainly did while the offense would just need to be consistent and score enough points to put the Spiders away. Nobody thought all of those points would come in the opening period.
Craft to Sheets for big gain
Craft to Maddox to set up John Garvers field goal in the early stages of the first period.
The first points of the night would come off a 24 yard field goal by John Garver to put the Wonders up 3-0 over the Spiders.
QB Will Craft connects with Jeff Sheets to put the Wonders deep into Spider territory in the early stages of the 2nd quarter. Craft and the Wonder offense would stall after an interception at the Wonder goaline would kill this drive for points.
QB Will Craft gets the Wonders back on track as these two completions to Wonder wide reciever Danny Jenkins once again sets the Wonders up for the only touchdown of the evening by Evar Johnson. These two completions prove how vital WR Danny Jenkins was to the Wonder offense in this game.
The final points of the game would come with just 2:00 left in the second period as Wonder FB Evar Johnson would take the handoff from William Craft and bust it up the middle eleven yards for the games lone touchdown. The Spiders could not manage any offensive production that ended up paving the way for a semi final matchup in K-Town with Kings Mountain.
Test #15 Round #4 Kings Mountain Mountaineers
"Just Plain Good"
Steve Gantt talks to Kings Mountain head coach Ron Massey prior to kickoff.
Steve Gantt talks to Wonders coach Jeremy Ryan just prior to kickoff.
Test #15 (Pass) Kannapolis-40 Kings Mountain-27
Phillip Johnson Key 2nd Quarter INT. "He Could Go All the Way"
Traun Brown scores the first points of the game after Nick Maddox broke a great run to put the Wonders in scoring position. Wonders go up 7-0 early in the first period.
Wonder long snapper gets a little too jacked sending punter Danny Jenkins scurrying to the endzone, but to no avail. Kings Mountain recovers the ball and gets a gratuitous six points co
Kings Mountain runner Anthony Hillman begins to break off yardage against the Wonder defense to set up Kendrick Bell's fifteen yard touchdown run to put the Mounties up 13-7. PAT would be no good for the Mounties and the Wnders would catch an early break.
QB William Craft connects with Nick Maddox for a 38 yard touchdown reception to put the Wonders up 14-13 on the Mounties.
Originally opting to go for a field goal near the end of the first half, the Mounties get called for a motion penalty that pushes them out of range for their kicker. The Mounties chose to run a pass play that goes terribly wrong for the Mounties. Wonder lineman Phillip Johnson grabs a batted pass attempt out of the air and rumbles seventy three yards to paydirt at the conclusion of the first half.
Just under seven minutes remaining in the third quarter Kings Mountain makes a statement that is heard loud and clear. The Mounties aren't going away quietly. Anthony Hillman breaks a fourteen yard run up the gut for six, and the Mounties decide to go for the two point conversion which is true deadlocking the game at fourteen.
Needing a first down on third and medium QB William Craft connects again with sure handed WR Danny Jenkins to extend yet another critical drive.
On third and goal from the Wonder two, QB Will Craft call his own number after he sees Mountie linebackers playing the run from Nick Maddox on the strong side. PAT would be blocked, and the Wonders would go back on top 27-21 in the waining stages of the third period.
Wonder defense gets burned by Kings Mountain RB Keenen Williamson on a 47 yard touchdown run to tie the game yet again at 27-27. Again a bad snap by the Mounties would botch the PAT attempt. It was beginning to look like the last team with the ball would prevail.
With just under eleven minutes in the game Nick maddox breaks the game open on this sixty five yard touchdown run down the left sideline to put the Wonders up 34 -27. The seesaw battle would now lean towards the Wonders.
After the Mounties drove methodically into Wonder territory on the hard running of Anthony Hillman their drive would finally bog down, and they would be forced to punt back to the Wonders. The punt fell dead inside the Wonder five yardline at the two leaving the Wonders in a bad hole, and 98 yards away from sealing the game. The Wonders needed a long methodical drive to kill the clock and points wouldnt hurt either. QB William Craft had his defining moment of the 1997 season on this drive. Craft began to notice that the Mountie linebackers were spreading out expecting the run to the side by Nick Maddox leaving huge gaps in the middle of the line. Craft would successfully run four QB sneaks to extend the Wonder drives in this ninety eight yard masterpiece. This last sneak would give the Wonders yet another first down, and on the next play Mountie linebackers expecting Craft on the sneak again forgot about Maddox leaving the left side vulnerable. Maddox would break the Mounties backs on this 45 yard run from scrimmage to ice the Mounties, and send the Wonders to Chapel Hill for the State Title game. William Craft proved on this drive that his abilities to lead the Wonders in the big game were unquestionable.
"The Year of 1997 Factoids"
"S" undrop - .69 64oz
"T" omatos - .59 lb
"A" pples - .89 lb
"T" ostitos - .98 Bg
"E" ggs - 1.10 Carton
"T" omatos - .59 lb
"A" pples - .89 lb
"T" ostitos - .98 Bg
"E" ggs - 1.10 Carton
Ticket to State Championship Game - "Priceless"
Final Exam Northeast Guilford Rams
Northeast Guilford Rams A Very Unknown Opponent
"A Community Comes Together in Support of Their Wonders"
"The 1997 State Championship Game"
Final Exam (Pass)
Kannapolis-34 Northeast Guilford-12
"We are the Champions My Friends"
"An Absolutely Wonderful Way to Start"
As the 1997 State Title Game got underway at Chapel Hill's Kenan Memorial Stadium the title hungry if not starved Wonder fans who traveled some six to eight thousand strong got an early glimpse of what the remainder of the game would reveal. Junior runningback Nick Maddox would put on his most stunning performance as he emabarrassed the Northeast Guilford defense in one of the most blistering offensive displays by a single player in the first quarter. Maddox carved up the guilford defense for Ram Steaks on his way to 205 rushing yards, and a state Title game rushing record. It all began on the first play from scrimmage as Nick caught a great block on the left end from Evar Johnson that sprung him for this very athletic run of 41 yards to put the Wonders in striking distance early.
"Nick Maddox Getting Warmed Up"
"Nick Shows His Versatility Early"
Two plays later after Nicks 41 yard run off left end QB William Craft would connect with Nick on a short crossing pattern for his first of four touchdowns of the game a twent. John Garver would have his PAT blocked which made many of the Wonder fans in attendanc ethink would this come back to haunt them later.
"Nick Sets the First of Four State Title Game Records"
On Northeast Guilfords first offensive possession they were able to sustain two succession of downs before bogging down, and having to punt the ball back to the Wonders. On third down and short Maddox would get some good blocking from the offensive line, and would squirt around right end for a sixty seven yard touchdown run that would set a new state record for the longest touchdown run from scrimmage in a state title game.
"Nick Sets the Second of Four State Title Game Records"
After yet another bogged down drive by the Rams of Northeast Guilford in the first quarter the Wonders would face third, and long from inside the shadow of their own goaline. QB William Craft would pitch the ball back to Paul Allen who slung the ball in the direction of Nick Maddox who was blanketed by two Guilford DBs. Maddox would catch the ball and run the rest of the way into the promised land setting yet another state championship record for the longest pass reception for a touchdown of ninety eight yards. Actually it was ninety nine.
"William Craft Shares the Wealth with Evar Johnson"
After QB William Craft hit Danny Jenkins on a nice pass to put the Wonders at the Guilford eight, FB Evar Johnson would take one up the gut on the Rams extending their lead to 27-0 just before the break. Northeast Guilford was shell shocked by this time, and was wondering if they could get out of Chapel Hill with their lives after the first period barrage of offense by the powerful Wonders.
With two minutes and forty eight seconds left in the third quarter the Northeast Guilford Rams finally get on the scoreboard after a busted coverage sprung Ram RB Carlos Mcneil wide open down the left sideline for a forty yard touchdown reception making it a 27-6 game.
With six minutes left in the game Northeast Guilford tries to make a game of it scoring on a seven yard touchdown plunge by Ram HB Darryl Bryant to make it a 27-12 affair, however it would be a little too late to make a difference
After Nick had spent a good portion of the game out of commision due to stomach issues there were still two more state title game records left to set, and this was when Nick at Night would shine once again to accomplish the last of the remaining records left to set.
"Nick Sets the Third of Four State Title Game Records"
In the waning minutes of the state championship game Nick Maddox breaks off this run to set a state record for most rushing yards ina state title game. Up to this play Nick had carried the ball nine times for a hundred and seventy nine yards.
"Nick Sets the Fourth of Four State Title Game Records"
Nick Maddox on a one yard plunge sets a new state title game record of most touchdowns scored by a single player in a state title game. 4 TDs for Nick Maddox.
"Its a Done Deal"
As the final seconds tick away in the 1997 state championship game the Wonders who traveled a long hard road from the 1996 season revel in the triumph of a second state championship for the A.L. Brown Wonders on a night that destiny was fulfilled.
"Nick at Night"
"The Trophy Presentation"
"The Trophy Presentation Field Side"
State Championship Defensive MVP - Rashad Robinson
State Championship Offensive MVP- Nick Maddox
State Championship Offensive MVP- Nick Maddox
"The Post Game Interviews"
Bruce Hardin and Nick Maddox
And so the bad taste of a 6 and 5 season from 1996 quickly fades away into the cold December night in Kenan Memorial Stadium as thousands of Wonder fans watch their beloved Wonders grasp the 1997 AAA State Championship trophy. The Wonders had come within one yard in October of running the table in their schedule, but looking back it seems that one loss to East Rowan may have done more to aid the Wonders in realizing their dreams than anyone could possibly imagine.
A three way tie at the end of the regular season, and then placing third in the draw leaving the Wonders with the daunting task of having to play two of their toughest opponents away from Memorial Stadium. Having to come from behind in the final minutes against Burns, and winning on a clutch field goal in the final seconds. Having to replay your hated arch nemisis once again on their playing field, and then a semi final game against a virtual mountain of men. The Wonders did it all, and prevailed. They saved their best moment for last convincingly beating the anointed best team in the state in the Northeast Guilford Rams. A single player who shattered four state title records in that game, and a defense who in a word were "Wonderous" Add all these factors together, and there is no debating the 1997 Wonders were the best left standing at the end of the 1997 campaign, and will take that fact with them into the pages of Wonder history.
This was no fluke ladies and gentlemen, It was guts and determination to be the very best you can be. It was harnessing the internal buried aggression of a 6 and 5 debacle to achieve perfection. It was not settling for second, and only a championship would be the measure of success for this group of outstanding young athletes. It was a team affair though there was one individual player who some would argue was the catalyst for the outcome. No, on the contrary, Nick Maddox the great athlete he was had a cast of dedicated support behind him clearing the way for those big runs, and line level grunts who provided the opportunity for that one last drive, and one last set of downs to secure the victory. The 1997 Wonders are the poster boys for self determination and motivation. The 1997 Wonders captured what they lost in 1996. They brought "The fun factor" back to Kannapolis Football. Mission accomplished.
A three way tie at the end of the regular season, and then placing third in the draw leaving the Wonders with the daunting task of having to play two of their toughest opponents away from Memorial Stadium. Having to come from behind in the final minutes against Burns, and winning on a clutch field goal in the final seconds. Having to replay your hated arch nemisis once again on their playing field, and then a semi final game against a virtual mountain of men. The Wonders did it all, and prevailed. They saved their best moment for last convincingly beating the anointed best team in the state in the Northeast Guilford Rams. A single player who shattered four state title records in that game, and a defense who in a word were "Wonderous" Add all these factors together, and there is no debating the 1997 Wonders were the best left standing at the end of the 1997 campaign, and will take that fact with them into the pages of Wonder history.
