"1998"
Reflections
In the days following the completion of this featurette, I couldn't help but feel something was missing. As full as each page seemed there was just something about it that didn't sit right with me. I sat for days reading and analyzing the content. I wanted the story of the 1998 Wonders to be told as it should be told leaving no stone unturned. As I critiqued each page it hit me that the story was being told from my perspective which was totally a one sided view. Who was I to think I was qualified to give any form of definitive explanation about this great team of the nineties decade. The only qualified individuals who could do that were the actual warriors who suited up every Friday night during the 1998 season and left their blood, sweat, and tears on that field fighting for the right to be considered among the Wonder elite. It was then I realized there was no way the full story of this great season could be told without the input from those who played it, but where did I start?
With the help of my good friend "Dirty Danny Jenkins" one of the many warriors who paid the price that year, I was fortunate to locate many of the key players from that great season fourteen years ago. On April 17, 2012 I had the privilege of meeting for the first time six of these fine athletes who I cheered for from a distance back in 1998. Once again I felt like a little kid getting the opportunity to meet some of his heroes. For many diehard Wonder fans these Friday night warriors are the nearest thing to professional athletes they will ever come near, and being as big a Wonder supporter as I grew up becoming this was a dream come true for me. These weren't just average athletes, but state champions. Athletes who rarely lost and put up big numbers in victory. From 1997 to the final season under head coach Bruce Hardin in 1999 the Wonders lost three times in a three year span. Thats one game per year folks. I'll take that every year, but in Kannapolis that one loss is one loss too many for the ones who play. It was no different for the 1998 Wonders whose final measure of success that year was to claim another state title. The crushing defeat to Kings Mountain ended that in abrupt fashion, and to this day as with the 1974 loss to Concord, that defeat still lingers in my consciousness as painful as it ever did. I could only imagine how it must have felt to the ones who played in the game, and that was the perspective I wanted to capture in this featurette. I wanted more than anything to make their feelings real to those of us who were mere spectators sitting in the stands. To see the season as they saw it. To feel the season as they felt it, and to finally be able to define the season as they define it.
The eight athletes you will hear from in this special reflections feature are not just random names thrown into the mix for added effect, but impact players who drove the 1998 Wonders to become the elite group that history has ordained them to become. In a special reunion feature You will hear first hand accounts from the twin sons of the head coach himself Bruce Hardin. They are starting QB Justin Hardin, and first year varsity WR Blair Hardin. You will then hear from two year starting FB Evar Johnson, and two year starting SE Danny Jenkins. Rounding out the group in this long awaited reunion will be two year starting LB's Nick Gill, and Paul Allen. Later in this reflections feature you will hear from two more Wonder greats from 1998 in an exclusive phone interview conducted just a few days after the reunion of the first six Wonder athletes. From his home in Raleigh North Carolina you will hear from two year starting Wonder lineman Quincy Pedew, and from his home in Talahassee Florida the legend himself, standout Wonder running back from 1995-1998 Nick Maddox. You don't get much better than that folks.
For the first time in fourteen years you have access to the codes that unlock the memory banks of six of the finest Wonder athletes to ever grace the field at Memorial Stadium. For six of these players it was the first time they had been together in the same location since the 1998 season ended, and for a brief moment in time they were back home where they belonged. It didn't take long for me to realize in doing this that I was providing them a much needed space in time for a long awaited reunion of sorts. A reunion of players, classmates, but more than anything comrades in arms. These are the young men who bore the load of defending state AAA champions. Young men who put up six hundred and thirty eight points in thirteen games allowing only one hundred and twenty. Something no other Wonder team has come close to matching. These athletes boasted a unanimous number one ranking in the state AAA classification for thirteen weeks of the 1998 season. A tremendous honor, and a tremendous burden, but they handled the pressure like champions, and left the field in 1998 with honor. There is much I can say about this great team of 1998, but I'll let them say it.
With the help of my good friend "Dirty Danny Jenkins" one of the many warriors who paid the price that year, I was fortunate to locate many of the key players from that great season fourteen years ago. On April 17, 2012 I had the privilege of meeting for the first time six of these fine athletes who I cheered for from a distance back in 1998. Once again I felt like a little kid getting the opportunity to meet some of his heroes. For many diehard Wonder fans these Friday night warriors are the nearest thing to professional athletes they will ever come near, and being as big a Wonder supporter as I grew up becoming this was a dream come true for me. These weren't just average athletes, but state champions. Athletes who rarely lost and put up big numbers in victory. From 1997 to the final season under head coach Bruce Hardin in 1999 the Wonders lost three times in a three year span. Thats one game per year folks. I'll take that every year, but in Kannapolis that one loss is one loss too many for the ones who play. It was no different for the 1998 Wonders whose final measure of success that year was to claim another state title. The crushing defeat to Kings Mountain ended that in abrupt fashion, and to this day as with the 1974 loss to Concord, that defeat still lingers in my consciousness as painful as it ever did. I could only imagine how it must have felt to the ones who played in the game, and that was the perspective I wanted to capture in this featurette. I wanted more than anything to make their feelings real to those of us who were mere spectators sitting in the stands. To see the season as they saw it. To feel the season as they felt it, and to finally be able to define the season as they define it.
The eight athletes you will hear from in this special reflections feature are not just random names thrown into the mix for added effect, but impact players who drove the 1998 Wonders to become the elite group that history has ordained them to become. In a special reunion feature You will hear first hand accounts from the twin sons of the head coach himself Bruce Hardin. They are starting QB Justin Hardin, and first year varsity WR Blair Hardin. You will then hear from two year starting FB Evar Johnson, and two year starting SE Danny Jenkins. Rounding out the group in this long awaited reunion will be two year starting LB's Nick Gill, and Paul Allen. Later in this reflections feature you will hear from two more Wonder greats from 1998 in an exclusive phone interview conducted just a few days after the reunion of the first six Wonder athletes. From his home in Raleigh North Carolina you will hear from two year starting Wonder lineman Quincy Pedew, and from his home in Talahassee Florida the legend himself, standout Wonder running back from 1995-1998 Nick Maddox. You don't get much better than that folks.
For the first time in fourteen years you have access to the codes that unlock the memory banks of six of the finest Wonder athletes to ever grace the field at Memorial Stadium. For six of these players it was the first time they had been together in the same location since the 1998 season ended, and for a brief moment in time they were back home where they belonged. It didn't take long for me to realize in doing this that I was providing them a much needed space in time for a long awaited reunion of sorts. A reunion of players, classmates, but more than anything comrades in arms. These are the young men who bore the load of defending state AAA champions. Young men who put up six hundred and thirty eight points in thirteen games allowing only one hundred and twenty. Something no other Wonder team has come close to matching. These athletes boasted a unanimous number one ranking in the state AAA classification for thirteen weeks of the 1998 season. A tremendous honor, and a tremendous burden, but they handled the pressure like champions, and left the field in 1998 with honor. There is much I can say about this great team of 1998, but I'll let them say it.
Our Reflections
"Our Moment in History"
As the interview began I pulled out my notes, and my voice recorder to capture every word I was about to hear so I could organize it and type it into a coherent story later. As I did these things I couldn't help but listen to the casual conversation and stories already being told amongst themselves. The atmosphere was very relaxed and loose. Plenty of laughing, poking fun at old coaches, and teammates, and recalling events that happened at practice as well as on gameday. The high fives, the handshakes, the smiles, but more than anything the obvious show of love and respect they still had for each other, and there teammates not present. I knew this was going to be a special moment for them.
At 7:45pm the interview began. The first question I asked was to the group as a whole "Did anybody present at this reunion fully understand what this team had accomplished during the 1998 varsity football season?" There was dead silence, broken only by an occasional chuckle or shrug of the shoulders. It was then I realized that all that mattered to them at that time was a W in the win column. Not stats or individual achievements. I proceeded to read off some stats I gathered earlier in the day, and as I read off each milestone the smiles grew bigger, and the brotherly handshakes and slaps increased. Blair Hardin made the first comment which was a simple "Wow" The rest of the conversation went as follows. (Names are Abreviated beside Responses)
(FIK) In the regular season the 1998 Wonders put up 530 points while only allowing 56 points, with the addition of three playoff games that number increased to 638 points total allowing a total of 120 points. What do you attribute that kind of production?
(NG) That was just Kannapolis football. That's how we play. That's gettin it done boys! (Laughing) (High Fives)
(DJ) We were greedy. When we went out to play every Friday night we wanted the other team to know without a doubt that they played in Kannapolis that night. Come hell or high water you can believe we were gonna put a physical beating on you.
(JH) I know every coin toss if we won the toss we wanted the ball. We wanted to make a statement every game and what better way to make a statement than take the ball down the field on the opening drive and put up points. That was our mindset, plus we knew we were fast. Everybody here right now ran track and we knew we could put points on the board in a hurry. It had been that way since we started playing together. I think it goes back to middle school we all went undefeated and won the championship and we expected that when we came over to Jv's and then varsity. We just wanted to win. That was our attitude.
(DJ) The ones that didn't want to play we had to find em and get em out.
(NG) We had to get rid of the cancers as your dad use to say. (Laughing) **Referring to Coach Hardin**
(FIK) What were the feelings of the team going into the 1998 season?
(JH) I thought we would be just as competitive as 97. The thing about every new year, and one of the things our dad preached is that every team has their own identity, and that's what we wanted. We knew we were going to be different than the 97 team, but just as good. We just had to go prove it. Prove it to the conference and the state. I think we were ranked high in the state that year and we had a lot of key guys coming back so our outlook was great. We were confident in what we could do. We played hard all the time, and most of those teams coming into our stadium knew they were gonna get beat. We all fed off each other you know, the defense, the offense, and the special teams. The offense loved to sit back and watch our defense play, and our special teams, but more than anything we believed in eachother, and we worked our asses off that summer because we wanted "Our Ring" Most of us were a part of that championship team and we all got a ring, but being underclassmen we knew we were playing for those seniors and we wanted to get our ring and send those seniors off the right way. Another thing dad always said is "You want one set of lights on in the state, and you're the show" Every week he would say "How many lights are on?" And you want to be that last set of lights on at the end of the year where everybody is watching you.
(DJ) I felt pretty good. It started off we took a senior trip to the mountains and while we were up there we all bonded and got even closer, and came together. From that point on we were all one and not a bunch of individuals. I remember getting voted senior captain which was an honor. I knew then that the team was going to be looking to me for leadership, and that made me have more confidence in myself. I just wanted to get out there and get it done. There wasn't a feeling as special to me than going into that locker, and putting that uniform on and then walking down that hill. I'n not an emotional guy, but I can tell you just about evrytime I walked down that hill I cried.
(NG) I have to agree with those guys you know. I felt like we could go out there and do good things, and I knew we were gonna score points. I just wanted to get out there and smash somebody in the mouth just like Paul and Evar did. (Laughing) I just knew we were gonna accomplish big things. I'm not tryin to be cocky, but thats how everybody felt. I was concerned about our line. I thought our line might be a little shaky at first, but that didn't last long.
(BH) I was more of a jv player the previous year in 97 until the playoffs when they moved me up. I was just excited that I was going to get to play and contribute to the team. I knew when the season started that we had three goals. Win the conference, Beat our rivals South Rowan, and Concord, then practice on thanksgiving and win the state. Thats what we expected to do, and I know thats what the fans expected us to do so there was a fair ammount of pressure riding on this year, but I was confident in what we could do if we came together.
(PA) I'm in agreement with everything they said. They elected me one of the captains also, so like Danny I knew I was going to be expected to show leadership and that people especially the underclassmen were going to be looking at me on how to act. It was that way on the field and off the field. Everybody was hungry, and just like Justin said, everytime we stepped on that field we felt like we were gonna win regardless because we had that chemistry from the get go. You can't describe that feeling of winning a state championship and we already knew so we wanted some mo. (Laughing) I couldn't wait for the next season to start cause I just wanted to get back there. Theres nothing like it.
(EJ) I knew after 97 the team I was playing with was gonna be tough to beat. Just like Justin said, when we were in the seventh and eighth grade we knew we were gonna be good when we got over to Brown, and so it was just expected.
At 7:45pm the interview began. The first question I asked was to the group as a whole "Did anybody present at this reunion fully understand what this team had accomplished during the 1998 varsity football season?" There was dead silence, broken only by an occasional chuckle or shrug of the shoulders. It was then I realized that all that mattered to them at that time was a W in the win column. Not stats or individual achievements. I proceeded to read off some stats I gathered earlier in the day, and as I read off each milestone the smiles grew bigger, and the brotherly handshakes and slaps increased. Blair Hardin made the first comment which was a simple "Wow" The rest of the conversation went as follows. (Names are Abreviated beside Responses)
(FIK) In the regular season the 1998 Wonders put up 530 points while only allowing 56 points, with the addition of three playoff games that number increased to 638 points total allowing a total of 120 points. What do you attribute that kind of production?
(NG) That was just Kannapolis football. That's how we play. That's gettin it done boys! (Laughing) (High Fives)
(DJ) We were greedy. When we went out to play every Friday night we wanted the other team to know without a doubt that they played in Kannapolis that night. Come hell or high water you can believe we were gonna put a physical beating on you.
(JH) I know every coin toss if we won the toss we wanted the ball. We wanted to make a statement every game and what better way to make a statement than take the ball down the field on the opening drive and put up points. That was our mindset, plus we knew we were fast. Everybody here right now ran track and we knew we could put points on the board in a hurry. It had been that way since we started playing together. I think it goes back to middle school we all went undefeated and won the championship and we expected that when we came over to Jv's and then varsity. We just wanted to win. That was our attitude.
(DJ) The ones that didn't want to play we had to find em and get em out.
(NG) We had to get rid of the cancers as your dad use to say. (Laughing) **Referring to Coach Hardin**
(FIK) What were the feelings of the team going into the 1998 season?
(JH) I thought we would be just as competitive as 97. The thing about every new year, and one of the things our dad preached is that every team has their own identity, and that's what we wanted. We knew we were going to be different than the 97 team, but just as good. We just had to go prove it. Prove it to the conference and the state. I think we were ranked high in the state that year and we had a lot of key guys coming back so our outlook was great. We were confident in what we could do. We played hard all the time, and most of those teams coming into our stadium knew they were gonna get beat. We all fed off each other you know, the defense, the offense, and the special teams. The offense loved to sit back and watch our defense play, and our special teams, but more than anything we believed in eachother, and we worked our asses off that summer because we wanted "Our Ring" Most of us were a part of that championship team and we all got a ring, but being underclassmen we knew we were playing for those seniors and we wanted to get our ring and send those seniors off the right way. Another thing dad always said is "You want one set of lights on in the state, and you're the show" Every week he would say "How many lights are on?" And you want to be that last set of lights on at the end of the year where everybody is watching you.
(DJ) I felt pretty good. It started off we took a senior trip to the mountains and while we were up there we all bonded and got even closer, and came together. From that point on we were all one and not a bunch of individuals. I remember getting voted senior captain which was an honor. I knew then that the team was going to be looking to me for leadership, and that made me have more confidence in myself. I just wanted to get out there and get it done. There wasn't a feeling as special to me than going into that locker, and putting that uniform on and then walking down that hill. I'n not an emotional guy, but I can tell you just about evrytime I walked down that hill I cried.
(NG) I have to agree with those guys you know. I felt like we could go out there and do good things, and I knew we were gonna score points. I just wanted to get out there and smash somebody in the mouth just like Paul and Evar did. (Laughing) I just knew we were gonna accomplish big things. I'm not tryin to be cocky, but thats how everybody felt. I was concerned about our line. I thought our line might be a little shaky at first, but that didn't last long.
(BH) I was more of a jv player the previous year in 97 until the playoffs when they moved me up. I was just excited that I was going to get to play and contribute to the team. I knew when the season started that we had three goals. Win the conference, Beat our rivals South Rowan, and Concord, then practice on thanksgiving and win the state. Thats what we expected to do, and I know thats what the fans expected us to do so there was a fair ammount of pressure riding on this year, but I was confident in what we could do if we came together.
(PA) I'm in agreement with everything they said. They elected me one of the captains also, so like Danny I knew I was going to be expected to show leadership and that people especially the underclassmen were going to be looking at me on how to act. It was that way on the field and off the field. Everybody was hungry, and just like Justin said, everytime we stepped on that field we felt like we were gonna win regardless because we had that chemistry from the get go. You can't describe that feeling of winning a state championship and we already knew so we wanted some mo. (Laughing) I couldn't wait for the next season to start cause I just wanted to get back there. Theres nothing like it.
(EJ) I knew after 97 the team I was playing with was gonna be tough to beat. Just like Justin said, when we were in the seventh and eighth grade we knew we were gonna be good when we got over to Brown, and so it was just expected.
QB Justin Hardin #16
(FIK) What if anything concerned you about the team as the pre season began?
(JH) I would have to say if there was anything that concerned us was the possibility of some of the younger guys not stepping into their role. You can't wait to step into you're role because you play Statesville game one and thats going to be one of those teams that is going to play you tough, and give you their best shot right at the start. We needed those young guys to come in and step into that role and just believe in the system, Dad always did a good job of making sure everyone bought into the system. So I guess it was just the young guys stepping up, and they did.
(DJ) I really wasn't too concerned about anything, but just getting out there and getting things started. The ability was there, and now we just needed to go out and get it done. Make believers out of everyone we played.
(NG) My only concern was for everybody to stay healthy. I know you cant control that, but that was the only fear for me. Like I said I just wanted to get out there and smash somebody. I was a little concerned about the line because we did lose some good people from 97 and you know they had to be replaced. You just hoped the replacements would step up. I knew we were going to be a fast defense, but we didn't really have that much size.
(BH) You know you said it you're self, We had the most points scored in a season ever in Kannapolis football and gave up the least with a depleted defensive line. That speaks volumes as to how the guys took on their load, and to the coaches for putting people in the right positions. I wasn't so much concerned about that to tell you the truth. When you have Nick Gill and Paul Allen at linebacker thats about as good as you can get. So I knew we were going to have a quick defense and things would fall into place.
(PA) I guess my concern was going to be the leadership roles cause the coaches did an outstanding job at putting the right people in the right positions. The bulk of the guys who left in 97 were very vocal and took on that role. Me I wasnt use to speaking out and getting vocal I was too focused on trying to take somebody's head off you know what I'm saying (Laughing) So that was my concern was how was I going to be in a leadership role. These other guys that became captains I wasn't worried about them.
(EJ) I had no concerns, I just wondered if everyone was hungry enough. Who wanted it, who was going to go out there and take it. I remember those scrimmages, and just going out there and beating the brakes off those guys. I get cold chills just thinking about it now.
(FIK) Who did you think it would come down to in the SPC that year?
(NG) (Laughing) Who does it come down to every year? Us and Concord.
(FIK) After blowing through most of the regular season unchallenged what were you're thoughts going into the rematch with the one team that gave you you're only loss in 1997 East Rowan?
(JH) I just remember wanting to go up there and just whoop they're @$$ (Laughing) I remember we went up 21-0 just like that I threw three touchdowns, and I was just so wired up that night. It was all about making a statement that night and just shutting Rowan County up. They kept mouthing off about how they were the only team to beat us in 1997 and that got old fast. There was no way we were going to let it happen again.
(DJ) I remember we got there a little late and didn't have alot of time to warm up so pre game went fast, but I hated Rowan County so much that anytime I got a chance to stick it to em I tooki it. I played most of those guys in baseball so I heard it then, and if I could of hit those guys on the baseball field I would. I didn't care if they 150 or 250 pounds I wanted to hit them. I remember I got a penalty called on me when Paul caught a touchdown and it got called back. I hit this guy and I thought it was a clean hit, but the referee didn't think so and threw the flag. I hated em man. That whole 98 season when we stepped out on that field we knew we were going to open up a can, and we did. We knew we were going to put points on the board and we didn't care who you were or how good you though you were, or how big you were thats what we did end of story.
(NG) We wanted that game. We wanted it real bad too, and there was no way they were gonna beat us, and we weren't gonna beat ourselves either. I remember this one play from my boy Evar Johnson. Nick caught an interception and started running up the field . Evar hit this one guy "Boom" and lays him out (laughing) his teammate come running up shouting at Evar "Why did you hit him that hard, Why did you hit him that hard? it's just a friendly game of football" (Laughing) I said Aint nothin friendly about this lay his butt out! (laughing)
(BH) They had some pretty talented players that year with probably two of the best linebackers in the state with Guessford and Horton, and they had some receivers that could run, but I think we had their respect and when we came off that bus we came off that bus with heart and that was it. It was all over. It was a good win, but it wasn't a defining moment
(PA) I think I hated them more than I hated Concord that nght. I hated them to the tenth power you know. (Laughing) I hated their stadium, their uniforms, their colors. I don't think anyone even talked on the way up there.
(EJ) Don't quote this! (laughing) I thought they were some pretty righteous people, and they said some things you know. Coach Wightman was like "I wasn't gonna do it, but Let the dogs out" (laughing) So he told us to let the dogs out, and we did what he told us to do, and let em out.
(JH) East Rowan was just a business trip you know. We were all focused and just went down to take care of business, and that business was over it was like Whos next? We enjoyed the win, but we didn't dwell on it.
(JH) I would have to say if there was anything that concerned us was the possibility of some of the younger guys not stepping into their role. You can't wait to step into you're role because you play Statesville game one and thats going to be one of those teams that is going to play you tough, and give you their best shot right at the start. We needed those young guys to come in and step into that role and just believe in the system, Dad always did a good job of making sure everyone bought into the system. So I guess it was just the young guys stepping up, and they did.
(DJ) I really wasn't too concerned about anything, but just getting out there and getting things started. The ability was there, and now we just needed to go out and get it done. Make believers out of everyone we played.
(NG) My only concern was for everybody to stay healthy. I know you cant control that, but that was the only fear for me. Like I said I just wanted to get out there and smash somebody. I was a little concerned about the line because we did lose some good people from 97 and you know they had to be replaced. You just hoped the replacements would step up. I knew we were going to be a fast defense, but we didn't really have that much size.
(BH) You know you said it you're self, We had the most points scored in a season ever in Kannapolis football and gave up the least with a depleted defensive line. That speaks volumes as to how the guys took on their load, and to the coaches for putting people in the right positions. I wasn't so much concerned about that to tell you the truth. When you have Nick Gill and Paul Allen at linebacker thats about as good as you can get. So I knew we were going to have a quick defense and things would fall into place.
(PA) I guess my concern was going to be the leadership roles cause the coaches did an outstanding job at putting the right people in the right positions. The bulk of the guys who left in 97 were very vocal and took on that role. Me I wasnt use to speaking out and getting vocal I was too focused on trying to take somebody's head off you know what I'm saying (Laughing) So that was my concern was how was I going to be in a leadership role. These other guys that became captains I wasn't worried about them.
(EJ) I had no concerns, I just wondered if everyone was hungry enough. Who wanted it, who was going to go out there and take it. I remember those scrimmages, and just going out there and beating the brakes off those guys. I get cold chills just thinking about it now.
(FIK) Who did you think it would come down to in the SPC that year?
(NG) (Laughing) Who does it come down to every year? Us and Concord.
(FIK) After blowing through most of the regular season unchallenged what were you're thoughts going into the rematch with the one team that gave you you're only loss in 1997 East Rowan?
(JH) I just remember wanting to go up there and just whoop they're @$$ (Laughing) I remember we went up 21-0 just like that I threw three touchdowns, and I was just so wired up that night. It was all about making a statement that night and just shutting Rowan County up. They kept mouthing off about how they were the only team to beat us in 1997 and that got old fast. There was no way we were going to let it happen again.
(DJ) I remember we got there a little late and didn't have alot of time to warm up so pre game went fast, but I hated Rowan County so much that anytime I got a chance to stick it to em I tooki it. I played most of those guys in baseball so I heard it then, and if I could of hit those guys on the baseball field I would. I didn't care if they 150 or 250 pounds I wanted to hit them. I remember I got a penalty called on me when Paul caught a touchdown and it got called back. I hit this guy and I thought it was a clean hit, but the referee didn't think so and threw the flag. I hated em man. That whole 98 season when we stepped out on that field we knew we were going to open up a can, and we did. We knew we were going to put points on the board and we didn't care who you were or how good you though you were, or how big you were thats what we did end of story.
(NG) We wanted that game. We wanted it real bad too, and there was no way they were gonna beat us, and we weren't gonna beat ourselves either. I remember this one play from my boy Evar Johnson. Nick caught an interception and started running up the field . Evar hit this one guy "Boom" and lays him out (laughing) his teammate come running up shouting at Evar "Why did you hit him that hard, Why did you hit him that hard? it's just a friendly game of football" (Laughing) I said Aint nothin friendly about this lay his butt out! (laughing)
(BH) They had some pretty talented players that year with probably two of the best linebackers in the state with Guessford and Horton, and they had some receivers that could run, but I think we had their respect and when we came off that bus we came off that bus with heart and that was it. It was all over. It was a good win, but it wasn't a defining moment
(PA) I think I hated them more than I hated Concord that nght. I hated them to the tenth power you know. (Laughing) I hated their stadium, their uniforms, their colors. I don't think anyone even talked on the way up there.
(EJ) Don't quote this! (laughing) I thought they were some pretty righteous people, and they said some things you know. Coach Wightman was like "I wasn't gonna do it, but Let the dogs out" (laughing) So he told us to let the dogs out, and we did what he told us to do, and let em out.
(JH) East Rowan was just a business trip you know. We were all focused and just went down to take care of business, and that business was over it was like Whos next? We enjoyed the win, but we didn't dwell on it.
LB Paul Allen #39
(FIK) Did you see Northwest as a threat?
(NG) No! Not that year, Not any year. (Laughing)
(DJ) Let me put a little perspective on that. Northwest the week before had East Rowan beat. On the last second East catches a pass and wins the game. When they got up here to Kannapolis you could tell they weren't all together and thats the wrong way to come into Memorial Stadium to play football. We just hit em in the mouth from the get go, and I'll be honest with you, nothing went right for them in that whole game. It was like seventeen year old picking on a kid. Thats the way it felt.
(FIK) The year before in 1997 you beat Northwest 70-0 did you have any reason to believe the outcome would be any different in 1998?
(JH) When we were on our first drive I was under center, and we were going towards the scoreboard all of the sudden the referee that was standing right behind the linebacker started yelling "Someone shot me in the @$$" (Laughing) and I see this guy running. Somebody had a pellet gun and shot the referee in the butt so I knew from that moment on it was going to be a funny night. (Laughing) The next play I asked pop to let me run the sweep and we scored. It was on after that. It was like every time you looked up at the scoreboard something else had happened.
(DJ) I didn't think it would be any different. We beat em like 56-0 in 96, then 70-0 in 97. We were just steam rolling them every year it seemed like. My wifes brother was on the team so I get to joke with him about it all the time. His parents don't like it, but thats just how it is. (Laughing)
(NG) I knew we were gonna blow them out. We'd done it every year up to then, and I knew they weren't gonna score on us that was just a given so you knew what it was going to be.
(BH) We had a goal to score forty two points a game and that was the goal. I was exhausted. I was on kickoff team and punt return (Laughing) it seemed like I would no sooner come off the field and we were back on kickoff or punt return so I was getting mad. We scored like seventeen touchdowns and three of em got called back.
(PA) I'll give anybody the benefit of the doubt, and there was alot of talk going round about how good they were gonna be and how good they were looking, and I thought well, ok then, but after that first hit I was like "this is what yall got to work with? This is what I been hearing about? (Laughing) ok then. Lets do what we gotta do and get back to the house cause I go to Burger King after every game and I was looking forward to that. (Laughing)
(EJ) We went to the JV game that Thursday night, and some of their guys were saying me and Nick were going to have minus twenty rushing yards. We went over there to give em their ups cause they were having a better year than Concord and they wanted to trash talk.
(BH) I remember that night they had a bon fire and I think they burned a picture of Nick and a picture of Justin, and we found out about it and it was like ok, Phil Collins is coming. (Laughing)
(DJ) Our offense scored alot, but so did our defense. We just couldn't do anything wrong that night, and Northwest couldn't do anything right. That was the difference.
(BH) We threw three passes that whole game.Danny caught a curl, and I caught a hitch, so from a football standpoint all we did was run a toss. They gave the ball to us on special teams and turnovers and our guys can run. The bottom line is we played and they didn't.
(FIK) Was everybody in support of Nick breaking the all time career touchdown record that night?
(Group) Yes!
(JH) I remember looking up at the scoreboard before the half ended thinking man it's 63-0. We all knew how close Nick was getting to the record because we were being told by the statistician plus we knew if the record was going to be broken we wanted Nick to able to do it in front of his home crowd at that stadium. It was a good night to do it too (Laughing) but it wasn't to run up the score. Nick broke it in that first drive and we all got to be a part of it and then we moved on.
(FIK) So everyone was comfortable in the way the game was played, and the way it ended?
(Group) Yes!
(DJ) The one thing I wasn't comfortable with was the fact that they didn't come accross to shake hands and what happened at school on Monday. During second period I was office assistant and coach Hardin called me in his office and said "listen to this" He had nine hundred plus messages from people criticizing him about how he ran up the score on Northwest and what a disgrace it was. People were insulting him saying how disgusting a display it was over the phone and not to his face. It was crazy.
(FIK) Who was calling and leaving the messages?
(DJ) People from Kannapolis and Northwest. The general public.
(BH) We had to change our number at home. We came home that night and our voice messages were full. Our number was listed in the phone book so anybody that wanted could call. So we had to change our number the next day. It was bad.
(FIK) What were your feelings about the Trojans not coming accross to shake hands?
(JH) Some of the guys did, but their coaches were motioning for them to come off the field. Some of us had mutual friends who played on the team, and some of them I'm still friends with today. I felt bad for them because some of them wanted to show sportsmanship and they weren't allowed to, but again I look at what happened the night before with them burning figures of us and my teammates and that kinda set the tone for the way things played out I thought. I think that went overboard and sent a bad message to the school.
(DJ) I thought it was very disrespectful for them to do that. Coming accross and shaking hands is a tradition, but when they did that I thought whatever you know.
(EJ) I really didn't care. I thought it was disrespectful you know. If they had beaten us we would have walked accross and shook hands.
(BH) I didn't think much of it. I thought it was classless in a nutshell. We didn't intentionally run the score up. Everybody got to play and those guys that didn't get to play at East Rowan and Concord they were a part of that team too and they weren't expected to just lay down. It was fun to get to see those guys who practiced all year long and paid their dues get to go out and have fun and play well.
(PA) I can see it from both sides. It was uncalled for, but at the same time I could understand. There have been times growing up when I did something bad my daddy would whoop my @$$ and after awhile I thought about it and then I would talk to him, but then there was times he whooped my @$$ so bad that I didn't want to talk to him (Laughing) and I guess I could feel their side of it.
(FIK) What was the pulse of the team going into Concord week?
(JH) We all wanted to have a good week of practice and just stay focused cause theres so many other things going on that week what with pep rallies, Headliners, JV night. There can be alot of distractions and we just wanted to make sure we kept things in perspective. Everyone looks forward to that game especially when it's your senior year. Its one of those games you think about all year long even in the off season. If theres one game that you pencil in your calender it's Concord.
(DJ) I tried to prepare for each game the same way. When it's Concord though you have to take it to the next level. You know going in that everybody in Cabarrus County is going to stop what their doing and come too see you. One thing that put a damper on it for me was I dislocated my shoulder that week in practice. For some apparant reason I was put in a tackling drill, and I never played defense, but coach Whightman was over there screaming "I need yall to crack an egg" and I ended up messing my shoulder up, but I didn't let it affect me so I just went out there and did what came natural to me.
(NG) Man I just know I wanted to smack KEKE Pharr in the mouth (laughing) He's a good friend of mine I met through Nick Maddox and we went back and forth all year long so I just wanted to smack him in the mouth (Laughing) plus it was my senior year and I didn't want to go out with no loss. I just wanted to get it done and stomp a Spider.
(BH) I was an underclassmen so as any team goes you don't want to be that team lose the bell. I knew Dirt was hurt and I had to pick it up cause for these seniors it was important for me to have them go out a winner in that game so I had to step up plus I hate Concord. To this day I won't wear black shoes.
(PA) I'm gonna second what the Hardins were saying. That game is one you pencil in from the get go and I knew I had to focus even harder that week. It's Concord and oooooo man I can't stand Concord, and after what they did to my man over here with that dirty hit (Pointing towards Evar) I was even more focused and P*&^% off at the same time so you got some trouble on your hands now, and I'm lookin out for you. Go look at that tape, I me one on him, he was on the ground for awhile believe that!
(EJ) You know this being my senior year this was the game where everybody was coming to see me play and to go on to the next state game. This is the game we want people to remember and here I was 230 pounds running a 4.5 4.6 forty. I was trying to kill whoever was in my face and it could have been one of the coaches I didn't care. I didn't feel like there was nobody on that team that could stop me.
(FIK) Second running play of the game and Evar gets the ball
(EJ) Man, It happened so fast. I got the ball, I saw the hole, I ran through the hole and all of the sudden I feel somebody hit me in my back and then somebody hit me up front. I flip over and I tried to get up, but I couldn't. I remember walking off the field and going over to the sidelines. I was P!$$*# off thats why I didn't let them help me off. When I got to the sideline they tried taping my knee, but it was swelling so much it was coming out of the tape.
(FIK) What were you thinking then?
(EJ) Just tape it up and I'll play. My mom and my brother came in to the locker room and told me I couldn't play and that was it. I was gonna play anyway, but they wouldn't let me.
(DJ) I was P!$$#&. I was on the sideline when they brought him over and I knew he was hurting. I wanted to punish somebody for that. I remember this kid run a reverse on the goaline I can't remember his exact name but I come accross the field and I hit that cat and cut him a back flip. I didn't care. I though if they wanted to play dirty like that and hurt somebody then I was going to punish everybody that came near me.
(JH) Nobody thought Evar could get hurt. We thought he'd walk it off and be right back. We really didn't think that much about it. He's one of the biggest guys on the team, one of the strongest guys too he'll be fine. Didn't turn out that way.
(NG) I just thought he would put some ice on it and he'd jump right back up, but it didn't happen.
(BH) I remember Paul stepped in the FB position then and did a great job and I believe Lip came in as well. The next guy in line has got to step up because thats what you're expected to do and they did. You hate it happened. but you have to find a way to overcome it. You can't let adversity dictate the way you operate.