This was no fluke ladies and gentlemen, It was guts and determination to be the very best you can be. It was harnessing the internal buried aggression of a 6 and 5 debacle to achieve perfection. It was not settling for second, and only a championship would be the measure of success for this group of outstanding young athletes. It was a team affair though there was one individual player who some would argue was the catalyst for the outcome. No, on the contrary, Nick Maddox the great athlete he was had a cast of dedicated support behind him clearing the way for those big runs, and line level grunts who provided the opportunity for that one last drive, and one last set of downs to secure the victory. The 1997 Wonders are the poster boys for self determination and motivation. The 1997 Wonders captured what they lost in 1996. They brought "The fun factor" back to Kannapolis Football. Mission accomplished.
"The Celebration in K-Town Ensues"
"The 1997 State Champions"
A Team of Destiny
"It Don't Mean Nothing Till You Put a Ring On It"
1997 NC Shrine Bowl Team
A.L. Brown Selection #54 Desmond Miller
"A Shadowed Hero"
William Craft, A Wonder Flying Under the Radar
Mention the State Championship Wonders of 1997 and one name immediately springs to mind (Nick Maddox). The accolades of that Wonder running back still echo loudly throughout the hallowed grounds of Memorial Stadium, and which to this day have never been duplicated, but nobody seems to talk about the man who touched the ball every offensive play of the game that year, and who single handily put that melon into the hands of the great running back. Yes, all the accolades seem to go to Nick, and granted he was a very high profile man on that prolific offense of 1997, but it would be a dishonor to the entire state championship team to misplace the heroic efforts of the field general who navigated the state championship team through some very troubled waters in 1997
Being a man who is accustom to performing before large crowds as I did in my musical heyday I can relate to William or "Will" as he prefers to be called in that aspect, but there are many differences between what I did as a musician, and what Will did as the centerpiece for the most prolific high school football team in the State of North Carolina. I didn't have two hundred and fifty pound or better men chasing after me every minute trying to rip my head off or plant me in the ground like a lawn dart, nor did I have ten other guys looking to me to put them in the right situation at key moments of the game, nor did I have a crowd of ten to eleven thousand eager followers ready to give their approval or disapproval of my every action at any given moment. I didn't have to read defensive schemes, and make adjustments on the fly, nor did I have a coach barking out commands to me from twenty yards away distracting me. Will took the glory or the heat for every good or bad thing that happened on that field on any given Friday night. Did I also mention that he had to do this in some of the most hostile enviorments imaginable? The Cougars Den in Asheville, Trojan Field at Northwest Cabarrus, and of course Robert C Bailey Stadium in Concord. That would be enough right there for me to want the check myself in at Broughton Hospital every Friday night at 10:00pm. Amazing, Kudos, Cheers, Hats Off, Whatever cliche you want to use it fits.
When I first became aquainted with Will earlier this month I was looking for someone who had the materials I needed to cover the 1997 state championship year for Friday Nights in K-Town, and little did I know that access was right at my fingertips, and I didnt know it. You see my wife works with Will's wife at the hospital at CMC Northeast, and just by chance this topic was brought up one day at her workplace. Unbeknownst to my wife she had no idea who William Craft was let alone that she was really good friends with his wife. Needless to say, knowing her husband was the great Kannapolis field general Will's wife had no problem volunteering his services if she thought it would be of assistance in my project. When my wife told me who she had spoken to I immediatley called Will on the phone, and hence you have what you see on this page today.
Will was very eager to offer his assistance with my project, and pleasantly informed me that his lovely mother had kept a scrapbook giving chronicle to his entire senior season with the state champion Wonders of 1997. I was foaming at the mouth like a rabid pitbull straight out of Bad News Kennels on a block full of Chihuahuas. I knew then I had struck the motherload. What were the odds I would run into the person who led that great team, and he would have all this great material? The stars had aligned once again for Wonder nation in that aspect. As I spoke to Will, and began hearing his stories I knew this was one individual I needed to interview for this page. I knew there was no way I could do honor to the 1997 state championship team by overlooking their leader. I carefully laid out what I had in mind to Will at his house, and I was overjoyed at his willingness to be involved, and the obvious pride he still had in his accomplishments. I called Will up one afternoon, and asked him if he would mind going out to the stadium to take a few pictures for this piece, and he said sure that would be no problem. As we walked out to Memorial Stadium which just so happens to be less than a city block from his residence we began to talk about the glory days. As we began our walk down the famous "Hill" into the stadium I had to ask him a question that had been burning on my mind as we walked over to enter the field. Will, "How were you able to keep your composure knowing the pressure you were under on this field, and hearing all those fans in the stands yelling?" his answer was shocking. "You know Scott I never really heard them to be honest with you. You get into what I guess you call a zone, and all you are aware of is what is going on right in front of you." I cant see it. I told him I loved to hear the cheers of an adoring crowd, and how much better I thought I could play when I heard them. So to hear him say that really blew me away. That is the level of focus you must have when you are playing the game of football in Kannapolis.
Understand the picture taking, and the interview you are about to read took place on two separate days. I told Will before I came over for the picture session I needed him to bring his jersey, and his state championship ring. As we began to take photos I asked Will to put his jersey on at which time he began laughing. "It doesnt fit anymore" lol lol. I 've put on a few pounds since my high school days, and it wont fit me anymore lol." It was then I realized the young kid whom I watched play football on this very field fouteen years ago had grown up. Like me he was now a man. A few pounds heavier and alot wiser. A man who had a family, a job, and a truck who bow hunts on his time off. The years had passed and all that was left were the memories. Standing there I couldnt help but recall the lyrics to Bruce Springsteen's song "Glory Days" as we continued talking. ("Just sitting back trying to recapture a little of the glory of, Well, time slips away, and leaves you with nothing mister, but boring stories of Glory Days") I knew the stories I would hear later would be anything but boring lol, lol.
As we stood on that field the nostalgic side of me took over, and I began to notice the facial expressions on every shot. I could still see the kid who I knew inside longed once again to suit back up, and take that field for just one more game that will never be scheduled. Days later I sat down with Will at his home to begin the story you are about to read. I could still feel the pressure I felt sitting in the stands back in 1997 as the Wonders went victory to victory before a heartbreaking loss to East Rowan that marred what would have been a perfect season had one yard been made by Nick Maddox, but that's football. Its a game of inches, and now I was just inches away from one of the Wonders greatest leaders who knew what it was like to reach the pinnacle and had a big shiny ring that read "1997 State Champions" to prove it. Our conversation went as follows.
Being a man who is accustom to performing before large crowds as I did in my musical heyday I can relate to William or "Will" as he prefers to be called in that aspect, but there are many differences between what I did as a musician, and what Will did as the centerpiece for the most prolific high school football team in the State of North Carolina. I didn't have two hundred and fifty pound or better men chasing after me every minute trying to rip my head off or plant me in the ground like a lawn dart, nor did I have ten other guys looking to me to put them in the right situation at key moments of the game, nor did I have a crowd of ten to eleven thousand eager followers ready to give their approval or disapproval of my every action at any given moment. I didn't have to read defensive schemes, and make adjustments on the fly, nor did I have a coach barking out commands to me from twenty yards away distracting me. Will took the glory or the heat for every good or bad thing that happened on that field on any given Friday night. Did I also mention that he had to do this in some of the most hostile enviorments imaginable? The Cougars Den in Asheville, Trojan Field at Northwest Cabarrus, and of course Robert C Bailey Stadium in Concord. That would be enough right there for me to want the check myself in at Broughton Hospital every Friday night at 10:00pm. Amazing, Kudos, Cheers, Hats Off, Whatever cliche you want to use it fits.
When I first became aquainted with Will earlier this month I was looking for someone who had the materials I needed to cover the 1997 state championship year for Friday Nights in K-Town, and little did I know that access was right at my fingertips, and I didnt know it. You see my wife works with Will's wife at the hospital at CMC Northeast, and just by chance this topic was brought up one day at her workplace. Unbeknownst to my wife she had no idea who William Craft was let alone that she was really good friends with his wife. Needless to say, knowing her husband was the great Kannapolis field general Will's wife had no problem volunteering his services if she thought it would be of assistance in my project. When my wife told me who she had spoken to I immediatley called Will on the phone, and hence you have what you see on this page today.
Will was very eager to offer his assistance with my project, and pleasantly informed me that his lovely mother had kept a scrapbook giving chronicle to his entire senior season with the state champion Wonders of 1997. I was foaming at the mouth like a rabid pitbull straight out of Bad News Kennels on a block full of Chihuahuas. I knew then I had struck the motherload. What were the odds I would run into the person who led that great team, and he would have all this great material? The stars had aligned once again for Wonder nation in that aspect. As I spoke to Will, and began hearing his stories I knew this was one individual I needed to interview for this page. I knew there was no way I could do honor to the 1997 state championship team by overlooking their leader. I carefully laid out what I had in mind to Will at his house, and I was overjoyed at his willingness to be involved, and the obvious pride he still had in his accomplishments. I called Will up one afternoon, and asked him if he would mind going out to the stadium to take a few pictures for this piece, and he said sure that would be no problem. As we walked out to Memorial Stadium which just so happens to be less than a city block from his residence we began to talk about the glory days. As we began our walk down the famous "Hill" into the stadium I had to ask him a question that had been burning on my mind as we walked over to enter the field. Will, "How were you able to keep your composure knowing the pressure you were under on this field, and hearing all those fans in the stands yelling?" his answer was shocking. "You know Scott I never really heard them to be honest with you. You get into what I guess you call a zone, and all you are aware of is what is going on right in front of you." I cant see it. I told him I loved to hear the cheers of an adoring crowd, and how much better I thought I could play when I heard them. So to hear him say that really blew me away. That is the level of focus you must have when you are playing the game of football in Kannapolis.
Understand the picture taking, and the interview you are about to read took place on two separate days. I told Will before I came over for the picture session I needed him to bring his jersey, and his state championship ring. As we began to take photos I asked Will to put his jersey on at which time he began laughing. "It doesnt fit anymore" lol lol. I 've put on a few pounds since my high school days, and it wont fit me anymore lol." It was then I realized the young kid whom I watched play football on this very field fouteen years ago had grown up. Like me he was now a man. A few pounds heavier and alot wiser. A man who had a family, a job, and a truck who bow hunts on his time off. The years had passed and all that was left were the memories. Standing there I couldnt help but recall the lyrics to Bruce Springsteen's song "Glory Days" as we continued talking. ("Just sitting back trying to recapture a little of the glory of, Well, time slips away, and leaves you with nothing mister, but boring stories of Glory Days") I knew the stories I would hear later would be anything but boring lol, lol.
As we stood on that field the nostalgic side of me took over, and I began to notice the facial expressions on every shot. I could still see the kid who I knew inside longed once again to suit back up, and take that field for just one more game that will never be scheduled. Days later I sat down with Will at his home to begin the story you are about to read. I could still feel the pressure I felt sitting in the stands back in 1997 as the Wonders went victory to victory before a heartbreaking loss to East Rowan that marred what would have been a perfect season had one yard been made by Nick Maddox, but that's football. Its a game of inches, and now I was just inches away from one of the Wonders greatest leaders who knew what it was like to reach the pinnacle and had a big shiny ring that read "1997 State Champions" to prove it. Our conversation went as follows.
(FIK) What were the feelings of the team at the conclusion of the 1996 season?
(WC) (laughing) We didn’t have the greatest year in 1996. We went 6 and 5, struggled, missed the playoffs, and then lost a lot of people who started on offense and defense so coming into the 1997 season we were really young, and unproven as a team. We lost Joey Teal from the offensive line and Michael Jolly our center, and both of those were big time guys. Obviously I didn’t start as quarterback in 96 I was back up to Sean Allen. We really didn’t know what we had going into the 1997 season to be honest with you.
(FIK) How much game experience at quarterback did you get
in 1996?
(WC) In 1996 I played defensive back the whole year, and then Shaun got knocked out in the first quarter of the Concord game so I replaced him for the rest of the game, and that was it I didn’t play anymore that year.
(FIK) Did you originally start out as a quarterback?
(WC) Yea, I played quarterback all through boys club, middle school, and JV during my 9th and
10th grade years and started every year. I backed up Shaun Allen my 11th grade year so I had a lot of experience at quarterback, and attended a lot of camps as a kid growing up. I was confident in my ability I was just unproven I guess as a starter on the varsity.
(FIK) Going into the 1997 season were there any indicators that would have led you to believe that things would be any different from the 1996 season?
(WC) Oh yes. Of course we had Nick, and there was all that hype behind him at that time so we already knew we had a great running back, and I thought we had some great receivers too. We had Nick Gill, and Danny Jenkins. You know Danny wasn’t the fastest, but he had great hands, and I knew I could count on him catching the ball when I got it to him. He was a tough physical kind of runner and he would just bowl over people. You know in 1996 I thought we just didn’t jell as a team. There seemed to be a lot of animosity between the seniors, and the younger guys then. The younger guys seem to get a lot more publicity, and it didn’t sit well with the seniors, and you could just feel the tension in the locker room. If you don’t come together, and you have that individual thought process you’re just not going to be successful.
I felt like once those guys were out of the way it was just a fun bunch of guys to be around, and we all got along really well. Everybody pulled for each other, and nobody was concerned about who got the publicity. Nick could have been in the papers everyday for all we cared just as long as we got the “W” in the column at the end of the night. That is what that ninety seven team was built on. It was a team and not a collection of individuals.
(WC) (laughing) We didn’t have the greatest year in 1996. We went 6 and 5, struggled, missed the playoffs, and then lost a lot of people who started on offense and defense so coming into the 1997 season we were really young, and unproven as a team. We lost Joey Teal from the offensive line and Michael Jolly our center, and both of those were big time guys. Obviously I didn’t start as quarterback in 96 I was back up to Sean Allen. We really didn’t know what we had going into the 1997 season to be honest with you.
(FIK) How much game experience at quarterback did you get
in 1996?
(WC) In 1996 I played defensive back the whole year, and then Shaun got knocked out in the first quarter of the Concord game so I replaced him for the rest of the game, and that was it I didn’t play anymore that year.
(FIK) Did you originally start out as a quarterback?
(WC) Yea, I played quarterback all through boys club, middle school, and JV during my 9th and
10th grade years and started every year. I backed up Shaun Allen my 11th grade year so I had a lot of experience at quarterback, and attended a lot of camps as a kid growing up. I was confident in my ability I was just unproven I guess as a starter on the varsity.
(FIK) Going into the 1997 season were there any indicators that would have led you to believe that things would be any different from the 1996 season?
(WC) Oh yes. Of course we had Nick, and there was all that hype behind him at that time so we already knew we had a great running back, and I thought we had some great receivers too. We had Nick Gill, and Danny Jenkins. You know Danny wasn’t the fastest, but he had great hands, and I knew I could count on him catching the ball when I got it to him. He was a tough physical kind of runner and he would just bowl over people. You know in 1996 I thought we just didn’t jell as a team. There seemed to be a lot of animosity between the seniors, and the younger guys then. The younger guys seem to get a lot more publicity, and it didn’t sit well with the seniors, and you could just feel the tension in the locker room. If you don’t come together, and you have that individual thought process you’re just not going to be successful.
I felt like once those guys were out of the way it was just a fun bunch of guys to be around, and we all got along really well. Everybody pulled for each other, and nobody was concerned about who got the publicity. Nick could have been in the papers everyday for all we cared just as long as we got the “W” in the column at the end of the night. That is what that ninety seven team was built on. It was a team and not a collection of individuals.
(FIK) Did you know going into the 1997 season that you would get the starting spot at QB?
(WC) Yea. There were some ups and downs in the beginning during the summer months of practice. Coach Hardin tried to gimmick some things along the way that didn’t really work. We tried to see if Nick could run some things out of the option, but I felt like all during the summer they were prepping me to be the starting QB. I would go into coach Hardins office everyday, and we would go over things so I felt confident that I would be starting.
(FIK) Was there any competition between you and Justin Hardin for playing time?
(WC) Not really. In the summer it started out as somewhat of a competition between me and Tramaine Robinson, and then as Justin began to come along during the year coach Hardin would let him have some reps. Looking back at it now, I understand a little more now where coach Hardin was coming from since I’m coaching my own son in little league. You want to do whatever you have to do to get your child ready to play because you want that as a father, but there was never really any competition between me and Justin because I was a senior, and he was a sophomore. I believe at that time I was a little further along in my skills than Justin so it worked out for me.
Most of the problems that came later was because of personality conflicts with me and coach Hardin. Most of that was because I was a kid, and I didn’t have the respect I should have had for him because all I wanted to do was throw the ball, and we had the greatest running back in the state at that time, and all coach Hardin wanted to do was run the ball. Now as the year progressed, and teams started loading the box to stop Nick That’s when we started throwing the ball more, and I believe coach started thinking hey, this guy can throw the ball and we started doing it a little more. If you recall we didn’t start throwing the ball more till towards the end of the regular season in the Northwest and Concord games. After we started having some success throwing the ball we became hard to stop because now you didn’t only have to stop Nick, but you never knew when we were going to air it out, and I think that’s when we crossed over from being just a good team to a great team.
In that game against East Rowan when I got taken out, and Justin got put in, it wasn’t because I was playing bad it was because I got into an argument with coach Hardin on the sideline. The same thing happened in the Burns game too, but the fans and the newspapers didn’t understand that. It may have looked as if I was playing bad but I just got frustrated at the lack of success were were having running the ball because they were loading the box up to stop him and I said a little too much to coach Hardin. Looking back at that now I could have handled that differently, but there again I was a kid.
(FIK) At what point did it become obvious that you were going to have to throw the ball more?
(WC) I’m pretty sure it was the East Rowan game. Up to that point nobody was really challenging Nick defensively and they weren’t stopping him whether they loaded the box or not, but East Rowan came in a did a good job and we just got to where were weren’t experiencing the same success as often as we had been with Nick. They were starting to get wise and we were now running up on some really stout defenses. Teams were loading the box on Nick throughout, but most of the time it didn’t matter. Nick would just make them miss or out run them to the corner, It wasn’t really until we got to Concord that they started bottling Nick up. E.Z. Smith was really just the first guy that year who was able to have success stopping Nick. I believe he had something like fifty six yards rushing that game, and the rest he was getting two and three hundred yard rushing games a pop. That speaks highly of how good Concord’s defense was that year.
(FIK) Did you feel like at the beginning of the year coach Hardin had the confidence in you to lead the team?
(WC) Oh yes. Coach Hardin showed a lot of confidence in me. He would let me run a lot of check with me plays that a lot of high school teams don’t run now. I would go into coach Hardins office every Friday, and we would go over the game plan for that night. We would talk about the other teams defensive scheme, and what our offensive scheme was going to be. He put a lot of faith in me as a high school kid to call a play at the line of scrimmage. He would give me the formation, and I would go out there and look at the defense and decide which way we were going to run so in that aspect I know he definitely had the confidence that I could get the job done.
(WC) Yea. There were some ups and downs in the beginning during the summer months of practice. Coach Hardin tried to gimmick some things along the way that didn’t really work. We tried to see if Nick could run some things out of the option, but I felt like all during the summer they were prepping me to be the starting QB. I would go into coach Hardins office everyday, and we would go over things so I felt confident that I would be starting.
(FIK) Was there any competition between you and Justin Hardin for playing time?
(WC) Not really. In the summer it started out as somewhat of a competition between me and Tramaine Robinson, and then as Justin began to come along during the year coach Hardin would let him have some reps. Looking back at it now, I understand a little more now where coach Hardin was coming from since I’m coaching my own son in little league. You want to do whatever you have to do to get your child ready to play because you want that as a father, but there was never really any competition between me and Justin because I was a senior, and he was a sophomore. I believe at that time I was a little further along in my skills than Justin so it worked out for me.
Most of the problems that came later was because of personality conflicts with me and coach Hardin. Most of that was because I was a kid, and I didn’t have the respect I should have had for him because all I wanted to do was throw the ball, and we had the greatest running back in the state at that time, and all coach Hardin wanted to do was run the ball. Now as the year progressed, and teams started loading the box to stop Nick That’s when we started throwing the ball more, and I believe coach started thinking hey, this guy can throw the ball and we started doing it a little more. If you recall we didn’t start throwing the ball more till towards the end of the regular season in the Northwest and Concord games. After we started having some success throwing the ball we became hard to stop because now you didn’t only have to stop Nick, but you never knew when we were going to air it out, and I think that’s when we crossed over from being just a good team to a great team.
In that game against East Rowan when I got taken out, and Justin got put in, it wasn’t because I was playing bad it was because I got into an argument with coach Hardin on the sideline. The same thing happened in the Burns game too, but the fans and the newspapers didn’t understand that. It may have looked as if I was playing bad but I just got frustrated at the lack of success were were having running the ball because they were loading the box up to stop him and I said a little too much to coach Hardin. Looking back at that now I could have handled that differently, but there again I was a kid.
(FIK) At what point did it become obvious that you were going to have to throw the ball more?
(WC) I’m pretty sure it was the East Rowan game. Up to that point nobody was really challenging Nick defensively and they weren’t stopping him whether they loaded the box or not, but East Rowan came in a did a good job and we just got to where were weren’t experiencing the same success as often as we had been with Nick. They were starting to get wise and we were now running up on some really stout defenses. Teams were loading the box on Nick throughout, but most of the time it didn’t matter. Nick would just make them miss or out run them to the corner, It wasn’t really until we got to Concord that they started bottling Nick up. E.Z. Smith was really just the first guy that year who was able to have success stopping Nick. I believe he had something like fifty six yards rushing that game, and the rest he was getting two and three hundred yard rushing games a pop. That speaks highly of how good Concord’s defense was that year.
(FIK) Did you feel like at the beginning of the year coach Hardin had the confidence in you to lead the team?
(WC) Oh yes. Coach Hardin showed a lot of confidence in me. He would let me run a lot of check with me plays that a lot of high school teams don’t run now. I would go into coach Hardins office every Friday, and we would go over the game plan for that night. We would talk about the other teams defensive scheme, and what our offensive scheme was going to be. He put a lot of faith in me as a high school kid to call a play at the line of scrimmage. He would give me the formation, and I would go out there and look at the defense and decide which way we were going to run so in that aspect I know he definitely had the confidence that I could get the job done.
(FIK) As a starting QB what did you feel your strengths were?
(WC) I think my strengths were just running the offense, and not turning the ball over, and getting us into the position we needed to be in. Getting the ball to Nick and letting him do his thing. We really didn’t have that many turnovers during the season, and a lot of plays were called at the line of scrimmage. We knew they were going to load the box on Nick we just didn’t know if they were going to load it to the left or to the right, and once we got to the line we were able to adjust. I guess my weakness was just lack of experience on the varsity level at the beginning of the season, but looking back I think all that worked it self out for the best.
(FIK) By the looks of the 1997 schedule you really didn’t get your first real test until the North Rowan game. Would that be a fair assessment?
(WC) Yea that would be fair. North Rowan had a pretty good offense, and I don’t believe we had too much trouble stopping them. I think they scored twenty one or twenty two points us if I remember correctly, but I think our problem was we just couldn’t get our offense going like we had been in the first three games. We maybe threw the ball three or four times that game, and they loaded the box on Nick too. They didn’t really stop him we just had problems sustaining drives. I really don’t think we knew exactly what we had at that time and what our potential was yet. That would come later on.
(FIK) Do you think by the North Rowan game your team mates had put their full trust in you to lead the team.
(WC) Yes, You have to understand a good many of these people I had been playing with for many years so they knew what my abilities were and what I could do. I know they trusted me and believed in me. They rallied around me and the offense so in that aspect I always felt confident in the trust and belief my team mates had in me so that was never in question.