(FIK) What were you thinking as you went into the half losing 10-7?
(JH) Personally I had one of the worst halfs I ever had. I just remember being nervous that game, and the first ball I threw was a brand new football and I hated brand new footballs. They were just coming out and off target. I remember walking up the hill to go into the locker and Andy Smith grabbed me by my jersey and said "What are you doing?" I was like man whats this? He said "You're better than this. Get you're D@&@ head right and play football. Just calm down and play" For me that was all I needed. We came out the second half and took it to em. The second half was ours.
(DJ) It wasn't like it was that big of a margin, and I think at that point they thought they were really gonna win the game. After the half the coaches just made some adjustments and talked to us and we came out and played our game. I had a punt that put them deep in their own territory and that flipped the script and then we got that interception from Tramaine and that just got us going and we took it to em. I remember it was like one of the biggest crowds to witness a bell game. I don't think I've ever seen that whole bank surrounded with people from end to end.
(NG) I wasn't that concerned. The coaches you know made some adjustments and we just came back down that hill thinking it was 0-0. Thats what the coaches told us everytime we walked back down that hill that it was 0-0.
(BH) We had a veteran coaching staff who had been through games like this before, and they just stayed calm got us in the right situations to be successful and we just executed. We took their best shot and that was it and weathered through it and won the game it was that simple. We just didn't play our game in the first half.
(PA) I knew we hadn't played well that first half, but I also knew that when we played our best we couldn't be beat. We had the confidence to regroup and get back on track and it was on after that. I was ready to crack some more heads.
(NG) No! Not that year, Not any year. (Laughing)
(DJ) Let me put a little perspective on that. Northwest the week before had East Rowan beat. On the last second East catches a pass and wins the game. When they got up here to Kannapolis you could tell they weren't all together and thats the wrong way to come into Memorial Stadium to play football. We just hit em in the mouth from the get go, and I'll be honest with you, nothing went right for them in that whole game. It was like seventeen year old picking on a kid. Thats the way it felt.
(FIK) The year before in 1997 you beat Northwest 70-0 did you have any reason to believe the outcome would be any different in 1998?
(JH) When we were on our first drive I was under center, and we were going towards the scoreboard all of the sudden the referee that was standing right behind the linebacker started yelling "Someone shot me in the @$$" (Laughing) and I see this guy running. Somebody had a pellet gun and shot the referee in the butt so I knew from that moment on it was going to be a funny night. (Laughing) The next play I asked pop to let me run the sweep and we scored. It was on after that. It was like every time you looked up at the scoreboard something else had happened.
(DJ) I didn't think it would be any different. We beat em like 56-0 in 96, then 70-0 in 97. We were just steam rolling them every year it seemed like. My wifes brother was on the team so I get to joke with him about it all the time. His parents don't like it, but thats just how it is. (Laughing)
(NG) I knew we were gonna blow them out. We'd done it every year up to then, and I knew they weren't gonna score on us that was just a given so you knew what it was going to be.
(BH) We had a goal to score forty two points a game and that was the goal. I was exhausted. I was on kickoff team and punt return (Laughing) it seemed like I would no sooner come off the field and we were back on kickoff or punt return so I was getting mad. We scored like seventeen touchdowns and three of em got called back.
(PA) I'll give anybody the benefit of the doubt, and there was alot of talk going round about how good they were gonna be and how good they were looking, and I thought well, ok then, but after that first hit I was like "this is what yall got to work with? This is what I been hearing about? (Laughing) ok then. Lets do what we gotta do and get back to the house cause I go to Burger King after every game and I was looking forward to that. (Laughing)
(EJ) We went to the JV game that Thursday night, and some of their guys were saying me and Nick were going to have minus twenty rushing yards. We went over there to give em their ups cause they were having a better year than Concord and they wanted to trash talk.
(BH) I remember that night they had a bon fire and I think they burned a picture of Nick and a picture of Justin, and we found out about it and it was like ok, Phil Collins is coming. (Laughing)
(DJ) Our offense scored alot, but so did our defense. We just couldn't do anything wrong that night, and Northwest couldn't do anything right. That was the difference.
(BH) We threw three passes that whole game.Danny caught a curl, and I caught a hitch, so from a football standpoint all we did was run a toss. They gave the ball to us on special teams and turnovers and our guys can run. The bottom line is we played and they didn't.
(FIK) Was everybody in support of Nick breaking the all time career touchdown record that night?
(Group) Yes!
(JH) I remember looking up at the scoreboard before the half ended thinking man it's 63-0. We all knew how close Nick was getting to the record because we were being told by the statistician plus we knew if the record was going to be broken we wanted Nick to able to do it in front of his home crowd at that stadium. It was a good night to do it too (Laughing) but it wasn't to run up the score. Nick broke it in that first drive and we all got to be a part of it and then we moved on.
(FIK) So everyone was comfortable in the way the game was played, and the way it ended?
(Group) Yes!
(DJ) The one thing I wasn't comfortable with was the fact that they didn't come accross to shake hands and what happened at school on Monday. During second period I was office assistant and coach Hardin called me in his office and said "listen to this" He had nine hundred plus messages from people criticizing him about how he ran up the score on Northwest and what a disgrace it was. People were insulting him saying how disgusting a display it was over the phone and not to his face. It was crazy.
(FIK) Who was calling and leaving the messages?
(DJ) People from Kannapolis and Northwest. The general public.
(BH) We had to change our number at home. We came home that night and our voice messages were full. Our number was listed in the phone book so anybody that wanted could call. So we had to change our number the next day. It was bad.
(FIK) What were your feelings about the Trojans not coming accross to shake hands?
(JH) Some of the guys did, but their coaches were motioning for them to come off the field. Some of us had mutual friends who played on the team, and some of them I'm still friends with today. I felt bad for them because some of them wanted to show sportsmanship and they weren't allowed to, but again I look at what happened the night before with them burning figures of us and my teammates and that kinda set the tone for the way things played out I thought. I think that went overboard and sent a bad message to the school.
(DJ) I thought it was very disrespectful for them to do that. Coming accross and shaking hands is a tradition, but when they did that I thought whatever you know.
(EJ) I really didn't care. I thought it was disrespectful you know. If they had beaten us we would have walked accross and shook hands.
(BH) I didn't think much of it. I thought it was classless in a nutshell. We didn't intentionally run the score up. Everybody got to play and those guys that didn't get to play at East Rowan and Concord they were a part of that team too and they weren't expected to just lay down. It was fun to get to see those guys who practiced all year long and paid their dues get to go out and have fun and play well.
(PA) I can see it from both sides. It was uncalled for, but at the same time I could understand. There have been times growing up when I did something bad my daddy would whoop my @$$ and after awhile I thought about it and then I would talk to him, but then there was times he whooped my @$$ so bad that I didn't want to talk to him (Laughing) and I guess I could feel their side of it.
(FIK) What was the pulse of the team going into Concord week?
(JH) We all wanted to have a good week of practice and just stay focused cause theres so many other things going on that week what with pep rallies, Headliners, JV night. There can be alot of distractions and we just wanted to make sure we kept things in perspective. Everyone looks forward to that game especially when it's your senior year. Its one of those games you think about all year long even in the off season. If theres one game that you pencil in your calender it's Concord.
(DJ) I tried to prepare for each game the same way. When it's Concord though you have to take it to the next level. You know going in that everybody in Cabarrus County is going to stop what their doing and come too see you. One thing that put a damper on it for me was I dislocated my shoulder that week in practice. For some apparant reason I was put in a tackling drill, and I never played defense, but coach Whightman was over there screaming "I need yall to crack an egg" and I ended up messing my shoulder up, but I didn't let it affect me so I just went out there and did what came natural to me.
(NG) Man I just know I wanted to smack KEKE Pharr in the mouth (laughing) He's a good friend of mine I met through Nick Maddox and we went back and forth all year long so I just wanted to smack him in the mouth (Laughing) plus it was my senior year and I didn't want to go out with no loss. I just wanted to get it done and stomp a Spider.
(BH) I was an underclassmen so as any team goes you don't want to be that team lose the bell. I knew Dirt was hurt and I had to pick it up cause for these seniors it was important for me to have them go out a winner in that game so I had to step up plus I hate Concord. To this day I won't wear black shoes.
(PA) I'm gonna second what the Hardins were saying. That game is one you pencil in from the get go and I knew I had to focus even harder that week. It's Concord and oooooo man I can't stand Concord, and after what they did to my man over here with that dirty hit (Pointing towards Evar) I was even more focused and P*&^% off at the same time so you got some trouble on your hands now, and I'm lookin out for you. Go look at that tape, I me one on him, he was on the ground for awhile believe that!
(EJ) You know this being my senior year this was the game where everybody was coming to see me play and to go on to the next state game. This is the game we want people to remember and here I was 230 pounds running a 4.5 4.6 forty. I was trying to kill whoever was in my face and it could have been one of the coaches I didn't care. I didn't feel like there was nobody on that team that could stop me.
(FIK) Second running play of the game and Evar gets the ball
(EJ) Man, It happened so fast. I got the ball, I saw the hole, I ran through the hole and all of the sudden I feel somebody hit me in my back and then somebody hit me up front. I flip over and I tried to get up, but I couldn't. I remember walking off the field and going over to the sidelines. I was P!$$*# off thats why I didn't let them help me off. When I got to the sideline they tried taping my knee, but it was swelling so much it was coming out of the tape.
(FIK) What were you thinking then?
(EJ) Just tape it up and I'll play. My mom and my brother came in to the locker room and told me I couldn't play and that was it. I was gonna play anyway, but they wouldn't let me.
(DJ) I was P!$$#&. I was on the sideline when they brought him over and I knew he was hurting. I wanted to punish somebody for that. I remember this kid run a reverse on the goaline I can't remember his exact name but I come accross the field and I hit that cat and cut him a back flip. I didn't care. I though if they wanted to play dirty like that and hurt somebody then I was going to punish everybody that came near me.
(JH) Nobody thought Evar could get hurt. We thought he'd walk it off and be right back. We really didn't think that much about it. He's one of the biggest guys on the team, one of the strongest guys too he'll be fine. Didn't turn out that way.
(NG) I just thought he would put some ice on it and he'd jump right back up, but it didn't happen.
(BH) I remember Paul stepped in the FB position then and did a great job and I believe Lip came in as well. The next guy in line has got to step up because thats what you're expected to do and they did. You hate it happened. but you have to find a way to overcome it. You can't let adversity dictate the way you operate.
(FIK) What were you thinking as you went into the half losing 10-7?
(JH) Personally I had one of the worst halfs I ever had. I just remember being nervous that game, and the first ball I threw was a brand new football and I hated brand new footballs. They were just coming out and off target. I remember walking up the hill to go into the locker and Andy Smith grabbed me by my jersey and said "What are you doing?" I was like man whats this? He said "You're better than this. Get you're D@&@ head right and play football. Just calm down and play" For me that was all I needed. We came out the second half and took it to em. The second half was ours.
(DJ) It wasn't like it was that big of a margin, and I think at that point they thought they were really gonna win the game. After the half the coaches just made some adjustments and talked to us and we came out and played our game. I had a punt that put them deep in their own territory and that flipped the script and then we got that interception from Tramaine and that just got us going and we took it to em. I remember it was like one of the biggest crowds to witness a bell game. I don't think I've ever seen that whole bank surrounded with people from end to end.
(NG) I wasn't that concerned. The coaches you know made some adjustments and we just came back down that hill thinking it was 0-0. Thats what the coaches told us everytime we walked back down that hill that it was 0-0.
(BH) We had a veteran coaching staff who had been through games like this before, and they just stayed calm got us in the right situations to be successful and we just executed. We took their best shot and that was it and weathered through it and won the game it was that simple. We just didn't play our game in the first half.
(PA) I knew we hadn't played well that first half, but I also knew that when we played our best we couldn't be beat. We had the confidence to regroup and get back on track and it was on after that. I was ready to crack some more heads.
SE Danny Jenkins #42
(FIK) What were the spirits like going into the first round with Fred T Foard?
(JH) We felt good you know. Home field advantage throughout the playoffs which is what we all wanted. Theres no better feeling than knowing you're not going to travel. The thing about the playoffs is you have to be at you're best every week or you go home. There was pressure, but we'd been there before so it was nothing new to us. It was just business as usual and lets have a good week and get back here next week.
(DJ) I took every game as if it were going to be my last and unfortunatley it ended up being my last. We knew the path and what it would take to get back so I just prepared like any other game. Now the stakes were higher, but you couldn't let that distract you.
(NG) Like Justin and Dirt said it was business. We knew what we had to do to get back and now it was up to us to get it done. I really didn't know that much about who we were playing except what we heard at practice and what they showed us on film, but it goes back to my mind set throughout that if we played Kannapolis football nobody could beat us. We had the best running back in the state, the best defense in the state, and we were just beating the brakes off everybody we played. We felt unstopable.
(BH) We were excited because the new season starts, everybody is undefeated and its the best against the best. We had just beaten Concord and we were riding high about that, but now we have to take to the next level. There was some concern because Evar was hurt and wasn't going to get to play in the Foard game and nobody knew for sure if he would get to come back. Every week the teams get better and better and you want a complete team on that field. So yea there was a little concern, but nothing I didn't think we wouldn't be able to overcome.
(PA) We felt good, but for me the game was tough because we made it tough. This is not the time to get overconfident and take you oponent lightly because that will end up biting you in the @$$. It about did (Laughing)
(EJ) I'm P!$$$^ the h$^% off bro what kinda question is that (Laughing) Here I am the best FB in the state and I'm not playing, but what could I do? Coach Hardin tried to get me to dress out because Nick was a little shaken that he didn't have me in there because me and Nick had been playing together since six grade all stars and he relied on me to block for him. So he was nervous about me not being there and coach Hardin wanted me to dress out, but I wasn't going to dress out if I wasn't going to get to play.
(FIK) There was an after game incident about "Socks" that were worn that night. Coach Hardin was very upset about that incident. Can you tell me who came up with that idea to wear mis matched socks and why?
(Group) Evar!! (Laughing)
(EJ) I was working at Phiddipides at Carolina mall and the year before in 97 we wore blue tights so I just got the idea to wear different socks that game. I don't think it was bad. I mean we had the best record in the state and I don't think what kind of socks you have on is going to take away from you're performance. You should have seen the socks I had picked out for the state that year! (Laughing) they were green and white striped soccer socks. (Laughing) It just brought out each mans individual personna for the game I guess, but we were still a team you know what I'm sayin.
(PA) No, No, No, No, No, (Laughing) I didn't have anything to do with that at all (Laughing) Go back and look at the tape you don't see Paul in with that (Laughing)
(NG) I was by the books bro, Coach Hardin didn't play that so I had my "K" socks on.
(PA) Some had the green socks on with one up and one down, and they had the footies. There was all sorts of combinations used that night.
(FIK) Nicks first touchdown run of the game was the one that most fans say was his most acrobatic and most athletic run he ever had. Do you remember that run?
(JH) That was one of the best runs I ever saw. I thought he was down so I start walking towards the sidelines to get the next play and the next thing you know he's come out of six tackles and is running towards the scoreboard. I thought man, this guy is unbelievable, but those were the kind of runs you expected out of Nick so I'm not sure why I was so amazed that was was Nick and what he brought to the table every week. I knew he was special and I was just proud to be his teammate.
(DJ) It was like being at a bowling alley on that play just knocking pins down. I was looking for people to hit, and about the time I hit somebody there was somebody else to hit so I loved it. (Laughing)
(NG) Well I was on the sideline because one of the Hardin boys had taken my place at reciever . I won't mention any names but his number was "37" uuuu Blair Hardin (Laughing) But I was like, <an thats my friend out there doing that. This guy is special, and I'm gonna see him playing on Sundays.
(BH) I was just trying to find somebody to hit. I never heard the whistle so I kept looking. I remember there were bodies everywhere you looked and it was like the play lasted fifteen minutes. (Laughing) It was an unbelievable run.
(PA) I was ticked off because on that play I was suppose to kick out and he was suppose to cut up, and he didn't (Laughing) so I look around and hes still running (Laughing) I'm like "what are you doing" (Laughing) It was amazing, but afterwards I told him don't do that again when I'm suppose to kick out. (Laughing)
(FIK) What were the feelings on the team after Danny got injured?
(JH) I was upset, I think we all were upset because here is one of you're best receivers gone, but more than anything else was what he brought to the team as a leader. You can't replace that. I remember shortly after he got injured I threw a touchdown pass while he was getting carried off in the ambulance. He told me later that he smiled when he heard that cannon go off. I always remembered that so I knew he was going to be ok.
(DJ) Man, all I can say is and don't take this wrong (Laughing) I was open, but apparently Justin wanted to share the wealth and be a team player so he fired the ball towards Justin Chambers and it got picked off (Laughing) I stumbled a little and was trying to get back on my feet, and I see this little guy about to hit me and he just popped me on my elbow. It wasn't a hard hit he just hit me the right way enough to pop my shoulder out of the socket. I was laying there in some major pain and this guy over here was trying to pull me up by my arm and I was yelling "Don't pull my arm, Don't pull my arm" (Laughing) I hated it. You feel invincible on that field, but when that happened reality set in and I knew I wasn't.
(NG) I knew what Danny brought to the game and not to have him in there was a big loss. You always knew that Danny was going to make a catch when we needed it so it was a big loss. Mr Hardin over here was going to have to step up now.