(FIK) What was your relationship like with Justin Hardin and what chemistry did you have with him?
(WC) Me and Justin were great. I felt kind of like an older brother to him I tried to help him along and teach him some things I knew and really just tried to bring him along, but there again I never felt like there was any competition between us. He was a great kid, he loved football, and liked to learn. There was never any animosity between us for any reason. I still talk to him today.
(FIK) How often did you watch film?
(WC) We watched film a lot during the summer. We watched film every Monday, and every Friday after school before the game started, and sometimes when it rained and we didn’t get to go outside to have practice we watched film. It was a big part of it as far as preparation. I remember the first thing when I would get to school on Fridays is coach Hardin would come get me out of class and we would go into his office and we would talk and go over the plan for the game that night. I can tell you by lunch time I already knew what the first couple of plays were going to be that night. Coach Hardin was very methodical in the way he approaches the game, and he is a great offensive mind. As a matter of fact a lot of stuff I learned from him carried over to when I got into college at East Carolina.
(WC) I think my strengths were just running the offense, and not turning the ball over, and getting us into the position we needed to be in. Getting the ball to Nick and letting him do his thing. We really didn’t have that many turnovers during the season, and a lot of plays were called at the line of scrimmage. We knew they were going to load the box on Nick we just didn’t know if they were going to load it to the left or to the right, and once we got to the line we were able to adjust. I guess my weakness was just lack of experience on the varsity level at the beginning of the season, but looking back I think all that worked it self out for the best.
(FIK) By the looks of the 1997 schedule you really didn’t get your first real test until the North Rowan game. Would that be a fair assessment?
(WC) Yea that would be fair. North Rowan had a pretty good offense, and I don’t believe we had too much trouble stopping them. I think they scored twenty one or twenty two points us if I remember correctly, but I think our problem was we just couldn’t get our offense going like we had been in the first three games. We maybe threw the ball three or four times that game, and they loaded the box on Nick too. They didn’t really stop him we just had problems sustaining drives. I really don’t think we knew exactly what we had at that time and what our potential was yet. That would come later on.
(FIK) Do you think by the North Rowan game your team mates had put their full trust in you to lead the team.
(WC) Yes, You have to understand a good many of these people I had been playing with for many years so they knew what my abilities were and what I could do. I know they trusted me and believed in me. They rallied around me and the offense so in that aspect I always felt confident in the trust and belief my team mates had in me so that was never in question.
(FIK) What was your relationship like with Justin Hardin and what chemistry did you have with him?
(WC) Me and Justin were great. I felt kind of like an older brother to him I tried to help him along and teach him some things I knew and really just tried to bring him along, but there again I never felt like there was any competition between us. He was a great kid, he loved football, and liked to learn. There was never any animosity between us for any reason. I still talk to him today.
(FIK) How often did you watch film?
(WC) We watched film a lot during the summer. We watched film every Monday, and every Friday after school before the game started, and sometimes when it rained and we didn’t get to go outside to have practice we watched film. It was a big part of it as far as preparation. I remember the first thing when I would get to school on Fridays is coach Hardin would come get me out of class and we would go into his office and we would talk and go over the plan for the game that night. I can tell you by lunch time I already knew what the first couple of plays were going to be that night. Coach Hardin was very methodical in the way he approaches the game, and he is a great offensive mind. As a matter of fact a lot of stuff I learned from him carried over to when I got into college at East Carolina.
(FIK) As a player how would you classify your relationship with coach Hardin?
(WC) I just did a radio interview at the J.M Robinson Game with Buddy Ammerson who was my defensive backs coach my junior year, and he told me that he and coach Whightman had a conversation with coach Hardin one day, and coach Whightman said “Man you’re really giving William a hard time.” Coach Hardin said “I stay on him a lot, and I give him hell, but when he stops responding I’ll stop being so hard on him.” Coach Hardin always pushed me, and I know he was doing that to make me a better player and a better person, and I respect him for that.
(FIK) How would you describe you’re work ethic in high school?
(WC) It probably wasn’t as good as it could have been, but I spent a lot of time throwing the football, and watching film on my own trying to really learn how to read defenses, and how to get my offense into the situations that we be most beneficial for us. I don’t think many people really understood how much football I watched back then. Physically I probably wasn’t in the best shape I could have been either, but I didn’t really realize until I got to East Carolina and saw how hard those guys worked as to how much potential I actually left on the table in high school. I know I could have been better.
(FIK) Was it hard for you to juggle between the classroom and football?
(WC) No. Not at all. Academics was never a problem for me My dad use to tell me “I never saw you bring a book home.” (laughing) I always made A’s and B’s and that was without studying. Football never interfered with that.
(FIK) Who did you see in 1997 as being some of the informal leaders on the team?
(WC) Phillip Johnson, Desmond Miller, Mark Kennedy, and Nick. That was the group of guys that really brought everyone together and pushed us to excel. If it was just to get everybody up or get on you if you
weren’t giving your all those were the guys to do it.
(FIK) Was there ever a doubt during the year that this was your team?
(WC) I knew that it was my offense, and the offense was great. If coach Hardin gave me the right formation and I could get it going in the right direction either to the left or right or up the middle we would be successful. I knew I had the confidence in myself to do my part.
(FIK) How were you able to keep your composure in the most heated of moments on that football field? For instance the final drive in the Kings Mountain game?
(WC) I don’t know (laughing) it’s a mental focus you have and some guys are built for it and some aren’t I loved it. I never really worried about what the score was or if we were winning or losing I just tried to play as hard as I could every down and make the best decisions I could. In that drive with Kings Mountain we were backed up on the two, and I go to the sidelines to talk to coach Hardin about what they were doing, and I told coach Hardin “They’re leaving the middle wide open” Coach Hardin said well, “We’ll motion Nick and Traun out, and if the linebackers leave just go up the middle” I think I ran three or four sneaks for five, six or seven yards at a time. I don’t believe anybody remembers that, and that it helped us with the clock management. I would go to the line, and we would already have the play called. Nick would motion out and if the linebackers bit on it I would just tap the center on the butt and follow him in to the left or to the right which ever side I tapped him on, and we never even told anybody else on the line. I was playing with a sophomore center too because Nick Safrit had gotten into trouble at the end of the Concord game and got ejected. I think when you get into that zone you just block out all the extra curricular things, and you just see what is going on right in front of you. It’s such a narrow field of focus that nothing else around you is noticeable.
(FIK) Was there ever a time you got down on yourself”
(WC) No. (laughing) I’m so hard headed I just don’t think in terms that I’m going to fail, and I know there was a lot of criticism going around, but I just didn’t pay it any attention. I don’t know if you call that being hard headed or arrogant, but I just believed that much in myself that failing wasn’t ever an issue or an obstacle for me. I always knew I could play if given the opportunity.
(FIK) Did you hear a lot of criticism when you were playing?
(WC) (laughing) This town is so small and everybody goes to the games. It would get back to you, but I never paid it any attention. The criticism just drove me to prove everybody wrong. I watched Kannapolis football growing up as a kid and I remember going down to Concord one year and we got beat. I cried in the backseat all the way back home and my dad asked me what was wrong, and I told him when I get to high school I’m going to beat Concord and I’m going to win a state championship. That is what drove me till I finally got to high school, and I never wavered from that goal or that mentality.
(FIK) During the regular season which game do you think was your best?
(WC) Has to be the Concord game. The only incompletion I had that game was one that I threw away because I got some pressure.
(FIK) What was your worst game during the season?
(WC) For me my worst game all year was the Burns game in the playoffs. I lost it in that game. During the Concord game I played well , and I threw the ball well, and going into the Burns game I just expected that to continue, and when that didn’t happen something just snapped in me. If you remember it was so wet, and the game got cancelled until that Saturday, and it was still just so wet and muddy. I don’t know if it was just that coach Hardin didn’t have the confidence in me to throw the ball that night because of the conditions, I believe he just wanted to keep it on the ground and run Nick. The first quarter and a half we weren’t getting any first downs because Nick couldn’t run because it was so muddy and we weren’t throwing the ball that I just lost it emotionally on the sidelines. I blew up at coach Hardin, and said some things I probably shouldn’t have said in a tone I shouldn’t have used, and he took me out of the game and it almost cost us the season. For me that was my worst game. If I could have kept it together emotionally it might have been different.
(WC) I just did a radio interview at the J.M Robinson Game with Buddy Ammerson who was my defensive backs coach my junior year, and he told me that he and coach Whightman had a conversation with coach Hardin one day, and coach Whightman said “Man you’re really giving William a hard time.” Coach Hardin said “I stay on him a lot, and I give him hell, but when he stops responding I’ll stop being so hard on him.” Coach Hardin always pushed me, and I know he was doing that to make me a better player and a better person, and I respect him for that.
(FIK) How would you describe you’re work ethic in high school?
(WC) It probably wasn’t as good as it could have been, but I spent a lot of time throwing the football, and watching film on my own trying to really learn how to read defenses, and how to get my offense into the situations that we be most beneficial for us. I don’t think many people really understood how much football I watched back then. Physically I probably wasn’t in the best shape I could have been either, but I didn’t really realize until I got to East Carolina and saw how hard those guys worked as to how much potential I actually left on the table in high school. I know I could have been better.
(FIK) Was it hard for you to juggle between the classroom and football?
(WC) No. Not at all. Academics was never a problem for me My dad use to tell me “I never saw you bring a book home.” (laughing) I always made A’s and B’s and that was without studying. Football never interfered with that.
(FIK) Who did you see in 1997 as being some of the informal leaders on the team?
(WC) Phillip Johnson, Desmond Miller, Mark Kennedy, and Nick. That was the group of guys that really brought everyone together and pushed us to excel. If it was just to get everybody up or get on you if you
weren’t giving your all those were the guys to do it.
(FIK) Was there ever a doubt during the year that this was your team?
(WC) I knew that it was my offense, and the offense was great. If coach Hardin gave me the right formation and I could get it going in the right direction either to the left or right or up the middle we would be successful. I knew I had the confidence in myself to do my part.
(FIK) How were you able to keep your composure in the most heated of moments on that football field? For instance the final drive in the Kings Mountain game?
(WC) I don’t know (laughing) it’s a mental focus you have and some guys are built for it and some aren’t I loved it. I never really worried about what the score was or if we were winning or losing I just tried to play as hard as I could every down and make the best decisions I could. In that drive with Kings Mountain we were backed up on the two, and I go to the sidelines to talk to coach Hardin about what they were doing, and I told coach Hardin “They’re leaving the middle wide open” Coach Hardin said well, “We’ll motion Nick and Traun out, and if the linebackers leave just go up the middle” I think I ran three or four sneaks for five, six or seven yards at a time. I don’t believe anybody remembers that, and that it helped us with the clock management. I would go to the line, and we would already have the play called. Nick would motion out and if the linebackers bit on it I would just tap the center on the butt and follow him in to the left or to the right which ever side I tapped him on, and we never even told anybody else on the line. I was playing with a sophomore center too because Nick Safrit had gotten into trouble at the end of the Concord game and got ejected. I think when you get into that zone you just block out all the extra curricular things, and you just see what is going on right in front of you. It’s such a narrow field of focus that nothing else around you is noticeable.
(FIK) Was there ever a time you got down on yourself”
(WC) No. (laughing) I’m so hard headed I just don’t think in terms that I’m going to fail, and I know there was a lot of criticism going around, but I just didn’t pay it any attention. I don’t know if you call that being hard headed or arrogant, but I just believed that much in myself that failing wasn’t ever an issue or an obstacle for me. I always knew I could play if given the opportunity.
(FIK) Did you hear a lot of criticism when you were playing?