(BH) I was mad because Dirt was my road dog plus he was tall and I was short (Laughing) But what was funny is Dirt was always open on that curl so I don't know why "J" threw that pass. (Laughing) It was a major loss because not only was Dirt a fine receiver, but he was also our punter. He could flip the field on an opponent just like that. Now who would be our punter? So I was worried from a receiver standpoint and a special teams standpoint because he brought so much to the table in those two ares of the game. It was quite a loss.
(PA) I was angry, but it was a different kind of anger as opposed to Evar. Evar got a dirty hit, and Danny's was clean, but the result was the same. Dirt was a senior and he didn't deserve for his year to end that way.
(NG) Thats Paul man, By the book all the time. (Laughing)
(FIK) Do you think as a team you played you're best against Fred T Foard?
(JH) I think offensively when we came out we were flat. Defensively they were hittiing us in the mouth and we weren't use to that happening against us so in a way I think we were shocked in that first half. When we got up to the lockers at halftime we got our @$$ chewed and that p!$$#& us off even more. So when we came out for the second half we were angry about how we had played and for getting chewed like we did. There was no way we were going back out in the second half and not take that game back. We just had to play Kannapolis football and we knew everything would be alright.
(FIK) How were you able to have a performance like you had against Fred T Foard and then on the following Friday night turn around and lay such a whipping to a much better team in East Rutherford?
(JH) Oh man, we knew we had our hands full with East Rutherford. We heard all week long how good their defense was and how potent their offense was so we knew from the start we couldn't play another game like the first with them. I think what helped was we scored early which gave us the confidence that we could score points on them. Their defense was built up to be one of the best defenses in the state that year in the 3A. If I'm not mistaken I think we put up twenty one or twenty four points on them before the half and our defense had held them to one touchdown so that was a pretty productive half for us. Going into the second half we knew we just had to keep up the intensity and we would be playing another week. I look at it now and we didn't just beat em, we whooped em, we really whooped em.
(DJ) I cant really say too much about the game to be honest with you. It was a great win for us, we advanced to the next round but I was hurt so I couldn't contribute to the effort. That hurt me real bad. I was happy to see my temmates be successful but I was really hurting inside not being out there with them.
(NG) By that game we had taken some hits with injuries to valuable players. Evar was out, Danny was out, Cello was out (Marcello Stanback) You want those guys in there because you know what they can do you know. I knew what Evar could do, I knew what Danny could do, and I knew what Cello could do, but you had to move on. You couldn't have a letdown or that would be the end of the season. We always found a way to come together though. I can't say enough about the great coaching we had. They knew just the right things to do to put us in a position to be successful and they did that entire year.
(BH) I think that last comment by Gill was true. We had great coaching. I remember that game they had a 6'6 corner who could jump through the roof, and I couldn't catch a ball so they shifted Nick over opposite of me and on two fade routes Nick catches touchdowns. They did an excellent job creating mismatches with their personnel. I remember they had that big Chavis kid who ended up playing at Tennessee who was six thousand pounds that could run like a deer (Laughing) I got the chance to block him too (Laughing) It was great (Laughing) I told pops no quick pitches (Laughing) Put Gill in there!! It was a great win and in the end we advance to another round and stay alive in the hunt for the title. You can't ask for anymore.
(PA) Yall gonna get mad at me for this, but I have to be honest. I still remembered the butt chewing we got from pops after the Fred T Foard game (Laughing) Me personally I don't like getting chewed out by pops after a game. We weren't about to get another butt chewing like that ever again so regardless of how East Rutherford got to where they were they were not about to whoop us on our field. We gonna whoop you,you,you,you and your mama tail any minute so lets get ready for it. (Laughing)
(EJ) All I was thinking to be honest with you was one more week, just one more week and I think I will be able to come back. I knew my boys were gonna stomp that @$$ so I wasn't worried at all about that game. Just one more week thats all I wanted.
(FIK) How did you feel after beating East Rutherford as soundly as you did?
(JH) I just remember being excited. This was a quality team and I remember it was just a little smaller than the Concord crowd that showed up because East Rutherford brought alot of people to that game. To beat a team like that was just a big confidence builder because that team I could have easily seen playing in the state championship so for me it was a great win. You asked earlier about defining wins and would have to say that beating East Rutherford was a defining win for us.
(NG) I just saw Chapel Hill coming. I saw that blue on the filed and I just knew we were there. I knew to play Kings Mountain was going to be our biggest task.
(BH) You look up and see you're stadium packed and you know it's a good team you're playing it's a very satisfying feeling to come away with a win like that. It was a good solid win for us. Its a great confidence builder to be able to do that and do it without three of your best players contributing. It was amazing.
(PA) I would have to say without a doubt that was one of the best games we played that year without a question. We were unified, we had a goal, we were on a mission and nothing was going to get in the way of that especially East Rutherford. I slept really good that night. I felt like we were gelling as a team for the long run.
(EJ) I thought my boys did great. I was really proud of them. They stepped up when it counted. Next victim.
(JH) We felt good you know. Home field advantage throughout the playoffs which is what we all wanted. Theres no better feeling than knowing you're not going to travel. The thing about the playoffs is you have to be at you're best every week or you go home. There was pressure, but we'd been there before so it was nothing new to us. It was just business as usual and lets have a good week and get back here next week.
(DJ) I took every game as if it were going to be my last and unfortunatley it ended up being my last. We knew the path and what it would take to get back so I just prepared like any other game. Now the stakes were higher, but you couldn't let that distract you.
(NG) Like Justin and Dirt said it was business. We knew what we had to do to get back and now it was up to us to get it done. I really didn't know that much about who we were playing except what we heard at practice and what they showed us on film, but it goes back to my mind set throughout that if we played Kannapolis football nobody could beat us. We had the best running back in the state, the best defense in the state, and we were just beating the brakes off everybody we played. We felt unstopable.
(BH) We were excited because the new season starts, everybody is undefeated and its the best against the best. We had just beaten Concord and we were riding high about that, but now we have to take to the next level. There was some concern because Evar was hurt and wasn't going to get to play in the Foard game and nobody knew for sure if he would get to come back. Every week the teams get better and better and you want a complete team on that field. So yea there was a little concern, but nothing I didn't think we wouldn't be able to overcome.
(PA) We felt good, but for me the game was tough because we made it tough. This is not the time to get overconfident and take you oponent lightly because that will end up biting you in the @$$. It about did (Laughing)
(EJ) I'm P!$$$^ the h$^% off bro what kinda question is that (Laughing) Here I am the best FB in the state and I'm not playing, but what could I do? Coach Hardin tried to get me to dress out because Nick was a little shaken that he didn't have me in there because me and Nick had been playing together since six grade all stars and he relied on me to block for him. So he was nervous about me not being there and coach Hardin wanted me to dress out, but I wasn't going to dress out if I wasn't going to get to play.
(FIK) There was an after game incident about "Socks" that were worn that night. Coach Hardin was very upset about that incident. Can you tell me who came up with that idea to wear mis matched socks and why?
(Group) Evar!! (Laughing)
(EJ) I was working at Phiddipides at Carolina mall and the year before in 97 we wore blue tights so I just got the idea to wear different socks that game. I don't think it was bad. I mean we had the best record in the state and I don't think what kind of socks you have on is going to take away from you're performance. You should have seen the socks I had picked out for the state that year! (Laughing) they were green and white striped soccer socks. (Laughing) It just brought out each mans individual personna for the game I guess, but we were still a team you know what I'm sayin.
(PA) No, No, No, No, No, (Laughing) I didn't have anything to do with that at all (Laughing) Go back and look at the tape you don't see Paul in with that (Laughing)
(NG) I was by the books bro, Coach Hardin didn't play that so I had my "K" socks on.
(PA) Some had the green socks on with one up and one down, and they had the footies. There was all sorts of combinations used that night.
(FIK) Nicks first touchdown run of the game was the one that most fans say was his most acrobatic and most athletic run he ever had. Do you remember that run?
(JH) That was one of the best runs I ever saw. I thought he was down so I start walking towards the sidelines to get the next play and the next thing you know he's come out of six tackles and is running towards the scoreboard. I thought man, this guy is unbelievable, but those were the kind of runs you expected out of Nick so I'm not sure why I was so amazed that was was Nick and what he brought to the table every week. I knew he was special and I was just proud to be his teammate.
(DJ) It was like being at a bowling alley on that play just knocking pins down. I was looking for people to hit, and about the time I hit somebody there was somebody else to hit so I loved it. (Laughing)
(NG) Well I was on the sideline because one of the Hardin boys had taken my place at reciever . I won't mention any names but his number was "37" uuuu Blair Hardin (Laughing) But I was like, <an thats my friend out there doing that. This guy is special, and I'm gonna see him playing on Sundays.
(BH) I was just trying to find somebody to hit. I never heard the whistle so I kept looking. I remember there were bodies everywhere you looked and it was like the play lasted fifteen minutes. (Laughing) It was an unbelievable run.
(PA) I was ticked off because on that play I was suppose to kick out and he was suppose to cut up, and he didn't (Laughing) so I look around and hes still running (Laughing) I'm like "what are you doing" (Laughing) It was amazing, but afterwards I told him don't do that again when I'm suppose to kick out. (Laughing)
(FIK) What were the feelings on the team after Danny got injured?
(JH) I was upset, I think we all were upset because here is one of you're best receivers gone, but more than anything else was what he brought to the team as a leader. You can't replace that. I remember shortly after he got injured I threw a touchdown pass while he was getting carried off in the ambulance. He told me later that he smiled when he heard that cannon go off. I always remembered that so I knew he was going to be ok.
(DJ) Man, all I can say is and don't take this wrong (Laughing) I was open, but apparently Justin wanted to share the wealth and be a team player so he fired the ball towards Justin Chambers and it got picked off (Laughing) I stumbled a little and was trying to get back on my feet, and I see this little guy about to hit me and he just popped me on my elbow. It wasn't a hard hit he just hit me the right way enough to pop my shoulder out of the socket. I was laying there in some major pain and this guy over here was trying to pull me up by my arm and I was yelling "Don't pull my arm, Don't pull my arm" (Laughing) I hated it. You feel invincible on that field, but when that happened reality set in and I knew I wasn't.
(NG) I knew what Danny brought to the game and not to have him in there was a big loss. You always knew that Danny was going to make a catch when we needed it so it was a big loss. Mr Hardin over here was going to have to step up now.
(BH) I was mad because Dirt was my road dog plus he was tall and I was short (Laughing) But what was funny is Dirt was always open on that curl so I don't know why "J" threw that pass. (Laughing) It was a major loss because not only was Dirt a fine receiver, but he was also our punter. He could flip the field on an opponent just like that. Now who would be our punter? So I was worried from a receiver standpoint and a special teams standpoint because he brought so much to the table in those two ares of the game. It was quite a loss.
(PA) I was angry, but it was a different kind of anger as opposed to Evar. Evar got a dirty hit, and Danny's was clean, but the result was the same. Dirt was a senior and he didn't deserve for his year to end that way.
(NG) Thats Paul man, By the book all the time. (Laughing)
(FIK) Do you think as a team you played you're best against Fred T Foard?
(JH) I think offensively when we came out we were flat. Defensively they were hittiing us in the mouth and we weren't use to that happening against us so in a way I think we were shocked in that first half. When we got up to the lockers at halftime we got our @$$ chewed and that p!$$#& us off even more. So when we came out for the second half we were angry about how we had played and for getting chewed like we did. There was no way we were going back out in the second half and not take that game back. We just had to play Kannapolis football and we knew everything would be alright.
(FIK) How were you able to have a performance like you had against Fred T Foard and then on the following Friday night turn around and lay such a whipping to a much better team in East Rutherford?
(JH) Oh man, we knew we had our hands full with East Rutherford. We heard all week long how good their defense was and how potent their offense was so we knew from the start we couldn't play another game like the first with them. I think what helped was we scored early which gave us the confidence that we could score points on them. Their defense was built up to be one of the best defenses in the state that year in the 3A. If I'm not mistaken I think we put up twenty one or twenty four points on them before the half and our defense had held them to one touchdown so that was a pretty productive half for us. Going into the second half we knew we just had to keep up the intensity and we would be playing another week. I look at it now and we didn't just beat em, we whooped em, we really whooped em.
(DJ) I cant really say too much about the game to be honest with you. It was a great win for us, we advanced to the next round but I was hurt so I couldn't contribute to the effort. That hurt me real bad. I was happy to see my temmates be successful but I was really hurting inside not being out there with them.
(NG) By that game we had taken some hits with injuries to valuable players. Evar was out, Danny was out, Cello was out (Marcello Stanback) You want those guys in there because you know what they can do you know. I knew what Evar could do, I knew what Danny could do, and I knew what Cello could do, but you had to move on. You couldn't have a letdown or that would be the end of the season. We always found a way to come together though. I can't say enough about the great coaching we had. They knew just the right things to do to put us in a position to be successful and they did that entire year.
(BH) I think that last comment by Gill was true. We had great coaching. I remember that game they had a 6'6 corner who could jump through the roof, and I couldn't catch a ball so they shifted Nick over opposite of me and on two fade routes Nick catches touchdowns. They did an excellent job creating mismatches with their personnel. I remember they had that big Chavis kid who ended up playing at Tennessee who was six thousand pounds that could run like a deer (Laughing) I got the chance to block him too (Laughing) It was great (Laughing) I told pops no quick pitches (Laughing) Put Gill in there!! It was a great win and in the end we advance to another round and stay alive in the hunt for the title. You can't ask for anymore.
(PA) Yall gonna get mad at me for this, but I have to be honest. I still remembered the butt chewing we got from pops after the Fred T Foard game (Laughing) Me personally I don't like getting chewed out by pops after a game. We weren't about to get another butt chewing like that ever again so regardless of how East Rutherford got to where they were they were not about to whoop us on our field. We gonna whoop you,you,you,you and your mama tail any minute so lets get ready for it. (Laughing)
(EJ) All I was thinking to be honest with you was one more week, just one more week and I think I will be able to come back. I knew my boys were gonna stomp that @$$ so I wasn't worried at all about that game. Just one more week thats all I wanted.
(FIK) How did you feel after beating East Rutherford as soundly as you did?
(JH) I just remember being excited. This was a quality team and I remember it was just a little smaller than the Concord crowd that showed up because East Rutherford brought alot of people to that game. To beat a team like that was just a big confidence builder because that team I could have easily seen playing in the state championship so for me it was a great win. You asked earlier about defining wins and would have to say that beating East Rutherford was a defining win for us.
(NG) I just saw Chapel Hill coming. I saw that blue on the filed and I just knew we were there. I knew to play Kings Mountain was going to be our biggest task.
(BH) You look up and see you're stadium packed and you know it's a good team you're playing it's a very satisfying feeling to come away with a win like that. It was a good solid win for us. Its a great confidence builder to be able to do that and do it without three of your best players contributing. It was amazing.
(PA) I would have to say without a doubt that was one of the best games we played that year without a question. We were unified, we had a goal, we were on a mission and nothing was going to get in the way of that especially East Rutherford. I slept really good that night. I felt like we were gelling as a team for the long run.
(EJ) I thought my boys did great. I was really proud of them. They stepped up when it counted. Next victim.
LB Nick Gill #82
(FIK) Did you have any doubt that Kings Mountain would be in your way on the road to another Title?
(JH) To be perfectly honest, We knew they were in our bracket, but to say we sat back in the wings saying "Oh Kings Mountain is coming, Kings Mountain is coming" No we didn't. Though we knew they were in our bracket if we ended up playing them somewhere down the road fine. We take that game then.
(NG) I kind of had that feeling. You don't really want to, but it is what it is and to be the best you have to play the best teams.
(BH) Yes I did. The year before in 1997 they were young and they were returning a good many players from that team so everybody knew there was the chance for a rematch. We also knew if it did happen it was going to be a war.
(PA) I thought about it at the very beginning of the playoffs because of the year before, but after that I didn't give it much thought. We just take it one step at a time and if it happens we will deal with it then not now.
(EJ) I went back to the doctor that week and the movement in my knee was good so they released me to come back. I wasn't sure how much playing time I would get. Maybe third and short situations because of my experience, but I really didn't know how much playing time I would get. As far as it being Kings Mountain I really didn't care. It was just another game we had to win.
(FIK) What emotions come to mind when I say the phrase "Unfinished Business?"
(JH) Hate!
(DJ) No comment!
(NG) Another Black and Gold!
(BH) Hate!
(PA) Could you repeat the question please? It makes me cringe!
(EJ) (Smiling and Scratching his beard)
(FIK) Do you remember Kings Mountains demeanor coming off the bus?
(DJ) I remember they came off hoopin and hollerin and making real @$$e$ out of themselves.
(JH) How are you gonna come up in here like that after what happened in 1997 wearing a shirt like that. When we got out on the field for warmups they were over there chanting it. You knew right then that they had penciled us in since day one and that made it personal. I didn't like the fact they did that, but if it motivated them to win I guess it served it's purpose in the end.
(NG) I cant take anything away from those guys. They came down here to take care of business. They weren't dirty they were just big and talented. and it showed that night.
(BH) On the first snap of the game I knew this was going to be different from any game we had played all year long. They were for real. It ended up being a tough physical ball game. Everything it was billed to be from the start.
(PA) The only thing I can think of right now is they were the only team stopping us from getting back to the state.
(EJ) I respected them. They came in here and manhandled us. That was hard to take.
(FIK) How did you feel going into the half losing?
(JH) I remember we were losing, but it was a tight ball game. A couple plays here, a couple plays there. That was just the kind of game where you knew one or two plays were going to be the difference in the game. We made some offensive plays early then they came back and countered. Our defense made some plays and their defense made some plays. We didn't panic we just accepted that it was going to be a dog fight and we just needed to stay focused and play our game. Going into the half we knew it was going to be a fight we just just couldn't let it get out of hand. They definitley came here for business no question.
Dad knew it was going to be a tough game and he pretty much kept his composure throughout. He swa we were playing hard and they were playing hard too. It wasn't like him coming into the locker room pounding his fist on the fan like he did at Fred T Foard. We just made some adjustments and went back out for the second half. I thought if we could make a few more plays than they did we would win.
(BH) I remember dad telling us that Kings Mountain's line was going to be bigger than the Panthers line that year, and I researched it and it was true. All you can ask of your people is to stand in there and fight and they did. Size didn't intimidate anyone that night it was who was going to make the least mistakes and make the plays when they need to. That's what a good close ball game comes down to.
(DJ) When it comes down to it size is only going to get you so far, but the team that plays with the most heart can overcome the size differential. I'm not saying it wasn't a factor, but I don't think you can blame the loss on any one thing.
(FIK) What if anything was said to the defense when Nick caught that last touchdown to put you up 21-20 with 3:35 left in the game?
(NG) Coach Whigthman told us we needed a stop and to go out there and play hard. Just leave it on the field.
(PA) The go ahead touchdown was a confidence builder for us. It was like See we can do this, now we just needed to make a stand. Oh boy, Maaaan. (Rubbing his hands together)
(FIK) Kings Mountain starts that last drive and methodically drives the ball down the field. Anhtony Hillman then breaks that yard run for the final points that put Kings Mountain on top with 35 seconds left. What is your mind set?
(JH) I'm thinking we gotta get down the field. We gotta get some yardage in a hurry. We hadn't been in this position that whole year, but there was no time to panic. We never panicked. I remember telling them somebody's got to make a big catch and and then get the clock stopped and just manage the game. I know we were close on one pass I threw it deep to either Gill or Maddox and it got picked and that was it. It hurt. This is not the way those seniors was suppose to go out. I take responsibility for alot of it. I could sit here and say I wish I could have done this and that, but whats the point. It is what it is and it haunts me to this day.
(DJ) I've got to be a little selfish about this one. There were a few passes that were dropped and I have to sit back now thinking about it and feeling all the while if I had been in there I would have caught those passes. That hurt me more than anything was the fact I was helpless to do anything about it. It sucks sitting on the sidelines watching stuff like that happen. Especially being a senior captain. I felt like a failure after that. I really did.
(NG) Man. I was hurt. I was hurt. The whole weekend I didn't go anywhere. I stayed at home in my room. I didn't want to leave the field, but my sister came and got me and made me leave. That hurt man.
(BH) You hate because you're in the third round and theres not many lights on facing a team that ended up going to the state championship and then lost it. Just being so close to doing what the 97 team did and playing with all these great seniors. Thats what you practice all those hot days in August for. It's what you run that loop for and hit those sand pits. For it to be so close and you play such a close game against Goliath and come up short it just hurts. I don't know what else to say about it.
(PA) As that clock was running down it was like my life was about to end. That's what it felt like for me. It was like something has got to happen to turn this around it's not suppose to end like this. I'm thinking I'll never play football with my family again cause that what it was. We were teammates, but more than anything we were family. That hurt so bad any word I say doesn't describe the hurt enough. Oh Man, Yoy had to bring this up (Laughing)
(EJ) We busted our @$$ that whole summer and we made through some adversity late. We had the best chemistry all of us and for it to end like that just wasn't right. It still makes me tear up every time I talk about it.
(PA) The worst thing was sitting at home knowing we were suppose to win that game. It didn't matter how big their line was or how bad their fullback was. We were suppose to win that game. Kings Mountain was not better than we were. No They may have been better that night, but they weren't better than we were. It was because of poor tackling and missed opportunities period. We can play that game over ten times and that doesn't happen in nine of them.
(FIK) Does that loss still haunt you today?
(Group) Yes!
(JH) We went up 21-20 and we get the ball back and were driving towards the scoreboard getting ready to possibly score again. It's third and seven and we run a dive option and I didn't D@&* pitch it. They blitzed and the guy got me right on the foot. If I had pictched it we would have got the first down and they would have never got the ball back. I got to live with that. Theres two games I've never watched in my high school career and thats the 1998 Kings Mountain game and the 1999 second round rematch with Concord. Never watched them.
(DJ) I've watched that 1998 highlight film many times, but after it gets past the Fred T Foard game after I got injured I cant watch the rest of it.
(FIK) Justin and Blair, both of you went to the semi final game at Kings Mountain that following Friday night. Why did you go?
(JH) Honestly we went to see Concord get beat. We didn't want to see Concord win it. We also went on the field after the game and told coach Massey good luck in the state championship game. It was kinda like paying our respects. I couldn't sit at the house that Friday night. We wanted to watch some football and we still hated Concord with a passion so we went to see em get beat.
(BH) I knew two things. We could stay at the house that night and be miserable or we could go to see our hated rival play and be miserable so neither one of us wanted to stay at the house. (Laughing) I knew Concord couldn't match up with those guys, but my hats off to them they did play them close in the first half, but then it got away from them in the second so what we thought would happen happened.
(JH) To be perfectly honest, We knew they were in our bracket, but to say we sat back in the wings saying "Oh Kings Mountain is coming, Kings Mountain is coming" No we didn't. Though we knew they were in our bracket if we ended up playing them somewhere down the road fine. We take that game then.
(NG) I kind of had that feeling. You don't really want to, but it is what it is and to be the best you have to play the best teams.
(BH) Yes I did. The year before in 1997 they were young and they were returning a good many players from that team so everybody knew there was the chance for a rematch. We also knew if it did happen it was going to be a war.
(PA) I thought about it at the very beginning of the playoffs because of the year before, but after that I didn't give it much thought. We just take it one step at a time and if it happens we will deal with it then not now.
(EJ) I went back to the doctor that week and the movement in my knee was good so they released me to come back. I wasn't sure how much playing time I would get. Maybe third and short situations because of my experience, but I really didn't know how much playing time I would get. As far as it being Kings Mountain I really didn't care. It was just another game we had to win.
(FIK) What emotions come to mind when I say the phrase "Unfinished Business?"
(JH) Hate!
(DJ) No comment!
(NG) Another Black and Gold!
(BH) Hate!
(PA) Could you repeat the question please? It makes me cringe!
(EJ) (Smiling and Scratching his beard)
(FIK) Do you remember Kings Mountains demeanor coming off the bus?
(DJ) I remember they came off hoopin and hollerin and making real @$$e$ out of themselves.
(JH) How are you gonna come up in here like that after what happened in 1997 wearing a shirt like that. When we got out on the field for warmups they were over there chanting it. You knew right then that they had penciled us in since day one and that made it personal. I didn't like the fact they did that, but if it motivated them to win I guess it served it's purpose in the end.
(NG) I cant take anything away from those guys. They came down here to take care of business. They weren't dirty they were just big and talented. and it showed that night.
(BH) On the first snap of the game I knew this was going to be different from any game we had played all year long. They were for real. It ended up being a tough physical ball game. Everything it was billed to be from the start.
(PA) The only thing I can think of right now is they were the only team stopping us from getting back to the state.
(EJ) I respected them. They came in here and manhandled us. That was hard to take.
(FIK) How did you feel going into the half losing?
(JH) I remember we were losing, but it was a tight ball game. A couple plays here, a couple plays there. That was just the kind of game where you knew one or two plays were going to be the difference in the game. We made some offensive plays early then they came back and countered. Our defense made some plays and their defense made some plays. We didn't panic we just accepted that it was going to be a dog fight and we just needed to stay focused and play our game. Going into the half we knew it was going to be a fight we just just couldn't let it get out of hand. They definitley came here for business no question.
Dad knew it was going to be a tough game and he pretty much kept his composure throughout. He swa we were playing hard and they were playing hard too. It wasn't like him coming into the locker room pounding his fist on the fan like he did at Fred T Foard. We just made some adjustments and went back out for the second half. I thought if we could make a few more plays than they did we would win.
(BH) I remember dad telling us that Kings Mountain's line was going to be bigger than the Panthers line that year, and I researched it and it was true. All you can ask of your people is to stand in there and fight and they did. Size didn't intimidate anyone that night it was who was going to make the least mistakes and make the plays when they need to. That's what a good close ball game comes down to.
(DJ) When it comes down to it size is only going to get you so far, but the team that plays with the most heart can overcome the size differential. I'm not saying it wasn't a factor, but I don't think you can blame the loss on any one thing.
(FIK) What if anything was said to the defense when Nick caught that last touchdown to put you up 21-20 with 3:35 left in the game?
(NG) Coach Whigthman told us we needed a stop and to go out there and play hard. Just leave it on the field.
(PA) The go ahead touchdown was a confidence builder for us. It was like See we can do this, now we just needed to make a stand. Oh boy, Maaaan. (Rubbing his hands together)
(FIK) Kings Mountain starts that last drive and methodically drives the ball down the field. Anhtony Hillman then breaks that yard run for the final points that put Kings Mountain on top with 35 seconds left. What is your mind set?
(JH) I'm thinking we gotta get down the field. We gotta get some yardage in a hurry. We hadn't been in this position that whole year, but there was no time to panic. We never panicked. I remember telling them somebody's got to make a big catch and and then get the clock stopped and just manage the game. I know we were close on one pass I threw it deep to either Gill or Maddox and it got picked and that was it. It hurt. This is not the way those seniors was suppose to go out. I take responsibility for alot of it. I could sit here and say I wish I could have done this and that, but whats the point. It is what it is and it haunts me to this day.
(DJ) I've got to be a little selfish about this one. There were a few passes that were dropped and I have to sit back now thinking about it and feeling all the while if I had been in there I would have caught those passes. That hurt me more than anything was the fact I was helpless to do anything about it. It sucks sitting on the sidelines watching stuff like that happen. Especially being a senior captain. I felt like a failure after that. I really did.
(NG) Man. I was hurt. I was hurt. The whole weekend I didn't go anywhere. I stayed at home in my room. I didn't want to leave the field, but my sister came and got me and made me leave. That hurt man.
(BH) You hate because you're in the third round and theres not many lights on facing a team that ended up going to the state championship and then lost it. Just being so close to doing what the 97 team did and playing with all these great seniors. Thats what you practice all those hot days in August for. It's what you run that loop for and hit those sand pits. For it to be so close and you play such a close game against Goliath and come up short it just hurts. I don't know what else to say about it.
(PA) As that clock was running down it was like my life was about to end. That's what it felt like for me. It was like something has got to happen to turn this around it's not suppose to end like this. I'm thinking I'll never play football with my family again cause that what it was. We were teammates, but more than anything we were family. That hurt so bad any word I say doesn't describe the hurt enough. Oh Man, Yoy had to bring this up (Laughing)
(EJ) We busted our @$$ that whole summer and we made through some adversity late. We had the best chemistry all of us and for it to end like that just wasn't right. It still makes me tear up every time I talk about it.
(PA) The worst thing was sitting at home knowing we were suppose to win that game. It didn't matter how big their line was or how bad their fullback was. We were suppose to win that game. Kings Mountain was not better than we were. No They may have been better that night, but they weren't better than we were. It was because of poor tackling and missed opportunities period. We can play that game over ten times and that doesn't happen in nine of them.
(FIK) Does that loss still haunt you today?
(Group) Yes!
(JH) We went up 21-20 and we get the ball back and were driving towards the scoreboard getting ready to possibly score again. It's third and seven and we run a dive option and I didn't D@&* pitch it. They blitzed and the guy got me right on the foot. If I had pictched it we would have got the first down and they would have never got the ball back. I got to live with that. Theres two games I've never watched in my high school career and thats the 1998 Kings Mountain game and the 1999 second round rematch with Concord. Never watched them.
(DJ) I've watched that 1998 highlight film many times, but after it gets past the Fred T Foard game after I got injured I cant watch the rest of it.
(FIK) Justin and Blair, both of you went to the semi final game at Kings Mountain that following Friday night. Why did you go?
(JH) Honestly we went to see Concord get beat. We didn't want to see Concord win it. We also went on the field after the game and told coach Massey good luck in the state championship game. It was kinda like paying our respects. I couldn't sit at the house that Friday night. We wanted to watch some football and we still hated Concord with a passion so we went to see em get beat.
(BH) I knew two things. We could stay at the house that night and be miserable or we could go to see our hated rival play and be miserable so neither one of us wanted to stay at the house. (Laughing) I knew Concord couldn't match up with those guys, but my hats off to them they did play them close in the first half, but then it got away from them in the second so what we thought would happen happened.
FB Evar Johnson #34
(FIK) Looking back at the season as a whole do any of you have any regrets about anything that year?
(JH) Absolutley not. It was just a fun year and you can break it down and disect it many ways , but in the end we were all family. We enjoyed playing with each other and we made some great memories that will last forever. We wanted to come out and play Kannapolis football and win. We wanted to intimidate our opponent and do the school, the town, and the program proud. The coaches put us in a great position to do that and we took advantage of that at every opportunity. We weren't a cocky group, but we were a confident group and thatps just how we played that year. I think the numbers showed it, I think the scores showed it, and ultimately the wins showed it.
(DJ) I have no regrets about the season. I wish I hadn't been injured towards the end where I couldn't contribute to the team that bothers me. But I think theres a purpose for everything that happened that year you know. I put one too many crack back blocks on people and then I go out with a concussion. I think the lord did things to sort of put me in my place that year. All in all it was a great experience for me. It was the best team ever.
(NG) None at all. It's all good. Even though the season ended the way it did we went out on a mission and I think we showed alot of people we were for real. No matter how it ended.
(BH) No regrets, We carried on the tradition and that's what this place is all about tradition. That's what you play here at Kannapolis for. When a team comes in here and backs that bus up at the back gate and they get off walk down that hill and see that big "K" in the middle of that field it can really take you're focus off as an opposing team. Case in point, four years ago I coached down here and I hated it. I enjoyed walking down that hill until I got to the other side and then it was the worse experience I ever had, and I got my @$$ whipped and I remember every play. To see that the tradition remains is great and we're all proud of that. This place stays with you, and no matter what you do in life this is where you're roots are. It's Kannapolis football.
(PA) None whatsoever. The best memories of my life happened on that field and I wouldn't change anything except that final game.
(EJ) No regrets. None! I just hate that I got hurt.
(FIK) If you personally had to define the 1998 Wonders how would you define them?
(JH) A blessed experience. This place is special and that was a special group of guys. Theres so much that surrounds this place for a young kid playing football here. The memories you make, the friendships you have. I was all just a blessed experience. I think time will be the ultimate judge on how great that team was, but in my mind we were the best.
(DJ) Just greatness. I can't think of a word to better describe it. Just having the opportunity to put on the green and white and walk down that hill theres no words to describe it. I'll tell you this. I remember when we were in the sixth grade and coach Hardin came by our class talking about dental hygene and I thought "Whats this football coach doing coming around talking bout dental hygene?" (Laughing) But I looked that man in the eyes and I said "You gonna be my football coach when I get over there?" I remember that so clear like it was yesterday. So for me it was all about greatness. We were the best.
(NG) Love, Community, Classmates, Teammates It was all love all the time. If you put that green and white on and wear it like you're suppose to wear it you take something away from the experience that you don't get anywhere else. It's love man, and yes we were the best.
(BH) I think it was the best team to play here. I'm not sure if it was the most talented, but it was the best teams collectively to play here. We struggled through a lot adversity in 1998, but we did it the Kannapolis way. We were special no doubt.
(PA) If someone showed me a picture of us as a team and asked me to put a title on that picture I would write Happy, unforgettable, Loving Family. The best.
(EJ) We're talking about a team that if I make up a team on Madden thats the team I use and I'm thirty two years old. (Laughing) There will never be another team like that one.
(FIK) Summarize how you felt playing with an athlete that was a celebrated as Nick Maddox?
(JH) He was a great teammate. He worked hard. He was just one of us and we were proud of him. We all knew he was gifted and talented, but what most people didn't get the chance to see was what a great person he was off the field. He had the best personality of anyone I knew back then. It was infectious, you just wanted to be around him. I can truthfully say that all the success he had and all the honors he obtained he earned them and he worked hard to get them, and we were just happy to see him excel. It was just an overall pleasure to play on the same team with him. I wouldn't want to play against him thats for sure.
(DJ) He was very talented and made everyone around him better by just being with him. He was in a word amazing. If I had half his talent I would have been amazing too. The kid was awesome!
(NG) I've played with Nick since the seventh grade It was because of him that I played football in the first place. He made me come out and play he told me you gotta come out, you gotta come out. He rode me so hard, but then I saw all theses cats you see here now playing and I said I got to be a part of that. He was great to watch. I loved seeing him score all those touchdowns. Everytime he scored one I said "Thats my boy"
(BH) He's a terrible fisherman (Laughing) We took him to the beach one time to go fishin and I thought I was going to fall out watching him. (Laughing) He was a great worker. He played football, Basketball, ran track, lifted. He was just non stop go, go, go all the time and on top of all that hew was a 4.0 student. What more can you ask for in a student athlete. Nick maddox had all the intangibles to be a great person as well as a great athlete. No matter what Nick did in life he was going to be successful at it. Great teammate. Tells bad jokes, bad fisherman, but aside from that he's a great human being.