(WC) (laughing) This town is so small and everybody goes to the games. It would get back to you, but I never paid it any attention. The criticism just drove me to prove everybody wrong. I watched Kannapolis football growing up as a kid and I remember going down to Concord one year and we got beat. I cried in the backseat all the way back home and my dad asked me what was wrong, and I told him when I get to high school I’m going to beat Concord and I’m going to win a state championship. That is what drove me till I finally got to high school, and I never wavered from that goal or that mentality.
(FIK) During the regular season which game do you think was your best?
(WC) Has to be the Concord game. The only incompletion I had that game was one that I threw away because I got some pressure.
(FIK) What was your worst game during the season?
(WC) For me my worst game all year was the Burns game in the playoffs. I lost it in that game. During the Concord game I played well , and I threw the ball well, and going into the Burns game I just expected that to continue, and when that didn’t happen something just snapped in me. If you remember it was so wet, and the game got cancelled until that Saturday, and it was still just so wet and muddy. I don’t know if it was just that coach Hardin didn’t have the confidence in me to throw the ball that night because of the conditions, I believe he just wanted to keep it on the ground and run Nick. The first quarter and a half we weren’t getting any first downs because Nick couldn’t run because it was so muddy and we weren’t throwing the ball that I just lost it emotionally on the sidelines. I blew up at coach Hardin, and said some things I probably shouldn’t have said in a tone I shouldn’t have used, and he took me out of the game and it almost cost us the season. For me that was my worst game. If I could have kept it together emotionally it might have been different.
(FIK) In you estimation what went wrong against East Rowan?
(WC) (laughing) Just too cocky I guess. We felt like nobody could beat us, and I don’t think we prepared well for that game the whole week. We just thought it was going to be another pushover. We hadn’t been
tested in my opinion all year besides North Rowan especially in the conference.
(FIK) Coach Hardin pulled you out of the East Rowan game why was that?
(WC) I was frustrated because I thought we should be throwing the ball more. They had done a good job at slowing Nick down and we just weren’t getting anywhere. I’m a kid then, and I wanted to sling the ball all over the place so we got into a little shouting match and he put Justin in. We were running the whole time and there was never a pass formation called to see if it would work, and I just got mad and said some things again I wish I hadn’t said, but there again it was the kid in me talking, and I wasn’t being very respectful. I just didn’t handle it right.
(FIK) Why do you think Coach Hardin didn’t try any pass formations?
(WC) I think he was just very confident in Nick and Traun I mean just look at what they had done all season. Both of them had a thousand yards rushing and we hadn’t been throwing the ball. I don’t think he was as confident in that aspect of the offense at that time. I can see his point now. When the game is coming down to the wire it’s not the time to be trying new stuff that hasn’t been proven yet. I see that now that I’m coaching and that can have a lot to do with the calls you make during a game. Again I don’t think
he did get confident in it until the Concord game.
(FIK) Was there ever a point when the pressure got to be too much?
(WC) No. I think pressure teaches you things. I enjoyed the pressure. It made me better. I think I react better under pressure and I don’t back away from it. I enjoyed playing in the big games, and it was never
an issue for me.
(FIK) What was your mind set going into the Concord Battle for the Bell game?
(WC) I had played with those guys all my life, and I knew if I could play with anybody it was them. I knew if we could stop them we could score points. They had Jamie Scott, and Anthony Gray, and Gary Black. It was one of the best offenses we had seen all year and one of the best offenses Concord has ever put on the field. We all knew each other well. I thought I would play well, but not as well as I ended up playing. I know we were picked to lose in both meetings, but that’s not how I felt. I thought it would be one of the greatest games we played to be honest with you.
(FIK) Beating Concord in the bell game 33-20 did you think that was the defining moment for the 1997 team?
(WC) I believe so. I think I said in the paper after that game that we were going to win the state championship or it might have been after one of the playoff games, but I knew that night if we could handle them we could beat anybody. Concord and Hickory were the two number one teams that year and we just felt like beating them like we did that we could compete with anybody. I don’t think there was anybody in our locker room that didn’t believe we could win the state. I don’t know if there were many outside our locker room that felt like that, but we were confident.
(FIK) Did Kings Mountain ever enter into the picture for you?
(WC) No, Not at all. We new that the state championship was going to run either through Concord or Hickory that year.
(FIK) Your first round game with Asheville did any concerns arise when things started out the way they did?
(WC) No. I remember it was cold (laughing) Man, it was cold, and we had a long ride up there. We left on a Thursday and we stayed at a real nice hotel in Asheville. We got up Friday and did a walk through, but it was so cold. I remember when the game started we moved the ball pretty well on that first possession. We moved down the field, and then I hit Danny Jenkins for that first touchdown. After that it just seemed like we couldn’t get back on track. We never seemed to be in danger of losing the game, but it looked like it could go either way there for a little while until Nick broke that long run in the second half and sealed the deal for us. It wasn’t as easy as you would think a first round game should be.
(WC) (laughing) Just too cocky I guess. We felt like nobody could beat us, and I don’t think we prepared well for that game the whole week. We just thought it was going to be another pushover. We hadn’t been
tested in my opinion all year besides North Rowan especially in the conference.
(FIK) Coach Hardin pulled you out of the East Rowan game why was that?
(WC) I was frustrated because I thought we should be throwing the ball more. They had done a good job at slowing Nick down and we just weren’t getting anywhere. I’m a kid then, and I wanted to sling the ball all over the place so we got into a little shouting match and he put Justin in. We were running the whole time and there was never a pass formation called to see if it would work, and I just got mad and said some things again I wish I hadn’t said, but there again it was the kid in me talking, and I wasn’t being very respectful. I just didn’t handle it right.
(FIK) Why do you think Coach Hardin didn’t try any pass formations?
(WC) I think he was just very confident in Nick and Traun I mean just look at what they had done all season. Both of them had a thousand yards rushing and we hadn’t been throwing the ball. I don’t think he was as confident in that aspect of the offense at that time. I can see his point now. When the game is coming down to the wire it’s not the time to be trying new stuff that hasn’t been proven yet. I see that now that I’m coaching and that can have a lot to do with the calls you make during a game. Again I don’t think
he did get confident in it until the Concord game.
(FIK) Was there ever a point when the pressure got to be too much?
(WC) No. I think pressure teaches you things. I enjoyed the pressure. It made me better. I think I react better under pressure and I don’t back away from it. I enjoyed playing in the big games, and it was never
an issue for me.
(FIK) What was your mind set going into the Concord Battle for the Bell game?
(WC) I had played with those guys all my life, and I knew if I could play with anybody it was them. I knew if we could stop them we could score points. They had Jamie Scott, and Anthony Gray, and Gary Black. It was one of the best offenses we had seen all year and one of the best offenses Concord has ever put on the field. We all knew each other well. I thought I would play well, but not as well as I ended up playing. I know we were picked to lose in both meetings, but that’s not how I felt. I thought it would be one of the greatest games we played to be honest with you.
(FIK) Beating Concord in the bell game 33-20 did you think that was the defining moment for the 1997 team?
(WC) I believe so. I think I said in the paper after that game that we were going to win the state championship or it might have been after one of the playoff games, but I knew that night if we could handle them we could beat anybody. Concord and Hickory were the two number one teams that year and we just felt like beating them like we did that we could compete with anybody. I don’t think there was anybody in our locker room that didn’t believe we could win the state. I don’t know if there were many outside our locker room that felt like that, but we were confident.
(FIK) Did Kings Mountain ever enter into the picture for you?
(WC) No, Not at all. We new that the state championship was going to run either through Concord or Hickory that year.
(FIK) Your first round game with Asheville did any concerns arise when things started out the way they did?
(WC) No. I remember it was cold (laughing) Man, it was cold, and we had a long ride up there. We left on a Thursday and we stayed at a real nice hotel in Asheville. We got up Friday and did a walk through, but it was so cold. I remember when the game started we moved the ball pretty well on that first possession. We moved down the field, and then I hit Danny Jenkins for that first touchdown. After that it just seemed like we couldn’t get back on track. We never seemed to be in danger of losing the game, but it looked like it could go either way there for a little while until Nick broke that long run in the second half and sealed the deal for us. It wasn’t as easy as you would think a first round game should be.
(FIK) Who in your opinion was your toughest opponent in the playoffs?
(WC) I would have to say it was Burns, but Concord was tough too. I say Burns because I got taken out of that game after my blow up with coach Hardin, and I never played the rest of the game. That was tough. I don’t think Burns was any tougher than any other team we played in the playoffs. I think it was combination of the field conditions, and me getting taken out of the game that made that game so tough. We won like 17-16 I believe. That was too close. (laughing) I remember they had a great quarterback, a left handed kid. I went to a few camps with him, but I don’t remember his name. They had a big defensive line too, but I don’t think they were good enough to hold Nick to two touchdowns by no means. The conditions were really bad that night, and then the fog rolled in. (laughing)
(FIK) How would you compare Burns to Concord that year?
(WC) Not even close. Concord was so much more athletic than Burns. Concord had some of the greatest offensive people around then. Monta Posey, Anthony Gray, Gary Black, Jamie Scott, and then defensively they had Adrian Archie man he was a beast. They were just all around athletic. They were the team I feared the most that year because I knew those guys and knew what they were capable of doing on the football field. I don’t think Concord has ever had a group as good as that one was in ninety seven.
(FIK) Were you shocked that they beat the defending state champion
Hickory team?
(WC) No, not at all. I had a feeling in my gut we were going to be playing them again after what happened in the bell game. There was no doubt in my mind they would beat Hickory. I just think Concord caught us
on our best two days and they paid for it. I’m not sure that we could have played any better than we did in either one of those games to be honest with you. You think about it. Top hold that group defensively to zero points was making a statement. Jamie Scott was the counties leading rusher until Nick broke it that following year in 1998, but that was a huge accomplishment for our defense to hold them like they did.
(FIK) How big was the Concord rivalry for you?
(WC) Oh man, That was what I lived for. To play them is like nothing I ’ve ever done even in college. There is just something about playing Concord that brings out the best in you, and you cant help but get caught up in all that pre game hype.
(FIK) Did it seem like you were playing your buddies when you played them or was there something else that drove you?
(WC) Let me tell you something. I played with those guys for most of my youth, and yes we were friends during that time, but when it came down to the game there was a deep seeded hatred amongst all of us during that two hours that you don’t experience with any other team. I didn’t think of them as my buddies when we got on that field. My first thought was we cannot lose to these guys for any reason. If I don’t win another game I’m not going to lose to Concord. You know what I’m talking about. If you grew up around here there was no love for Concord, and that’s all I can say on that topic. (laughing)
(FIK) Now I have to ask you, On a scale of 1-10 where does playing for the bell rank? I have talked with several different players, and all of them had a different opinion on this issue. To some it was very important, and to others it didn’t mean a thing so how was it for you?
(WC) For me it was very important. To me it meant everything. I guess at the time I didn’t know what the feeling would be like to play for a state championship, and that it would be one of the greatest feelings and greatest accomplishments of my life, so for me the bell game was the state championship. That’s all I dreamed about as a kid was playing Concord and getting the bell back if they had it. There’s just no feeling
in the world like walking out onto that field and seeing all those people you know are there to watch you, and you’re getting the pull from both sides. It can be overwhelming if you don’t put it in perspective when you get out there.
(FIK) Why do you think that it doesn’t matter what the records are when Kannapolis and Concord get together?
(WC) It’s a rivalry. One of the most heated. That’s just an emotional game, and there is just no other way to put it. You can take all the stats and records and throw them right out the window for that game. When you walk down that hill whether it’s at Concord or Kannapolis everybody turns it on that night. You cant come out for that game and not get goose bumps. Its just an emotional game, and everybody leaves it all
out there when it’s done.
(FIK) Would you say it is more emotion than technique in this game?
(WC) Definitely, but you have to keep the emotion in check. You cant go out too emotional because it can throw off your focus. You just have to put it in perspective, and that may sound contradictory, but you just have to go to another level in that game.
(WC) I would have to say it was Burns, but Concord was tough too. I say Burns because I got taken out of that game after my blow up with coach Hardin, and I never played the rest of the game. That was tough. I don’t think Burns was any tougher than any other team we played in the playoffs. I think it was combination of the field conditions, and me getting taken out of the game that made that game so tough. We won like 17-16 I believe. That was too close. (laughing) I remember they had a great quarterback, a left handed kid. I went to a few camps with him, but I don’t remember his name. They had a big defensive line too, but I don’t think they were good enough to hold Nick to two touchdowns by no means. The conditions were really bad that night, and then the fog rolled in. (laughing)
(FIK) How would you compare Burns to Concord that year?
(WC) Not even close. Concord was so much more athletic than Burns. Concord had some of the greatest offensive people around then. Monta Posey, Anthony Gray, Gary Black, Jamie Scott, and then defensively they had Adrian Archie man he was a beast. They were just all around athletic. They were the team I feared the most that year because I knew those guys and knew what they were capable of doing on the football field. I don’t think Concord has ever had a group as good as that one was in ninety seven.
(FIK) Were you shocked that they beat the defending state champion
Hickory team?
(WC) No, not at all. I had a feeling in my gut we were going to be playing them again after what happened in the bell game. There was no doubt in my mind they would beat Hickory. I just think Concord caught us
on our best two days and they paid for it. I’m not sure that we could have played any better than we did in either one of those games to be honest with you. You think about it. Top hold that group defensively to zero points was making a statement. Jamie Scott was the counties leading rusher until Nick broke it that following year in 1998, but that was a huge accomplishment for our defense to hold them like they did.
(FIK) How big was the Concord rivalry for you?
(WC) Oh man, That was what I lived for. To play them is like nothing I ’ve ever done even in college. There is just something about playing Concord that brings out the best in you, and you cant help but get caught up in all that pre game hype.
(FIK) Did it seem like you were playing your buddies when you played them or was there something else that drove you?
(WC) Let me tell you something. I played with those guys for most of my youth, and yes we were friends during that time, but when it came down to the game there was a deep seeded hatred amongst all of us during that two hours that you don’t experience with any other team. I didn’t think of them as my buddies when we got on that field. My first thought was we cannot lose to these guys for any reason. If I don’t win another game I’m not going to lose to Concord. You know what I’m talking about. If you grew up around here there was no love for Concord, and that’s all I can say on that topic. (laughing)
(FIK) Now I have to ask you, On a scale of 1-10 where does playing for the bell rank? I have talked with several different players, and all of them had a different opinion on this issue. To some it was very important, and to others it didn’t mean a thing so how was it for you?
(WC) For me it was very important. To me it meant everything. I guess at the time I didn’t know what the feeling would be like to play for a state championship, and that it would be one of the greatest feelings and greatest accomplishments of my life, so for me the bell game was the state championship. That’s all I dreamed about as a kid was playing Concord and getting the bell back if they had it. There’s just no feeling
in the world like walking out onto that field and seeing all those people you know are there to watch you, and you’re getting the pull from both sides. It can be overwhelming if you don’t put it in perspective when you get out there.
(FIK) Why do you think that it doesn’t matter what the records are when Kannapolis and Concord get together?
(WC) It’s a rivalry. One of the most heated. That’s just an emotional game, and there is just no other way to put it. You can take all the stats and records and throw them right out the window for that game. When you walk down that hill whether it’s at Concord or Kannapolis everybody turns it on that night. You cant come out for that game and not get goose bumps. Its just an emotional game, and everybody leaves it all
out there when it’s done.
(FIK) Would you say it is more emotion than technique in this game?
(WC) Definitely, but you have to keep the emotion in check. You cant go out too emotional because it can throw off your focus. You just have to put it in perspective, and that may sound contradictory, but you just have to go to another level in that game.
(FIK) What did Concord do defensively in the second meeting in the playoffs that led to such a low scoring affair?
(WC) They really didn’t do anything different we just shot ourselves in the foot a lot during that game. We would go down the field and get a holding penalty, and there was that time we got into scoring range, and I threw that interception. It was just mental miscues on our part. Now they did back their safeties up after Gill had burned them in that first game, and we were unable to throw deep at all, but the short underneath routes became available and we exploited that, but they really didn’t stop us we stopped ourselves most of the time. Our defense bailed us out in that one.
(FIK) What are your thoughts on coach E.Z. Smith?
(WC) (laughing) I couldn’t stand him growing up. I hated those shorts he wore, and that yellow wind breaker, and him standing out there on the field, but after we beat them in the playoffs he got in touch with me, and said some really nice things to me. Looking back I thought E.Z. really brought a lot to the game. You just about wanted to beat E.Z as much as you did Concord. Coach Smith was a great competitor, and a fine human being who loved Concord, and gave everything he had to that program. He was very gracious to me. He told me we played a great game, and how much he respected me, and by doing that you got to see another side of coach Smith that most didn’t get to see. I have a lot of respect for E.Z.
(FIK) How big was the ejection of your starting center Nick Safrit going into the Kings Mountain game?
(WC) That made me nervous because I trusted that kid. Nick had blocked great that entire season, and now I was going to have a sophomore center who I didn’t know that just came up off the JVs, and nobody knew if he could handle the pressure or not. I got even more nervous when I walked down the hill and saw how big those guys from Kings Mountain were. They were like a small college team. I was thinking man is this guy going to be able to get the job done? He did though. He did in a big way that night.
(FIK) Kings Mountains first score came off a bad snap was that a concern for you the rest of the game?
(WC) That wasn’t due to Nick’s ejection. Nate Ammerson was our long snapper, and Nick wouldn’t have been in that spot anyway. Nate had done a great job all year, and was a great long snapper. I don’t know if he just got too jacked up or what but he just let it rip and it went over Danny’s head. I know he felt bad about it though. Nate took pride in long snapping, and was good at it. I just think he go a little too jacked up.
(FIK) Was there ever a point in the Kings Mountain game with the score going back and forth that you thought things might not go our way this time around?
(WC) No not really. When Phillip Johnson intercepted that pass, and took it to the house I thought this game is over. Now they came back and it got a little ugly there for awhile, but I don’t think the outcome was ever in question for me or anybody else on that sideline.
(FIK) Did you think that Northeast Guilford was the best you could have faced out of the east that year?
(WC) To be perfectly honest with you none of us kept up with who was who in the east. We really didn’t know that much about them only that they were suppose to be similar to us offensively, but that didn’t come to pass. To me I felt like who ever made it to the state out of the west was going to win it all. Either Us, Concord or Hickory. The west was loaded that year. Now Northeast Guilford was pretty prolific in their season that year as well, I just didn’t know enough about them to fear them so to speak. By the time we got to them we had already beaten a good Burns team, a better Concord team and an even better Kings Mountain team, so for me the sky was the limit.
(FIK) Did you or the team have any pregame rituals you liked to do?
(WC) We would eat steaks every Friday after school around 3:30 4:00 Steaks, Baked Potato, and salad. After that we would go over to the gym and watch film or whatever we wanted to watch. We would listen to music on the headphones just different things to get mentally prepared.
(FIK) You played with some great athletes on that state championship team tell me about some of these individuals and what comes to mind about them. Danny Jenkins?
(WC) Great hands, and better not turn your head or he would light you up. He wasn’t the fastest runner, but he was physical. Danny gave everything he had every play, and I knew I could count on him at critical
moments in the ball game. We ran Nick on a lot of decoy routes just to get it to Danny. Defenses would always expect Nick was going to get the ball and they would leave Danny all alone. We would just run Danny out on some curl routes using Nick as the decoy when Danny was the primary target to begin with. That touchdown pass to Nick Gill in that first Concord game came to be because they all thought Danny was going to be the primary target and they bit on him leaving Nick out in the open.
(FIK) Tramaine Robinson?
(WC) I’ve been knowing Tramaine all my life since we were kids. He was scrappy and very athletic. He was fast, and played with a lot of heart. He would do whatever he was asked to do.
(FIK) Evar Johnson?
(WC) Ole Evar (laughing) He was a big kid with a lot of physical ability. He would do whatever they asked him to do, and if he was running the ball and got a head of steam he would run you over like a freight train. Evar was a competitor.
(FIK) Phillip Johnson?
(WC) (laughing) Phillip was a clown. He would make everybody on the team laugh. He kept things loose and was always cutting up or picking with you, but when it came down to crunch time he got it done. Phillip was one of the fastest defensive lineman I ever saw. That interception in the Kings Mountain game was an example of how quick he was. Couldn’t nobody catch him including the defensive backs. Anthony Hillman was chasing him, and he couldn’t catch him.
(FIK) Traun Brown?
(WC) Traun was just a workhorse. Traun got a lot of the dirty duty. If we needed a tough yard or two they would always give it to Traun. He was steady and you knew what you were going to get from him. He was
a little overshadowed by Nick, but Traun did a lot. Traun was a little more physical than Nick. Nick was so shifty and could make you miss while Traun just went at you, and you had to go toe to toe to get him down. I think Traun liked the contact. He really enjoyed running up the middle and making contact with
someone. That was his thing.
(FIK) Justin Hardin?
(WC) Justin was a great kid. I liked Justin a lot. H turned out to be a great QB in 1998. He was always wanting to learn and he picked up quick. You didn’t have tell him anything twice because he understood
the game. I guess that’s the benefit from having a head coach for a dad. (laughing)
(FIK) Nick Gill?
(WC) Nick was a beast. He was always looking for someone to pulverize. He could do just about anything he wanted to on the football field. He had good hands and could catch and he would knock your head off
on defense.
(FIK) Jeff Sheets?
(WC) Jeff was my college room mate at ECU (laughing) Jeff was like me he wasn’t the biggest or the strongest, but he had a lot of intelligence and he understood the game. He gave it all he had every play, and he turned out to be a great tightend and linebacker. He made a lot of catches in that first Concord game and the second.
(FIK) Ravar Harris?
(WC) Speedy was a tough kid and quick. He was great as a DB. He shut a lot of receivers down, and played some great defense for us.
(FIK) Nick Maddox?
(WC) How much time we got? (laughing) Nick was just an exceptional kid, exceptional talent. He was the most amazing back I ever saw. He did things that just didn’t seem natural. Nick had a competitive spirit that was unmatched by anybody. Nick didn’t like to lose and if you look back at his career he didn’t lose very often. Nick was just as much a great human being as he was an athlete. A lot of people who didn’t know him would think just of his athletic ability, but Nick was much more to the team. He would get after you if you weren’t holding up on your end of things, and he would talk to you if you were down. He always had something good to say, and he was never negative.
You don’t see that too much in young kids these days, but Nick was just cut from a different cloth than the average. Nicks performance in that state championship game was a testament to what he was capable of. I was there and saw it, and like everybody else I thought it was spectacular, but none of us knew he was setting all those records. It wasn’t until the next day when I was reading the paper that I actually found out what damage he did in that game. It was a remarkable feat, and to do all that being as sick as he was remarkable. I wasn’t sure if he would even play, and if he did if he would be any good, but he showed all of us.Nick always kept his head up, and that made people want to play better just to keep up with him. If there was something wrong with him you usually didn’t know it unless he told you.
(FIK) Did you know hewas sick going into the game?
(WC) Yea, we woke up in the hotel room that Friday, and he just didn’t look well. It was like he caught the flu all of the sudden. I got a little concerned, and thought man we may be in trouble with this.
(FIK) At what point in the season did you know that Nick was going to play such a key role in the offense?
(WC) We knew that the year before. We knew going into the season if we didn’t have anything we had Nick, so we knew we were going to be able to run the ball. We knew him and Traun both were going to get a lot of carries, so we knew if we didn’t have anything else we had backs that could run the ball usefully. He brought all that hype with him, but he backed it all up as well.