(PA) I've been knowing Nick since Woodrow Wilson Elementary you know. I have to say straight up he's a stand up guy. I remember this one time we were on the field in the dirt playing football with the kids and had juked out everybody and I was standing way down the field cause I wasn't about to try to run him down that entire field so he comes running down the field and he don't know I'm down there. (Laughing) I speared him and broke his glasses and cut him. He just jumped up and said it's all good it's fair (Laughing) But he's just a stand up guy and a great friend, great athlete and got his head on straight. That says alot today. But he was one of us all the time. He did what he did and he did it the best, but he always gave us credit. I can say this without a doubt. Everybody I played against since I've been playing football, I'm glad I didn't have to play against him. He made everybody around him better. You knew where his game was going to be so that meant you had to pick it up not to get embarrased. Plus he was great in the classroom. Everytime you saw him he had a pencil behind his ear. (Laughing) So you knew he had his head together you know.
(EJ) He defintley made me a better player. It worked both ways with us. Nick felt weird if he didn't have me, and I felt weird If I didn't have him and thats just the way it was. We played together for so long that we just trusted eachother totally. I can say this I wouldn't won't anybody else behind me.
(FIK) Finish this scentence: If I could do it all over again the first thing I would do would be (Blank)
(EJ) I would learn to juke more and not try to run everybody over. I think if I would have juked on Jamel Jackson I would have still been in the game.
(PA) Do I know the outcome? (Laughing) I would cherish the moment even more.
(BH) When I look back at it now I probably didn't appreciate it as much as I do now because you're living in the moment. The older you get and hine sight being 20/20 you see that maybe you could have enjoyed it more. I guess I would try to make the memories better. I haven't seen Gill here since 1998 and for me it's like I just saw him the other day. I'll remember this meeting for a long time.
(NG) I'd do better in the classroom. I believe I excelled in everything else, but I didn't in the classroom. That what I would do most definitely.
(DJ) You know if I could go back and change a few things I think the first thing I would do is show everyone my true speed. (Laughing) I really had 4.4 speed, but I didn't want to make the others look bad. (laughing) Seriously though I'm like Paul. I would have cherished the moment more. I tried to do that then I thought. I'll be honest with you it saddens me because I put alot of the blame for not going back to the state championship on me because I couldn't be out there when they needed me most. That's hard to live with.
(JH) I would have picthed the ball against Kings Mountain. That play still haunts me today. We go out on fishin trips and talk about when we played and that always comes up for me. Just that one play could have made a difference. I'll never know. I'll never forget that. I would cherish the moment more, and cherish the guys I played with more.
(FIK) If you were asked to address the 2012 Wonders before their opening game against Shelby what would you tell them?
(JH) I would tell them "You play as hard as you can every play. Everybody has a plan until you get hit in the mouth first and then plans go out the window and it's all about heart and desire. Thats what playing here in Kannapolis is all about. You play like a pack of crazed dogs and you look after eachother. You look after that guy standing beside you. You play like that every play no matter what the score is at the end you come off the field a winner. Thats Kannapolis football"
(DJ) "Theres a legacy you're playing for. There are so many great athletes that have come through this school before you got there, and they're counting on you. It's playing for the man beside you and knowing you're willing to go to the wall for the town, the school, and for the honor of getting to put on the green and white and walk down that hill"
(NG) "Leave it all out there on that field. Go hard as you can, as fast as you can, and believe in each other. Represent the green and white and don't let them down"
(BH) Theres a tradition here you won't find anywhere else. Thats what drove all of us to want to play here. To be the best and give the best we have all the time. Feed that wolf on Thursday then go hunting on Friday. Thursday should always represent what happened on Friday" Thats what dad always preached to all of us and thats what I tell my kids too.
(PA) "Play Like we live. These are the days of you're lives. Some of you may never play football again, so you leave it all out on that field every play. Play like you live"
(EJ) "Bust em in the mouth" I'm not much on talkin, Just bust em in the mouth.
(JH) Absolutley not. It was just a fun year and you can break it down and disect it many ways , but in the end we were all family. We enjoyed playing with each other and we made some great memories that will last forever. We wanted to come out and play Kannapolis football and win. We wanted to intimidate our opponent and do the school, the town, and the program proud. The coaches put us in a great position to do that and we took advantage of that at every opportunity. We weren't a cocky group, but we were a confident group and thatps just how we played that year. I think the numbers showed it, I think the scores showed it, and ultimately the wins showed it.
(DJ) I have no regrets about the season. I wish I hadn't been injured towards the end where I couldn't contribute to the team that bothers me. But I think theres a purpose for everything that happened that year you know. I put one too many crack back blocks on people and then I go out with a concussion. I think the lord did things to sort of put me in my place that year. All in all it was a great experience for me. It was the best team ever.
(NG) None at all. It's all good. Even though the season ended the way it did we went out on a mission and I think we showed alot of people we were for real. No matter how it ended.
(BH) No regrets, We carried on the tradition and that's what this place is all about tradition. That's what you play here at Kannapolis for. When a team comes in here and backs that bus up at the back gate and they get off walk down that hill and see that big "K" in the middle of that field it can really take you're focus off as an opposing team. Case in point, four years ago I coached down here and I hated it. I enjoyed walking down that hill until I got to the other side and then it was the worse experience I ever had, and I got my @$$ whipped and I remember every play. To see that the tradition remains is great and we're all proud of that. This place stays with you, and no matter what you do in life this is where you're roots are. It's Kannapolis football.
(PA) None whatsoever. The best memories of my life happened on that field and I wouldn't change anything except that final game.
(EJ) No regrets. None! I just hate that I got hurt.
(FIK) If you personally had to define the 1998 Wonders how would you define them?
(JH) A blessed experience. This place is special and that was a special group of guys. Theres so much that surrounds this place for a young kid playing football here. The memories you make, the friendships you have. I was all just a blessed experience. I think time will be the ultimate judge on how great that team was, but in my mind we were the best.
(DJ) Just greatness. I can't think of a word to better describe it. Just having the opportunity to put on the green and white and walk down that hill theres no words to describe it. I'll tell you this. I remember when we were in the sixth grade and coach Hardin came by our class talking about dental hygene and I thought "Whats this football coach doing coming around talking bout dental hygene?" (Laughing) But I looked that man in the eyes and I said "You gonna be my football coach when I get over there?" I remember that so clear like it was yesterday. So for me it was all about greatness. We were the best.
(NG) Love, Community, Classmates, Teammates It was all love all the time. If you put that green and white on and wear it like you're suppose to wear it you take something away from the experience that you don't get anywhere else. It's love man, and yes we were the best.
(BH) I think it was the best team to play here. I'm not sure if it was the most talented, but it was the best teams collectively to play here. We struggled through a lot adversity in 1998, but we did it the Kannapolis way. We were special no doubt.
(PA) If someone showed me a picture of us as a team and asked me to put a title on that picture I would write Happy, unforgettable, Loving Family. The best.
(EJ) We're talking about a team that if I make up a team on Madden thats the team I use and I'm thirty two years old. (Laughing) There will never be another team like that one.
(FIK) Summarize how you felt playing with an athlete that was a celebrated as Nick Maddox?
(JH) He was a great teammate. He worked hard. He was just one of us and we were proud of him. We all knew he was gifted and talented, but what most people didn't get the chance to see was what a great person he was off the field. He had the best personality of anyone I knew back then. It was infectious, you just wanted to be around him. I can truthfully say that all the success he had and all the honors he obtained he earned them and he worked hard to get them, and we were just happy to see him excel. It was just an overall pleasure to play on the same team with him. I wouldn't want to play against him thats for sure.
(DJ) He was very talented and made everyone around him better by just being with him. He was in a word amazing. If I had half his talent I would have been amazing too. The kid was awesome!
(NG) I've played with Nick since the seventh grade It was because of him that I played football in the first place. He made me come out and play he told me you gotta come out, you gotta come out. He rode me so hard, but then I saw all theses cats you see here now playing and I said I got to be a part of that. He was great to watch. I loved seeing him score all those touchdowns. Everytime he scored one I said "Thats my boy"
(BH) He's a terrible fisherman (Laughing) We took him to the beach one time to go fishin and I thought I was going to fall out watching him. (Laughing) He was a great worker. He played football, Basketball, ran track, lifted. He was just non stop go, go, go all the time and on top of all that hew was a 4.0 student. What more can you ask for in a student athlete. Nick maddox had all the intangibles to be a great person as well as a great athlete. No matter what Nick did in life he was going to be successful at it. Great teammate. Tells bad jokes, bad fisherman, but aside from that he's a great human being.
(PA) I've been knowing Nick since Woodrow Wilson Elementary you know. I have to say straight up he's a stand up guy. I remember this one time we were on the field in the dirt playing football with the kids and had juked out everybody and I was standing way down the field cause I wasn't about to try to run him down that entire field so he comes running down the field and he don't know I'm down there. (Laughing) I speared him and broke his glasses and cut him. He just jumped up and said it's all good it's fair (Laughing) But he's just a stand up guy and a great friend, great athlete and got his head on straight. That says alot today. But he was one of us all the time. He did what he did and he did it the best, but he always gave us credit. I can say this without a doubt. Everybody I played against since I've been playing football, I'm glad I didn't have to play against him. He made everybody around him better. You knew where his game was going to be so that meant you had to pick it up not to get embarrased. Plus he was great in the classroom. Everytime you saw him he had a pencil behind his ear. (Laughing) So you knew he had his head together you know.
(EJ) He defintley made me a better player. It worked both ways with us. Nick felt weird if he didn't have me, and I felt weird If I didn't have him and thats just the way it was. We played together for so long that we just trusted eachother totally. I can say this I wouldn't won't anybody else behind me.
(FIK) Finish this scentence: If I could do it all over again the first thing I would do would be (Blank)
(EJ) I would learn to juke more and not try to run everybody over. I think if I would have juked on Jamel Jackson I would have still been in the game.
(PA) Do I know the outcome? (Laughing) I would cherish the moment even more.
(BH) When I look back at it now I probably didn't appreciate it as much as I do now because you're living in the moment. The older you get and hine sight being 20/20 you see that maybe you could have enjoyed it more. I guess I would try to make the memories better. I haven't seen Gill here since 1998 and for me it's like I just saw him the other day. I'll remember this meeting for a long time.
(NG) I'd do better in the classroom. I believe I excelled in everything else, but I didn't in the classroom. That what I would do most definitely.
(DJ) You know if I could go back and change a few things I think the first thing I would do is show everyone my true speed. (Laughing) I really had 4.4 speed, but I didn't want to make the others look bad. (laughing) Seriously though I'm like Paul. I would have cherished the moment more. I tried to do that then I thought. I'll be honest with you it saddens me because I put alot of the blame for not going back to the state championship on me because I couldn't be out there when they needed me most. That's hard to live with.
(JH) I would have picthed the ball against Kings Mountain. That play still haunts me today. We go out on fishin trips and talk about when we played and that always comes up for me. Just that one play could have made a difference. I'll never know. I'll never forget that. I would cherish the moment more, and cherish the guys I played with more.
(FIK) If you were asked to address the 2012 Wonders before their opening game against Shelby what would you tell them?
(JH) I would tell them "You play as hard as you can every play. Everybody has a plan until you get hit in the mouth first and then plans go out the window and it's all about heart and desire. Thats what playing here in Kannapolis is all about. You play like a pack of crazed dogs and you look after eachother. You look after that guy standing beside you. You play like that every play no matter what the score is at the end you come off the field a winner. Thats Kannapolis football"
(DJ) "Theres a legacy you're playing for. There are so many great athletes that have come through this school before you got there, and they're counting on you. It's playing for the man beside you and knowing you're willing to go to the wall for the town, the school, and for the honor of getting to put on the green and white and walk down that hill"
(NG) "Leave it all out there on that field. Go hard as you can, as fast as you can, and believe in each other. Represent the green and white and don't let them down"
(BH) Theres a tradition here you won't find anywhere else. Thats what drove all of us to want to play here. To be the best and give the best we have all the time. Feed that wolf on Thursday then go hunting on Friday. Thursday should always represent what happened on Friday" Thats what dad always preached to all of us and thats what I tell my kids too.
(PA) "Play Like we live. These are the days of you're lives. Some of you may never play football again, so you leave it all out on that field every play. Play like you live"
(EJ) "Bust em in the mouth" I'm not much on talkin, Just bust em in the mouth.
WR Blair Hardin #37
At the conclusion of the interview I sat back for a few minutes as I did at the start of interview listening to the conversation that continued. Just before saying goodbye I got all of the guys to sign my helmet as well as the 1998 plaque I made for the pre interview photo session. After I conveyed my thanks for participating in this trip down memory lane I recieved a brotherly hug from each of them as they told me how appreciative they were that I was telling their story, and how honored they were that they still felt relevant in Wonder football lore. As I was walking back to my car I spoke once again to Paul Allen as all the others went their seperate ways into the night. I told Paul that they should really consider getting back together as a team and as friends more often and that it would be a vehicle for them to remain close and relive more of the memories that each of them held so dear to their hearts. Paul agreed and told me once again how much he enjoyed seeing his old teammates once again. Paul then got in his car and drove away.
I stood beside my car for just a few minutes collecting my thoughts and contemplating how I would translate this interview into a difinitive summary of this great team of 1998. As I stood there in thought a cool breeze began to blow through the courtyard of the school, and in the distance I could hear the sound of the train making it's way through down town Kannapolis. The contrasts in sound of the wind and the train spoke eerily about the many years that had passed since those Wonders last left the field in November of 1998. I couldn't help but make the connection between the heavy, thunderous sound of the train, and the memory of Anthony Hillman breaking through a gassed and grossly outweighed Wonder defensive line for that final twenty yard touchdown run that effectively put the dagger in the hearts of the Wonders dream of a return trip to Chapel Hill. Then the ghostly sounds of the cool April wind making it's way through the courtyard evoked the images of many young men walking back up that hill with bowed heads leaving the field at Memorial Stadium for the last time as a team in bitter defeat. A vision that still haunts those same individuals today. As I stood there quietly pondering all this information and imagery I couldn't help but ask myself why it was the accomplishments and contributions of this elite group of Wonders seems to have faded through the years?
It seems that time has conveniently misplaced this great Wonder team in the vast chronicals of Wonder football history. Many teams have come and gone since 1998 and as each year passes their footsteps are blown away just as the footsteps of the 1998 Wonders were fourteen years ago. As time marches on phrases like "A Past to Build Upon and a Future to Fulfill" have been replaced by "Times Change, Tradition Remains" and with that change some things remain constant. That being the vast legacy of excellence that has been left behind by some of these ground breaking Wonder teams that time has neatly tucked away in the pages of it's history books. Lets face it ladies and gentlemen, If it were not for the accomplishments and contributions of teams like the 1998 Wonders, and many more like them, we're not sitting here today discussing five million dollar stadium rennovation projects and premium seating packages. A tremendous debt is owed to this fine group of Wonders who wore the green and white with such pride and honor back in 1998. It is only fitting that we give back to them some appreciation for the pride they made us feel with each victory and the first steps in showing that appreciation is to first and foremost "Remember" -The Editor
I stood beside my car for just a few minutes collecting my thoughts and contemplating how I would translate this interview into a difinitive summary of this great team of 1998. As I stood there in thought a cool breeze began to blow through the courtyard of the school, and in the distance I could hear the sound of the train making it's way through down town Kannapolis. The contrasts in sound of the wind and the train spoke eerily about the many years that had passed since those Wonders last left the field in November of 1998. I couldn't help but make the connection between the heavy, thunderous sound of the train, and the memory of Anthony Hillman breaking through a gassed and grossly outweighed Wonder defensive line for that final twenty yard touchdown run that effectively put the dagger in the hearts of the Wonders dream of a return trip to Chapel Hill. Then the ghostly sounds of the cool April wind making it's way through the courtyard evoked the images of many young men walking back up that hill with bowed heads leaving the field at Memorial Stadium for the last time as a team in bitter defeat. A vision that still haunts those same individuals today. As I stood there quietly pondering all this information and imagery I couldn't help but ask myself why it was the accomplishments and contributions of this elite group of Wonders seems to have faded through the years?