(FIK) At any point in the season did you or any of the others feel like they were not as important to the team or felt like they were taking a backseat to Nick?
(WC) No not at all. We all took pride in Nick, and we knew that it took more than one man to be the team. There was never that kind feeling going around, and Nick sure never made us feel like we were second to him. He always thanked, us and made us feel like we were as much responsible or his success as his own ability. If Nick was getting press he was bringing press to Kannapolis, and that made us feel great as a team because we were all sharing in that. Nick was never big headed, and he was just so humble he would
never think of taking all the credit by himself. I loved Nick, and I still do to this day.
(WC) They really didn’t do anything different we just shot ourselves in the foot a lot during that game. We would go down the field and get a holding penalty, and there was that time we got into scoring range, and I threw that interception. It was just mental miscues on our part. Now they did back their safeties up after Gill had burned them in that first game, and we were unable to throw deep at all, but the short underneath routes became available and we exploited that, but they really didn’t stop us we stopped ourselves most of the time. Our defense bailed us out in that one.
(FIK) What are your thoughts on coach E.Z. Smith?
(WC) (laughing) I couldn’t stand him growing up. I hated those shorts he wore, and that yellow wind breaker, and him standing out there on the field, but after we beat them in the playoffs he got in touch with me, and said some really nice things to me. Looking back I thought E.Z. really brought a lot to the game. You just about wanted to beat E.Z as much as you did Concord. Coach Smith was a great competitor, and a fine human being who loved Concord, and gave everything he had to that program. He was very gracious to me. He told me we played a great game, and how much he respected me, and by doing that you got to see another side of coach Smith that most didn’t get to see. I have a lot of respect for E.Z.
(FIK) How big was the ejection of your starting center Nick Safrit going into the Kings Mountain game?
(WC) That made me nervous because I trusted that kid. Nick had blocked great that entire season, and now I was going to have a sophomore center who I didn’t know that just came up off the JVs, and nobody knew if he could handle the pressure or not. I got even more nervous when I walked down the hill and saw how big those guys from Kings Mountain were. They were like a small college team. I was thinking man is this guy going to be able to get the job done? He did though. He did in a big way that night.
(FIK) Kings Mountains first score came off a bad snap was that a concern for you the rest of the game?
(WC) That wasn’t due to Nick’s ejection. Nate Ammerson was our long snapper, and Nick wouldn’t have been in that spot anyway. Nate had done a great job all year, and was a great long snapper. I don’t know if he just got too jacked up or what but he just let it rip and it went over Danny’s head. I know he felt bad about it though. Nate took pride in long snapping, and was good at it. I just think he go a little too jacked up.
(FIK) Was there ever a point in the Kings Mountain game with the score going back and forth that you thought things might not go our way this time around?
(WC) No not really. When Phillip Johnson intercepted that pass, and took it to the house I thought this game is over. Now they came back and it got a little ugly there for awhile, but I don’t think the outcome was ever in question for me or anybody else on that sideline.
(FIK) Did you think that Northeast Guilford was the best you could have faced out of the east that year?
(WC) To be perfectly honest with you none of us kept up with who was who in the east. We really didn’t know that much about them only that they were suppose to be similar to us offensively, but that didn’t come to pass. To me I felt like who ever made it to the state out of the west was going to win it all. Either Us, Concord or Hickory. The west was loaded that year. Now Northeast Guilford was pretty prolific in their season that year as well, I just didn’t know enough about them to fear them so to speak. By the time we got to them we had already beaten a good Burns team, a better Concord team and an even better Kings Mountain team, so for me the sky was the limit.
(FIK) Did you or the team have any pregame rituals you liked to do?
(WC) We would eat steaks every Friday after school around 3:30 4:00 Steaks, Baked Potato, and salad. After that we would go over to the gym and watch film or whatever we wanted to watch. We would listen to music on the headphones just different things to get mentally prepared.
(FIK) You played with some great athletes on that state championship team tell me about some of these individuals and what comes to mind about them. Danny Jenkins?
(WC) Great hands, and better not turn your head or he would light you up. He wasn’t the fastest runner, but he was physical. Danny gave everything he had every play, and I knew I could count on him at critical
moments in the ball game. We ran Nick on a lot of decoy routes just to get it to Danny. Defenses would always expect Nick was going to get the ball and they would leave Danny all alone. We would just run Danny out on some curl routes using Nick as the decoy when Danny was the primary target to begin with. That touchdown pass to Nick Gill in that first Concord game came to be because they all thought Danny was going to be the primary target and they bit on him leaving Nick out in the open.
(FIK) Tramaine Robinson?
(WC) I’ve been knowing Tramaine all my life since we were kids. He was scrappy and very athletic. He was fast, and played with a lot of heart. He would do whatever he was asked to do.
(FIK) Evar Johnson?
(WC) Ole Evar (laughing) He was a big kid with a lot of physical ability. He would do whatever they asked him to do, and if he was running the ball and got a head of steam he would run you over like a freight train. Evar was a competitor.
(FIK) Phillip Johnson?
(WC) (laughing) Phillip was a clown. He would make everybody on the team laugh. He kept things loose and was always cutting up or picking with you, but when it came down to crunch time he got it done. Phillip was one of the fastest defensive lineman I ever saw. That interception in the Kings Mountain game was an example of how quick he was. Couldn’t nobody catch him including the defensive backs. Anthony Hillman was chasing him, and he couldn’t catch him.
(FIK) Traun Brown?
(WC) Traun was just a workhorse. Traun got a lot of the dirty duty. If we needed a tough yard or two they would always give it to Traun. He was steady and you knew what you were going to get from him. He was
a little overshadowed by Nick, but Traun did a lot. Traun was a little more physical than Nick. Nick was so shifty and could make you miss while Traun just went at you, and you had to go toe to toe to get him down. I think Traun liked the contact. He really enjoyed running up the middle and making contact with
someone. That was his thing.
(FIK) Justin Hardin?
(WC) Justin was a great kid. I liked Justin a lot. H turned out to be a great QB in 1998. He was always wanting to learn and he picked up quick. You didn’t have tell him anything twice because he understood
the game. I guess that’s the benefit from having a head coach for a dad. (laughing)
(FIK) Nick Gill?
(WC) Nick was a beast. He was always looking for someone to pulverize. He could do just about anything he wanted to on the football field. He had good hands and could catch and he would knock your head off
on defense.
(FIK) Jeff Sheets?
(WC) Jeff was my college room mate at ECU (laughing) Jeff was like me he wasn’t the biggest or the strongest, but he had a lot of intelligence and he understood the game. He gave it all he had every play, and he turned out to be a great tightend and linebacker. He made a lot of catches in that first Concord game and the second.
(FIK) Ravar Harris?
(WC) Speedy was a tough kid and quick. He was great as a DB. He shut a lot of receivers down, and played some great defense for us.
(FIK) Nick Maddox?
(WC) How much time we got? (laughing) Nick was just an exceptional kid, exceptional talent. He was the most amazing back I ever saw. He did things that just didn’t seem natural. Nick had a competitive spirit that was unmatched by anybody. Nick didn’t like to lose and if you look back at his career he didn’t lose very often. Nick was just as much a great human being as he was an athlete. A lot of people who didn’t know him would think just of his athletic ability, but Nick was much more to the team. He would get after you if you weren’t holding up on your end of things, and he would talk to you if you were down. He always had something good to say, and he was never negative.
You don’t see that too much in young kids these days, but Nick was just cut from a different cloth than the average. Nicks performance in that state championship game was a testament to what he was capable of. I was there and saw it, and like everybody else I thought it was spectacular, but none of us knew he was setting all those records. It wasn’t until the next day when I was reading the paper that I actually found out what damage he did in that game. It was a remarkable feat, and to do all that being as sick as he was remarkable. I wasn’t sure if he would even play, and if he did if he would be any good, but he showed all of us.Nick always kept his head up, and that made people want to play better just to keep up with him. If there was something wrong with him you usually didn’t know it unless he told you.
(FIK) Did you know hewas sick going into the game?
(WC) Yea, we woke up in the hotel room that Friday, and he just didn’t look well. It was like he caught the flu all of the sudden. I got a little concerned, and thought man we may be in trouble with this.
(FIK) At what point in the season did you know that Nick was going to play such a key role in the offense?
(WC) We knew that the year before. We knew going into the season if we didn’t have anything we had Nick, so we knew we were going to be able to run the ball. We knew him and Traun both were going to get a lot of carries, so we knew if we didn’t have anything else we had backs that could run the ball usefully. He brought all that hype with him, but he backed it all up as well.
(FIK) At any point in the season did you or any of the others feel like they were not as important to the team or felt like they were taking a backseat to Nick?
(WC) No not at all. We all took pride in Nick, and we knew that it took more than one man to be the team. There was never that kind feeling going around, and Nick sure never made us feel like we were second to him. He always thanked, us and made us feel like we were as much responsible or his success as his own ability. If Nick was getting press he was bringing press to Kannapolis, and that made us feel great as a team because we were all sharing in that. Nick was never big headed, and he was just so humble he would
never think of taking all the credit by himself. I loved Nick, and I still do to this day.
(FIK) If there was one game in that season you could have back to replay which one would it be?
(WC) I don’t know. I think it all ended up great. I don’t think you could have planned it out any better. I would like to have stayed in that East Rowan game and beaten them, but overall I don’t have any regrets about the season at all. It turned out exceptionally well. I think it all played out the way it did for a reason. If I could reschedule a game it would be East Rowan. They just shouldn’t have beaten us. We let ourselves down in that game because I don’t think we played to our potential and that doesn’t sit well in your mind when you know you could have done better. I hate to be walking around knowing we were the state champions and have somebody from East Rowan say “Yea, but we beat you” That makes me so mad. (laughing) That still stings today I have to be truthful about it, but if I’m also being truthful I believe that loss did more to help us win the state than anything that happened to us that year. We pushed ourselves from that point on and it paid off.
(FIK) How doe Will Craft feel about his accomplishments today?
(WC) I’m proud of what I accomplished. Looking back, and hindsight being 20/20 I wish I had worked out a little more and maybe I could have been a little better, but as I said before I really don’t have any regrets about any of it.
(FIK) How does it feel to walk back into Memorial Stadium and see that marquis that reads “1997 State AAA Football Champions”?
(WC) It’s just like a proud daddy when his son is born. Just to look up there and know that was my team, and we did that is just a feeling you cant explain. I remember something coach Wightman said to us when we were in the gym one afternoon. He pointed to that picture of the 1989 state title team and he said “Do you want to be remembered like that with your picture on the wall or do you want to be remembered as the team that almost made it there?”
(FIK) Do you think the pressure put on these young athletes to win is too much and takes some of the enjoyment of the game away from them?
(WC) No, I feel it’s the pressure that molds you, and builds you. It forms your character. Football is a game that builds character in a person, and most of the time it weeds the ones who are not willing to go the distance out. As you get older you are going to face challenges that are going to make anything you faced out on the football field seem petty, and its that character you built on that field that’s going to help you get through those times. So, no I don’t think it’s too much. Answer this question for me, how many people today still talk about the state runner up teams of 1984, 1991, and 2008? That is not a statement to be disrespectful to them because they were great teams, but success is measured in this town in championships. If you are going to wear that green and white uniform, and a helmet with that big “K” on
the side then you better be willing to die for what you want because it’s not going to be given to you.
Kannapolis is a great football town, and as long as the program is winning the measuring stick is always going to be state titles. The guys who play this game in this town know that going in. That’s what me, Danny, and Tramaine are trying to instill in these young kids we coach, and that is if you want your picture hanging on that wall as the next state champion then you have to be willing to sacrifice, and give everything you have for one another. They look at our rings and they want that for themselves. I think we are starting off on the right foot.
(FIK) What do you miss the most about playing high school football today?
(WC) The Camaraderie, and just being around the guys. Getting to go out there on that field and take your frustrations out on somebody and getting that adrenaline rush that’s why I bow hunt now because it gives me that adrenaline rush like I use to get if a Scored a touchdown or threw a touchdown pass it’s the same feeling, and you don’t realize how much you miss that until you don’t have it anymore.
(FIK) If you could give any advice to the younger kids playing at the high school today what that advice be?
(WC) I would say Cherish the time you have now, and don’t take a second of it for granted because they are life long memories that you will carry with you for the rest of your life. When they shut that door in the locker room that last game it’s over, and you don’t want to have any regrets and thinks I wish I would have done this or I wish I would have done that you got to give it all you got now.
(FIK) If you were asked to address the 2011 team before they take the field for the Concord game what would you say to them?
(WC) This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and you will be talking about this when you are seventy. Losing is not an option and you have to leave it all on the field tonight. Give your blood, sweat, and tears to beat this team tonight. Do whatever you have to do, but do it for each other. I remember some of the speeches coach Hardin use to give us before a game, and after we would be ready to run through a brick wall for him.
(WC) I don’t know. I think it all ended up great. I don’t think you could have planned it out any better. I would like to have stayed in that East Rowan game and beaten them, but overall I don’t have any regrets about the season at all. It turned out exceptionally well. I think it all played out the way it did for a reason. If I could reschedule a game it would be East Rowan. They just shouldn’t have beaten us. We let ourselves down in that game because I don’t think we played to our potential and that doesn’t sit well in your mind when you know you could have done better. I hate to be walking around knowing we were the state champions and have somebody from East Rowan say “Yea, but we beat you” That makes me so mad. (laughing) That still stings today I have to be truthful about it, but if I’m also being truthful I believe that loss did more to help us win the state than anything that happened to us that year. We pushed ourselves from that point on and it paid off.
(FIK) How doe Will Craft feel about his accomplishments today?
(WC) I’m proud of what I accomplished. Looking back, and hindsight being 20/20 I wish I had worked out a little more and maybe I could have been a little better, but as I said before I really don’t have any regrets about any of it.
(FIK) How does it feel to walk back into Memorial Stadium and see that marquis that reads “1997 State AAA Football Champions”?
(WC) It’s just like a proud daddy when his son is born. Just to look up there and know that was my team, and we did that is just a feeling you cant explain. I remember something coach Wightman said to us when we were in the gym one afternoon. He pointed to that picture of the 1989 state title team and he said “Do you want to be remembered like that with your picture on the wall or do you want to be remembered as the team that almost made it there?”
(FIK) Do you think the pressure put on these young athletes to win is too much and takes some of the enjoyment of the game away from them?
(WC) No, I feel it’s the pressure that molds you, and builds you. It forms your character. Football is a game that builds character in a person, and most of the time it weeds the ones who are not willing to go the distance out. As you get older you are going to face challenges that are going to make anything you faced out on the football field seem petty, and its that character you built on that field that’s going to help you get through those times. So, no I don’t think it’s too much. Answer this question for me, how many people today still talk about the state runner up teams of 1984, 1991, and 2008? That is not a statement to be disrespectful to them because they were great teams, but success is measured in this town in championships. If you are going to wear that green and white uniform, and a helmet with that big “K” on
the side then you better be willing to die for what you want because it’s not going to be given to you.
Kannapolis is a great football town, and as long as the program is winning the measuring stick is always going to be state titles. The guys who play this game in this town know that going in. That’s what me, Danny, and Tramaine are trying to instill in these young kids we coach, and that is if you want your picture hanging on that wall as the next state champion then you have to be willing to sacrifice, and give everything you have for one another. They look at our rings and they want that for themselves. I think we are starting off on the right foot.
(FIK) What do you miss the most about playing high school football today?
(WC) The Camaraderie, and just being around the guys. Getting to go out there on that field and take your frustrations out on somebody and getting that adrenaline rush that’s why I bow hunt now because it gives me that adrenaline rush like I use to get if a Scored a touchdown or threw a touchdown pass it’s the same feeling, and you don’t realize how much you miss that until you don’t have it anymore.
(FIK) If you could give any advice to the younger kids playing at the high school today what that advice be?
(WC) I would say Cherish the time you have now, and don’t take a second of it for granted because they are life long memories that you will carry with you for the rest of your life. When they shut that door in the locker room that last game it’s over, and you don’t want to have any regrets and thinks I wish I would have done this or I wish I would have done that you got to give it all you got now.
(FIK) If you were asked to address the 2011 team before they take the field for the Concord game what would you say to them?
(WC) This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and you will be talking about this when you are seventy. Losing is not an option and you have to leave it all on the field tonight. Give your blood, sweat, and tears to beat this team tonight. Do whatever you have to do, but do it for each other. I remember some of the speeches coach Hardin use to give us before a game, and after we would be ready to run through a brick wall for him.
As Will answered the last of these final four questions I could notice his eyes beginning to well up, and a slight crackle in his responses, it was then that I truly understood what the 1997 state championship team, and his experiences with them meant to him. After college Will would come back to Kannapolis where he would leave a good portion of his football behind him. Will settled down into family life, and has two sons that are looking to follow in his footsteps. It seems only fitting that one of the Wonders best would live just a stones throw from the arena he played in, and which serves as a constant reminder of that journey taken fourteen years ago. Will and two former standouts from the 1997 state championship team and the 1998 defending state champs Tramaine Robinson and Danny Jenkins are now helping mold our future Wonders in the Kannapolis Youth Football League. Will told me that he, and his former team mates hope to instill in these young kids what was instilled in them fourteen years ago by Bruce Hardin, and provide quality athletes, and quality young men to Coach Newsome as they enter the high school ranks. Will Craft is an exceptional man in his own right. Will has taken the life lessons he learned in football, and has applied them in his daily routine.
As I was thinking of a title for this story, “Shadowed Hero” kept popping up as a potential title for some reason. I thought that title was the most appropriate due to the large shadow that hung over Will, and many of the fine athletes on that 1997 state championship team in the likes of one, Nick Maddox. As I began editing this piece for errors my mind raced in search of something profound I could say to use in conclusion, but the words eluded me. As I began to type, I noticed a shadow falling upon my computer keyboard from a photo I have sitting on my computer desk. It is an 8x10 photo of one of the greatest high school football players to ever play the game at Kannapolis, and it just happens to be Nick Maddox. This picture sits just to the right of my keyboard. To the right of that picture is a desk light. The picture of Nick, though nice, was beginning to cast a shadow on my keyboard and with my eyes not being what they used to be it was getting progressively difficult for me to see the letters I was typing. In a sheer moment of genius I decided to move the picture to eliminate the shadow. It was during this motion that it all fell together for me, and started making perfect sense. Before a shadow can be cast there must be a light on one side of the object casting the shadow of equal or greater intensity to create the shadow effect.
Will Craft was the light on that state championship team that illuminated many. Nick Maddox could not have scored any touchdowns until Will successfully got the ball from point A to point B. None of the talented receivers on that team could have gained one yard with that ball until Will precisely fired it into their hands. Most importantly, that final drive to ensure that a very capable Kings Mountain offense would not have the opportunity to attempt to tie the game in the final minutes would not have happened had Will not had the presence of mind to recognize what the Mountie defense was doing. This recognition allowed for a succession of quarterback sneaks that resulted in a very time consuming twelve play drive that ultimately ended with a forty five yard Nick Maddox touchdown; the defining moment in the 1997 campaign orchestrated by Will Craft. Will created the opportunity for yet another brighter light to shine. Will was not a flashy QB, and you would be hard pressed to compare him to anyone. Will did exactly what he was told to do, and was trusted by Bruce Hardin to put his team in the right situation at the right moment to be successful. Will was outspoken, maybe a little too outspoken, maybe just a little hot headed as a teen which landed him in hot water on several occasions, getting him taken out of a game. But more than anything, Will Craft was the unquestionable leader of that group who looked upon him to guide them to that state championship. Yes, William Craft had a huge shadow hanging over him, but it was a shadow of his own making.
Friday Nights in K-Town wishes to thank William Craft for sharing his story of that rollercoaster dream ride to the 1997 state championship. I hope I have conveyed your story accurately, and un embellished. I also want to thank you for allowing me to share from your personal archives this great pictorial documentary of that state championship year. There is no way I could have been as thorough in this account without these materials. As for your accomplishments, and that of your comrades on the 1997 state championship team let me assure you, and your team mates Wonder Nation has not forgotten. How can we? There is a big marquee bearing that achievment high atop the pressbox at Memorial Stadium that reminds us all everytime we enter it's confines. You will always be a most valued friend to this site, and to all of Wonder nation. God Bless.
As I was thinking of a title for this story, “Shadowed Hero” kept popping up as a potential title for some reason. I thought that title was the most appropriate due to the large shadow that hung over Will, and many of the fine athletes on that 1997 state championship team in the likes of one, Nick Maddox. As I began editing this piece for errors my mind raced in search of something profound I could say to use in conclusion, but the words eluded me. As I began to type, I noticed a shadow falling upon my computer keyboard from a photo I have sitting on my computer desk. It is an 8x10 photo of one of the greatest high school football players to ever play the game at Kannapolis, and it just happens to be Nick Maddox. This picture sits just to the right of my keyboard. To the right of that picture is a desk light. The picture of Nick, though nice, was beginning to cast a shadow on my keyboard and with my eyes not being what they used to be it was getting progressively difficult for me to see the letters I was typing. In a sheer moment of genius I decided to move the picture to eliminate the shadow. It was during this motion that it all fell together for me, and started making perfect sense. Before a shadow can be cast there must be a light on one side of the object casting the shadow of equal or greater intensity to create the shadow effect.
Will Craft was the light on that state championship team that illuminated many. Nick Maddox could not have scored any touchdowns until Will successfully got the ball from point A to point B. None of the talented receivers on that team could have gained one yard with that ball until Will precisely fired it into their hands. Most importantly, that final drive to ensure that a very capable Kings Mountain offense would not have the opportunity to attempt to tie the game in the final minutes would not have happened had Will not had the presence of mind to recognize what the Mountie defense was doing. This recognition allowed for a succession of quarterback sneaks that resulted in a very time consuming twelve play drive that ultimately ended with a forty five yard Nick Maddox touchdown; the defining moment in the 1997 campaign orchestrated by Will Craft. Will created the opportunity for yet another brighter light to shine. Will was not a flashy QB, and you would be hard pressed to compare him to anyone. Will did exactly what he was told to do, and was trusted by Bruce Hardin to put his team in the right situation at the right moment to be successful. Will was outspoken, maybe a little too outspoken, maybe just a little hot headed as a teen which landed him in hot water on several occasions, getting him taken out of a game. But more than anything, Will Craft was the unquestionable leader of that group who looked upon him to guide them to that state championship. Yes, William Craft had a huge shadow hanging over him, but it was a shadow of his own making.
Friday Nights in K-Town wishes to thank William Craft for sharing his story of that rollercoaster dream ride to the 1997 state championship. I hope I have conveyed your story accurately, and un embellished. I also want to thank you for allowing me to share from your personal archives this great pictorial documentary of that state championship year. There is no way I could have been as thorough in this account without these materials. As for your accomplishments, and that of your comrades on the 1997 state championship team let me assure you, and your team mates Wonder Nation has not forgotten. How can we? There is a big marquee bearing that achievment high atop the pressbox at Memorial Stadium that reminds us all everytime we enter it's confines. You will always be a most valued friend to this site, and to all of Wonder nation. God Bless.
"The State Title Year in Review"
Complete Season Highlights from 1997
Statesville
|
South Rowan
|
Sun Valley
|
North Rowan
|
Central Cabarrus
|
Piedmont
|
West Rowan
|
Harding
|
East Rowan
|
Northwest Cabarrus
|
Concord
|
Asheville
|
Burns
|
Concord
|
Kings Mountain
|
Northeast Guilford
|
|
|