It seems that time has conveniently misplaced this great Wonder team in the vast chronicals of Wonder football history. Many teams have come and gone since 1998 and as each year passes their footsteps are blown away just as the footsteps of the 1998 Wonders were fourteen years ago. As time marches on phrases like "A Past to Build Upon and a Future to Fulfill" have been replaced by "Times Change, Tradition Remains" and with that change some things remain constant. That being the vast legacy of excellence that has been left behind by some of these ground breaking Wonder teams that time has neatly tucked away in the pages of it's history books. Lets face it ladies and gentlemen, If it were not for the accomplishments and contributions of teams like the 1998 Wonders, and many more like them, we're not sitting here today discussing five million dollar stadium rennovation projects and premium seating packages. A tremendous debt is owed to this fine group of Wonders who wore the green and white with such pride and honor back in 1998. It is only fitting that we give back to them some appreciation for the pride they made us feel with each victory and the first steps in showing that appreciation is to first and foremost "Remember" -The Editor
"The Reunion"
"An Early Friday Morning Phone Call"
Nick Maddox and Quincy Pedew Share Their Thoughts on 1998
It had been thirteen years since the last time I saw former Wonder lineman Quincy Pedew at the Golden Coral Steakhouse in Concord back in November of 1999. Quincy was in the area with his new teammates from North Carolina Central who were playing a ball game at nearby Bank of America Stadium. Quincy saw me in my Kannapolis football jersey and had to come over to introduce himself. We talked for a few minutes and then we were off to eating our dinner. Fast forward thirteen years when I was building the Friday NIghts in K-Town Web Page. I noticed a new fan who just became familiar with the FIK Facebook page and that fan was none other than Quincy Pedew.
Now during the week of the Concord game in 2011 I made a fateful trip to see Miss Pat Maddox the mother of Wonder legend Nick Maddox to obtain some materials she had on her famous son. It was during this visit that I learned the terrible news that Quincy Pedew had been diagnosed with cancer back in 2004. Miss Pat told me that Quincy was doing better and that his cancer was in remission. My mind almost immediately raced back to that chance meeting I had with Quincy at the Golden Coral, and to the two years I watched Quincy play football for the Wonders. You're just not prepared to hear news like that especially when you think that it really wasn't that long ago when Quincy was basically invincible as he busted heads out on the football field at Memorial Stadium. It just seemed wrong. Especially for a young man like that who now had a family. I sent Quincy a personal email conveying to him that I would keep him in my prayers and to tell him about the new web page. Quincy responded that he had already viewed the site and how impressed he was that I was telling the stories of these great Wonder teams. I told Quincy I was in the process of creating a featurette on his teammates from 1998 and how I would love to speak with him about it. I gave him my number and told him to call anytime.
On the night prior to my interview with his teammates at A.L. Brown, I recieved a phone call from Quincy who just read on the facebook page that I was going to be speaking with six of his former teammates from 1998. Thus ensued about an hour long conversation about everything that had been going on in his life up to this point. Just before the conversation concluded Quincy told me to tell his brothers the next day that he loved them, and how much he missed them. I told Quincy it would be an honor to tell them. Just before I hung up I told him how I would very much like to talk to him over the phone and ask him some of the same questions I would be asking his teammates the next day. I also made the chance comment that the only person missing out of that entire group was Mr Wonder himself Nick Maddox. Quincy told me "You know Scott, Me an Nick are real close and I talk to him just about everyday. I tell you what, Let me call Nick tonight, and I will tell him what you are doing, and I'll get him on three way and you can interview him too" (Wooomp There it is!) The featurette would now be complete. Quincy sent me a text the following day saying he had spoken to Nick and that he would be more than happy to oblige me in my endeavor.
On Friday April 19, 2012 at 11:00 in the morning the phone rang. Needless to say it was Quincy. He asked me to give him my home phone number and he would call right back. The phone rang again, I said hello and the next words I heard was Quincy saying "Nick you there?" Direct from his home in Talahassee Florida was the man himself. Nick was just as friendly and amiable on the phone as I remembered him being the first time I met him in 1999 shortly before taking off to FSU. Nick told me first off what a great job I was doing with the site and how happy he was to see someone keeping the memories of his team alive. Nick told me he was just amazed at what he had seen on the site. I thanked him very much for his compliments and assured him I wanted the story of his team to be told the way it should be told, and with that said the interview began. I turned on my voice recorder and flipped my phone to the external speaker mode and began the conversation that went as follows.
(FIK) What were your expectations for the 1998 season?
(QP) I felt like we could win another one. I thought we were in good shape to go back to back. I remember we took a trip that summer up to the mountains with all the seniors, and we had a long talk one night and we just felt real good when we got back to get things started and get back to Chapel Hill. I believe everybody was focused and dedicated to getting that done.
(NM) I felt really good about it. I thought our team chemistry was amazing because many of those same people played on the 1997 team. Most of us on the 98 team had been playing together since elementary school. Talent wise I thought that group had the best talent in the state, so I felt really good about it and like Quincy said we were all dedicated to getting back. We had the confidence going into the season, we had all the people in the right places and like I said the chemistry was there, so I felt really good about our chances.
(FIK) Going into the season Nick, Did you know or have any prior knowledge of the records you were poised to break?
(NM) Strange thing about that, and I can't speak for Quincy or any of the rest of those guys, but I was a little naive to how many accolades I was being presented with at that time. To put it as plainly as I can put it, I just enjoyed going out there and playing football with my friends, and yea we were good and we won a lot of games which was great, but I still to this day couldn't tell you how many rushing yards I had or how many touchdowns I scored back in high school. I want to say I had 114 touchdowns or something like that I really couldn't say, but I can tell you about all those guys in that locker room. I do remember the night I broke the county rushing record that Quincy Pedew was the first person to congratulate me. I can tell you those types of things, but theres no way I can tell you that I knew about numbers or what it would take to break records that year. For me it wasn't about any individual record it was all about going out winning some games and having fun with my friends.
(FIK) Will Craft said this of Nick Maddox. "We were all proud of Nick and the attention he was getting, We all felt like when Nick exceeded so did the team" Did you and the rest of the 1998 team feel that way as well?
(QP) Absolutley, You gotta look at it like this. Nick and I have been friends since the third grade over at Woodrow Wilson. Nick and I have grown together as friends over the years. When I look at Nick I don't see Nick as the all time Cabarrus County leading rusher or the number one player in the nation. I could care less about that. Nick was my friend and when he did recieve those awards I was right there as a friend to congratulate him. I was happy to see him get those type of accolades because at the end of the day it made all of us stand out you know. I knew I was a part of that team he played on so it never came down to jealousy of any kind. We would joke on Nick just like we joked on anyone else on that team. We always had a good time together and it was never a war to see if we could do more than Nick or anything like that. Coach Hardin always use to preach that there is no "I" in team. We knew that from day one. Together Everyone Achieves More, and I'm teaching that to my kids right now. With that being said it was never an individualized thing with any of us. We were just excited to be sharing that with our friend and it was great to be able to say that our friend was in the national spotlight, Our friend is breaking records, Our friend is being recruited by every major college in the nation. We were just excited and proud to be a part of it with Nick.
(NM) Quincy, Did you all even know about the records I stood to set or break? I don't ever remember anything like that being discussed. Were you aware of any of that?
(QP) I don't think we really understood until our senior year until mid season when the recruiting wars started what was really about to happen. You see Scott, we were all like rock stars in Kannapolis back then. Everybody knew us everywhere we went and it was all about just being Kannapolis football players back then. We didn't know until the week of the Harding game that you had the chance to break the rushing record. I don't think it was until that Thursday when we found out. I will say that it gave the O Line more motivation to go out there and play well that night because it was more like a team achievment for you to break that record. We shared that record with you so it was just as special for us as it was for you. We just took each game one step at a time in realizing our ultimate goal.
(FIK) Prior to the season beginning were there any concerns about any component of the game be it offense or defense?
(QP) Not really. I thought we were good to go accross the board. I knew we had some really good people leave off the 97 team, but I talked with alot of the new guys coming up, and I thought we were good to go. I didn't see us being weak in any aspect of the game. Even those guys who backed us up that came in playing second team were all good. They were just as competitive and ready to step up to the challenge as anyone. So I felt comfortable with what we had.
(NM) I thought if there was any concern it might be on the defensive line. We had some really good people lost to graduation, but the core was still good. One other thing from my standpoint was going to be leadership. You had some strong leaders on that 1997 team that graduated in Phillip Johnson, Marc Kennedy, Desmond Miller, William Craft, and Willie Pore who were tremendous leaders. Not saying there was not anyone else qualified, but you get comfortable when you have strong leadership and you depend on them. My thing was could we fill those leadership roles with strong replacenets. That 1997 team really had some great leaders who were there for those hard times and when we had to have it. They pushed us to greatness, and I just wanted to make sure that the seniors who replaced them would be just as capable to push the 98 team as the 97 team leaders were. When we left that trip in the mountains I was comfortable with who we had decided would be team captains that I knew we were going to be stable in that area.
(FIK) Nick, Danny Jenkins wanted me to ask you how you felt those three games he was injured and you didn't have any outside blocking?
(NM) (Laughing) Yea I missed him, but you want to know the strange thing about that. We had been playing together since we were kids and growing up playing together none of us really ever got hurt (Laughing) Do you remember any of us getting hurt Quincy?
(QP) I think I was the first one. (Laughing) it was either in the seventh or the eigth grade we were playing JN Fries and I broke my wrist. I was the first one Scott and I couldn't finish the season out and we won championships both years in the seventh and the eigth grades, but you're right Nick we never got hurt.
(NM) Quincy was the only one who got hurt all the way up into high school nobody else went down. You know Scott, I think the difference in our playoff run in 97 and 98 and even in the regular season was guys that I was use to playing with ever since I was a kid started going down. Danny Jenkins got hurt and yes the outside blocking Danny Jenkins gave me was tremendous. I knew if I could just make it to him I could make it to the endzone. Then in the Concord game Evar got hurt. Now Paul Allen was a great fullback, but I had been running behind Evar Johnson since I was in the seventh grade and he made me alot of who I was just because of his blocking abilities. So when you start to lose those people you been playing with your whole life and people you count on it can make a difference in the confidence you have going into a football game.
Now during the week of the Concord game in 2011 I made a fateful trip to see Miss Pat Maddox the mother of Wonder legend Nick Maddox to obtain some materials she had on her famous son. It was during this visit that I learned the terrible news that Quincy Pedew had been diagnosed with cancer back in 2004. Miss Pat told me that Quincy was doing better and that his cancer was in remission. My mind almost immediately raced back to that chance meeting I had with Quincy at the Golden Coral, and to the two years I watched Quincy play football for the Wonders. You're just not prepared to hear news like that especially when you think that it really wasn't that long ago when Quincy was basically invincible as he busted heads out on the football field at Memorial Stadium. It just seemed wrong. Especially for a young man like that who now had a family. I sent Quincy a personal email conveying to him that I would keep him in my prayers and to tell him about the new web page. Quincy responded that he had already viewed the site and how impressed he was that I was telling the stories of these great Wonder teams. I told Quincy I was in the process of creating a featurette on his teammates from 1998 and how I would love to speak with him about it. I gave him my number and told him to call anytime.
On the night prior to my interview with his teammates at A.L. Brown, I recieved a phone call from Quincy who just read on the facebook page that I was going to be speaking with six of his former teammates from 1998. Thus ensued about an hour long conversation about everything that had been going on in his life up to this point. Just before the conversation concluded Quincy told me to tell his brothers the next day that he loved them, and how much he missed them. I told Quincy it would be an honor to tell them. Just before I hung up I told him how I would very much like to talk to him over the phone and ask him some of the same questions I would be asking his teammates the next day. I also made the chance comment that the only person missing out of that entire group was Mr Wonder himself Nick Maddox. Quincy told me "You know Scott, Me an Nick are real close and I talk to him just about everyday. I tell you what, Let me call Nick tonight, and I will tell him what you are doing, and I'll get him on three way and you can interview him too" (Wooomp There it is!) The featurette would now be complete. Quincy sent me a text the following day saying he had spoken to Nick and that he would be more than happy to oblige me in my endeavor.
On Friday April 19, 2012 at 11:00 in the morning the phone rang. Needless to say it was Quincy. He asked me to give him my home phone number and he would call right back. The phone rang again, I said hello and the next words I heard was Quincy saying "Nick you there?" Direct from his home in Talahassee Florida was the man himself. Nick was just as friendly and amiable on the phone as I remembered him being the first time I met him in 1999 shortly before taking off to FSU. Nick told me first off what a great job I was doing with the site and how happy he was to see someone keeping the memories of his team alive. Nick told me he was just amazed at what he had seen on the site. I thanked him very much for his compliments and assured him I wanted the story of his team to be told the way it should be told, and with that said the interview began. I turned on my voice recorder and flipped my phone to the external speaker mode and began the conversation that went as follows.
(FIK) What were your expectations for the 1998 season?
(QP) I felt like we could win another one. I thought we were in good shape to go back to back. I remember we took a trip that summer up to the mountains with all the seniors, and we had a long talk one night and we just felt real good when we got back to get things started and get back to Chapel Hill. I believe everybody was focused and dedicated to getting that done.
(NM) I felt really good about it. I thought our team chemistry was amazing because many of those same people played on the 1997 team. Most of us on the 98 team had been playing together since elementary school. Talent wise I thought that group had the best talent in the state, so I felt really good about it and like Quincy said we were all dedicated to getting back. We had the confidence going into the season, we had all the people in the right places and like I said the chemistry was there, so I felt really good about our chances.
(FIK) Going into the season Nick, Did you know or have any prior knowledge of the records you were poised to break?
(NM) Strange thing about that, and I can't speak for Quincy or any of the rest of those guys, but I was a little naive to how many accolades I was being presented with at that time. To put it as plainly as I can put it, I just enjoyed going out there and playing football with my friends, and yea we were good and we won a lot of games which was great, but I still to this day couldn't tell you how many rushing yards I had or how many touchdowns I scored back in high school. I want to say I had 114 touchdowns or something like that I really couldn't say, but I can tell you about all those guys in that locker room. I do remember the night I broke the county rushing record that Quincy Pedew was the first person to congratulate me. I can tell you those types of things, but theres no way I can tell you that I knew about numbers or what it would take to break records that year. For me it wasn't about any individual record it was all about going out winning some games and having fun with my friends.
(FIK) Will Craft said this of Nick Maddox. "We were all proud of Nick and the attention he was getting, We all felt like when Nick exceeded so did the team" Did you and the rest of the 1998 team feel that way as well?
(QP) Absolutley, You gotta look at it like this. Nick and I have been friends since the third grade over at Woodrow Wilson. Nick and I have grown together as friends over the years. When I look at Nick I don't see Nick as the all time Cabarrus County leading rusher or the number one player in the nation. I could care less about that. Nick was my friend and when he did recieve those awards I was right there as a friend to congratulate him. I was happy to see him get those type of accolades because at the end of the day it made all of us stand out you know. I knew I was a part of that team he played on so it never came down to jealousy of any kind. We would joke on Nick just like we joked on anyone else on that team. We always had a good time together and it was never a war to see if we could do more than Nick or anything like that. Coach Hardin always use to preach that there is no "I" in team. We knew that from day one. Together Everyone Achieves More, and I'm teaching that to my kids right now. With that being said it was never an individualized thing with any of us. We were just excited to be sharing that with our friend and it was great to be able to say that our friend was in the national spotlight, Our friend is breaking records, Our friend is being recruited by every major college in the nation. We were just excited and proud to be a part of it with Nick.
(NM) Quincy, Did you all even know about the records I stood to set or break? I don't ever remember anything like that being discussed. Were you aware of any of that?
(QP) I don't think we really understood until our senior year until mid season when the recruiting wars started what was really about to happen. You see Scott, we were all like rock stars in Kannapolis back then. Everybody knew us everywhere we went and it was all about just being Kannapolis football players back then. We didn't know until the week of the Harding game that you had the chance to break the rushing record. I don't think it was until that Thursday when we found out. I will say that it gave the O Line more motivation to go out there and play well that night because it was more like a team achievment for you to break that record. We shared that record with you so it was just as special for us as it was for you. We just took each game one step at a time in realizing our ultimate goal.
(FIK) Prior to the season beginning were there any concerns about any component of the game be it offense or defense?
(QP) Not really. I thought we were good to go accross the board. I knew we had some really good people leave off the 97 team, but I talked with alot of the new guys coming up, and I thought we were good to go. I didn't see us being weak in any aspect of the game. Even those guys who backed us up that came in playing second team were all good. They were just as competitive and ready to step up to the challenge as anyone. So I felt comfortable with what we had.
(NM) I thought if there was any concern it might be on the defensive line. We had some really good people lost to graduation, but the core was still good. One other thing from my standpoint was going to be leadership. You had some strong leaders on that 1997 team that graduated in Phillip Johnson, Marc Kennedy, Desmond Miller, William Craft, and Willie Pore who were tremendous leaders. Not saying there was not anyone else qualified, but you get comfortable when you have strong leadership and you depend on them. My thing was could we fill those leadership roles with strong replacenets. That 1997 team really had some great leaders who were there for those hard times and when we had to have it. They pushed us to greatness, and I just wanted to make sure that the seniors who replaced them would be just as capable to push the 98 team as the 97 team leaders were. When we left that trip in the mountains I was comfortable with who we had decided would be team captains that I knew we were going to be stable in that area.
(FIK) Nick, Danny Jenkins wanted me to ask you how you felt those three games he was injured and you didn't have any outside blocking?
(NM) (Laughing) Yea I missed him, but you want to know the strange thing about that. We had been playing together since we were kids and growing up playing together none of us really ever got hurt (Laughing) Do you remember any of us getting hurt Quincy?
(QP) I think I was the first one. (Laughing) it was either in the seventh or the eigth grade we were playing JN Fries and I broke my wrist. I was the first one Scott and I couldn't finish the season out and we won championships both years in the seventh and the eigth grades, but you're right Nick we never got hurt.
(NM) Quincy was the only one who got hurt all the way up into high school nobody else went down. You know Scott, I think the difference in our playoff run in 97 and 98 and even in the regular season was guys that I was use to playing with ever since I was a kid started going down. Danny Jenkins got hurt and yes the outside blocking Danny Jenkins gave me was tremendous. I knew if I could just make it to him I could make it to the endzone. Then in the Concord game Evar got hurt. Now Paul Allen was a great fullback, but I had been running behind Evar Johnson since I was in the seventh grade and he made me alot of who I was just because of his blocking abilities. So when you start to lose those people you been playing with your whole life and people you count on it can make a difference in the confidence you have going into a football game.
"Nick at Night" Today
(Picture Above) Nick Maddox Leon County Commissioner
(FIK) What was your mindset going into the game with East Rowan?
(QP) I'm just going to be honest Scott, We got embarrassed by those guys in 1997. We felt going in that we had to destroy those guys that year. We had no choice but to go in and destroy them. We had a bond with all those seniors and we let them down in 1997. We wanted East to know that it was a fluke last year and that we are a better team, better coached and superior athletes. We let everybody down in 97 on that one and we weren't going to make the same mistake twice in a row. Our coaches had us so prepared in 97 and to let them down by just lack of focus was a hard pill to swallow.
(NM) It goes back to 1996 for me with East. We got beat by them back to back years. I remember Shaun Allen got injured in that game and I had to play QB. I threw a corner route to Jeff Sheets and it was picked off and we lost the game.
The next year in 97 we were on the goal line a few seconds left in the game and they were depending on me to punch it in and I come up short. I remember my mom came out on the field after the game and I just remember asking her "Did I miss the hole?" I had tears in my eyes "Did I miss the hole?" For me the game in 1998 was about redeeming myself for the prior two years. Those were big time let downs for us both years. In 97 we might have needed that for a quick reality check, but at the same time we didn't play up to the standard that that was Wonder football. That was the most disappointing part for me. That night in the locker room I think all the guys wanted to go out and prove to East Rowan that we were not just a good team, but the team in Cabarrus and Rowan Counties. If you go back and look at that film that was probably one of the hardest hitting, hardest running games we played.
(QP) I'm just going to be honest Scott, We got embarrassed by those guys in 1997. We felt going in that we had to destroy those guys that year. We had no choice but to go in and destroy them. We had a bond with all those seniors and we let them down in 1997. We wanted East to know that it was a fluke last year and that we are a better team, better coached and superior athletes. We let everybody down in 97 on that one and we weren't going to make the same mistake twice in a row. Our coaches had us so prepared in 97 and to let them down by just lack of focus was a hard pill to swallow.
(NM) It goes back to 1996 for me with East. We got beat by them back to back years. I remember Shaun Allen got injured in that game and I had to play QB. I threw a corner route to Jeff Sheets and it was picked off and we lost the game.
The next year in 97 we were on the goal line a few seconds left in the game and they were depending on me to punch it in and I come up short. I remember my mom came out on the field after the game and I just remember asking her "Did I miss the hole?" I had tears in my eyes "Did I miss the hole?" For me the game in 1998 was about redeeming myself for the prior two years. Those were big time let downs for us both years. In 97 we might have needed that for a quick reality check, but at the same time we didn't play up to the standard that that was Wonder football. That was the most disappointing part for me. That night in the locker room I think all the guys wanted to go out and prove to East Rowan that we were not just a good team, but the team in Cabarrus and Rowan Counties. If you go back and look at that film that was probably one of the hardest hitting, hardest running games we played.
Quincy Pedew in 1998
(FIK) Tell me about the Northwest Cabarrus game and your assessment of how that game played out?
(QP) It was a personal game for me Scott. The summer of my junior year my mom was considering getting remarried. We were looking at possibly having to move out to Northwest. That summer I went out there and visited the facility and was working out with some guys who went there, and the coaching staff was really excited about me possibly transferring in. When I found out that was not going to happen and we were staying in Kannapolis I immediately left. I got back in touch with our coaches and told them I wasn't going to transfer and that I wanted to come back and they said absolutely come on.
I remember some of their coaches during pre game were giving me hard looks and acting like I had lied to them or something and it made me very angry they were doing that. So it was personal for me. After we scored the first couple of touchdowns I looked over to their sidelines because they didn't have anything but bad things to say about me and I was like "Yep this is the way it's gonna be all night long" We didn't run the score up. We just had great athletes across the board that played hard and could play. Thats it
(QP) It was a personal game for me Scott. The summer of my junior year my mom was considering getting remarried. We were looking at possibly having to move out to Northwest. That summer I went out there and visited the facility and was working out with some guys who went there, and the coaching staff was really excited about me possibly transferring in. When I found out that was not going to happen and we were staying in Kannapolis I immediately left. I got back in touch with our coaches and told them I wasn't going to transfer and that I wanted to come back and they said absolutely come on.
I remember some of their coaches during pre game were giving me hard looks and acting like I had lied to them or something and it made me very angry they were doing that. So it was personal for me. After we scored the first couple of touchdowns I looked over to their sidelines because they didn't have anything but bad things to say about me and I was like "Yep this is the way it's gonna be all night long" We didn't run the score up. We just had great athletes across the board that played hard and could play. Thats it
We put everybody out there that night. Coach Hardin is not that kind of coach to purposely run up the score on somebody. What would that have proved anyway. We knew we were better than Northwest and Northwest knew it too. They didn't pose any threat to us that year. We beat em the year before something like 70-0. If you look back at that game we also had three touchdowns called back because of penalties so it could have been much worse. We did nothing that second half but run the ball. What were we suppose to do? run twenty yards and then fall down? Thats not us, we don't lay down for no one. It really made me angry that following week when people started saying all those negative things about coach Hardin. It is what it is, but I have no problem with the way that game was played or the way it ended.
(NM) I don't know if Quincy remembers it or not, but that Thursday night after the JV game they had a pep rally and word came back the next day that they burned a dummy with a #20 jersey on and some other disrespectful things. I took that as disrespectful and I know my teammates did too. When I was speaking about the chemistry that team had and how much of a family we were it was true. We could fight with each other but nobody else could say negative things about us without us taking it personal. Think about it, What kind of message are you sending to a program by burning figures of their teammates? Coach Hardin always stressed to us to play the best we could play with everybody. Don't ever play down to anyone. It's your job as an offense to score points, and it's your job as a defense to keep points from being scored. We took our jobs seriously you know. You don't run five yards and fall down because they can't stop you. You don't stop doing your job because someone else cant stand toe to toe with you. We put up points on alot of people that year, Piedmont, Harding, Central Cabarrus. There were games I scored three to five touchdowns and only touched the ball ten times.
You also have to take responsibility for the way your team plays too. Northwest made so many mistakes that game and you cant beat a great team by making the mental errors they were making. We scored every possible way you could score on that team that night. We had punt returns for touchdowns, Interceptions for touchdowns, Fumbles on kickoff for touchdowns, I mean you just picked you're poison that night. Are we to feel sorry for the way your team played? Come on. We scored in the second half with mostly second team players and players moved to different positions. Tramaine scored a touchdown late in the game as QB and Tramaine was a first team DB. I think we really showed how much talent we actually had that night, but on the other side of the coin Northwest played a terrible game of football. They turned the ball over entirely too much, they didnt show a lot of tenacity as a defense and to be perfectly honest with you I thought they seemed a little intimidated after that first quarter about what was coming at them. So at the end of the day I don't apologize for playing hard and I wouldn't expect my teammates to apologize for playing hard and more than anything else I would never ask my coach to apologize for telling his team to do the best they can do.
(FIK) Did it make you feel bad that they refused to come across and shake hands?
(NM) I could have cared less.
(QP) I agree 100%. It made me no difference. My teammates were there so we were good. I went on about my night. We went and had our post game gathering at the goalpost, hugged our parents and then we were off to shower and get down to Applebees. We all use to go to Applebees after the game and it was a good time, then it was back to work for the next week. I see it like this. If you're gonna have a heated competition with a team, you can't all of the sudden because things aren't going your way decide you're not going to do whats right and show sportsmanship. There is no bigger rivalry in the state than us and Concord, and I can remember times being under the pile and getting punched in the groin and in the stomach by some of those guys during the game, but after the game you shook hands and went on your way. So when they decided not to do that I just thought it showed a real lack of class and discipline as a program.
(NM) I don't know if Quincy remembers it or not, but that Thursday night after the JV game they had a pep rally and word came back the next day that they burned a dummy with a #20 jersey on and some other disrespectful things. I took that as disrespectful and I know my teammates did too. When I was speaking about the chemistry that team had and how much of a family we were it was true. We could fight with each other but nobody else could say negative things about us without us taking it personal. Think about it, What kind of message are you sending to a program by burning figures of their teammates? Coach Hardin always stressed to us to play the best we could play with everybody. Don't ever play down to anyone. It's your job as an offense to score points, and it's your job as a defense to keep points from being scored. We took our jobs seriously you know. You don't run five yards and fall down because they can't stop you. You don't stop doing your job because someone else cant stand toe to toe with you. We put up points on alot of people that year, Piedmont, Harding, Central Cabarrus. There were games I scored three to five touchdowns and only touched the ball ten times.
You also have to take responsibility for the way your team plays too. Northwest made so many mistakes that game and you cant beat a great team by making the mental errors they were making. We scored every possible way you could score on that team that night. We had punt returns for touchdowns, Interceptions for touchdowns, Fumbles on kickoff for touchdowns, I mean you just picked you're poison that night. Are we to feel sorry for the way your team played? Come on. We scored in the second half with mostly second team players and players moved to different positions. Tramaine scored a touchdown late in the game as QB and Tramaine was a first team DB. I think we really showed how much talent we actually had that night, but on the other side of the coin Northwest played a terrible game of football. They turned the ball over entirely too much, they didnt show a lot of tenacity as a defense and to be perfectly honest with you I thought they seemed a little intimidated after that first quarter about what was coming at them. So at the end of the day I don't apologize for playing hard and I wouldn't expect my teammates to apologize for playing hard and more than anything else I would never ask my coach to apologize for telling his team to do the best they can do.
(FIK) Did it make you feel bad that they refused to come across and shake hands?
(NM) I could have cared less.
(QP) I agree 100%. It made me no difference. My teammates were there so we were good. I went on about my night. We went and had our post game gathering at the goalpost, hugged our parents and then we were off to shower and get down to Applebees. We all use to go to Applebees after the game and it was a good time, then it was back to work for the next week. I see it like this. If you're gonna have a heated competition with a team, you can't all of the sudden because things aren't going your way decide you're not going to do whats right and show sportsmanship. There is no bigger rivalry in the state than us and Concord, and I can remember times being under the pile and getting punched in the groin and in the stomach by some of those guys during the game, but after the game you shook hands and went on your way. So when they decided not to do that I just thought it showed a real lack of class and discipline as a program.
(FIK) What were your feelings going into the Concord game looking at a clean sweep of the regular season?
(NM) I was just ready to play. There is no way you can go into a Concord game and not be ready to play you're best football. I wasn't thinking about a letdown or not being prepared we were just ready to get out there and play it. Every year I played Concord and even the year that we lost in 96 the intensity of that game is something you have to experience to understand. Its like a dog fight between two pitbulls and the strongest most determined team is going to prevail. We're bringing our A game and you best bring yours.
(QP) What can you say it's Concord. Anybody who has ever played in that game knows what I'm talking about. It's just a different level of competition. You know alot of those guys you played against them all through middle school and junior varsity so there is a deep rooted animosity towards those guys wearing that black and gold. You have to kick it up a notch when you play them. Records don't mean a thing. It was also a personal thing for me too that year because I had a cousin who was a star linebacker over there that year. We're in the same house together at Christmas and now we trying to take each others heads off. I never thought about losing to Concord. We don't lose to Concord.
(FIK) The largest crowd to ever witness a bell game that year. What were you're thoughts on that?
(NM) I didn't realize that until the next day when my mama told me that the game was sold out. I thought "Are you serious, They sold out a football game" (Laughing) That was just a foreign concept for me for a high school football game to be sold out (Laughing)
(FIK) Did the noise from the crowd ever becaome a distraction or could you tune it out as Will Craft said he did at times?
(QP) You get in a zone when you're down there and all you're tuned into is the sound of your quarterback's voice and what is happening right in front of you at the time. You really tune all that extra curricular stuff out. I remember Nick and I were going back through some these old articles when we played and in those articles were accounts of some of the crowds we played in front of and I was like "We played infront of that many people" But thats how it was. Back then we grew up wanting to be Wonders, and it just so happens that we ended up being some of the better Wonder teams that ever played there so we were fortunate enough to experience all the perks that went along with being one of the better teams. We experienced alot more than we ever bargained for during our time there.
(FIK) What were you thinking after the second running play of the Concord game when Evar Johnson got injured?
(NM) Like I said I had faith in all my teammates, but when Evar Johnson went down it was like I lost my right arm. I was really uncomfortable. He was my lead back, cause I was an "I" back and we ran very few single back running plays so when he went down I was extremely, extremely uncomfortable, and that just goes to show how aware you are of the people that are protecting you and the people that are in front of you. Paul Allen was a great linebacker and a great fullback, but I had been running behind Evar Johnson since I was in seventh grade. That was no excuse for me though. We still had to go out there and play our best.
(QP) It was tough to see him go down, but what got me more than anything was when I saw the emotion on his face. He was barking at us on the sidelines to get back in there and finish the game. So when he started saying stuff like that, and finishing the game without him I knew it must have been more serious than what we originally thought. It was like we got a soldier down and we got to get in there a pick it up and do the best we can and win this one for him. We all knew Evar would give his heart to be out there with us so we just had to pick it up for him.
(FIK) Do any of you remember it as being a dirtty hit?
(NM) If I remember correctly it was a fullback dive play and the guy come up and cut his knees out from under him. Was it a dirty hit? Aaaaaaa I'm not sure if it was a dirty hit, but it was a cowardly hit. I got to see more stuff like that in college more so than when I was in high school, but when you got a two hundred and thirty or two hundred and fifty pound back coming up on you full speed sometimes the only way you can get him down is to go for his legs. I remember the play, but I can't say for sure whether or not he intentionally meant to hurt Evar, but I would say it was cowardly. I guess he didn't want to get run over.
(FIK) After defeating Concord what were you're feelings going into the first round with Fred T Foard?
(QP) I thought we were ready. I know we had to play fundamentally sound because we were smaller up front. I was confident we were going to be back in the state championship from the start.
(NM) I just thought we needed to go take care of business. We found out Evar wasn't going to get to play. We all knew we were gonna miss him, but we couldn't slack off. We had to come out and play our game and forget everything else.
(FIK) I got some divided reactions on this issue, but tell me about the infamous mis matched socks episode?
(NM) (Laughing) Uuuuuuu I wore one sock up and one sock down (Laughing) yes I did that (Laughing) I got that from Phillip Johnson. He was the first person I saw do it back in 1997.
(QP) You got that from Kerry Kittle man (Laughing)
(NM) I dont even know who Kerry Kittle is Quincy. (Laughing)
(QP) He was that guy from Villanova.
(NM) Oh OK, I know who he is now, I got it from Phillip Johnson. (Laughing)
(FIK) Now Evar Johnson said he got all that started and that he was all for it. Paul Allen was also the first to say that he didn't have no part of it!
(Both) (Laughing Loudly)
(NM) That sounds about right. Paul Allen was so straight forward and by the book he wasn't about to go off on his own and do something like that (Laughing)
(QP) (Laughing) Paul would never wear one sock up and one sock down (Laughing) He was scared of coach Hardin he wasn't about to go outside the rules. (Laughing)
(NM) Evar was the one who brought it up, I think he suggested we do it for the entire playoffs. I don't think you wore one sock up and one sock down.
(QP) I just wore those blue tights. I was a lineman Scott, I didn't care about no one sock up and one sock down I worked in the trenches. (Laughing) I had work to do I couldn't get involved in stuff like that. (Laughing)
(FIK) Coach Hardin didn't like that did he?
(NM) No he didn't like that at all. He thought we were trying to be individuals and that upset him extremely.
(QP) I don't think it was anything intentional to make a statement or be individuals, but looking back on it now and me being a college and high school coach I can see where coach Hardin was coming from. That was a distraction and we didn't need that, but being young you didn't see that at the time. We were just having fun. Thats why they call it a uniform because it's a unified thing. You don't want distractions especially in the playoffs so I understand now why coach hardin got so upset with us. He wanted us to be unified.
(FIK) Did coach Hardin say anything at the half to get you more focused on the task at hand?
(QP) Yea, He laid into us pretty good, but I was use to that because I seemed to always be in the hotseat, because I would say things to the refs about what I felt on the field and he would yell at me for it, but at the end of the day I knew he loved me or wouldn't care what I said or how it affected the team.
(FIK) How did you react to Danny Jenkins getting injured?
(NM) If you want my personal opinion, We didn't go back to the state championship because we started losing some of the key players that brought alot to the table.
(QP) Absolutely!! If we had Danny Jenkins and Evar Johnson theres no doubt in my mind we would have been better. We started losing those guys and we started trying to figure out what we were gonna do on defense and on offense in certain situations. It affected us in a major way no question.
(NM) Like I said earlier, none of us got hurt, so when it started happening it was like a new thing for us. We didn't know how to react to it and it can take your focus off when you're not prepared for that kind of adversity.
(NM) I was just ready to play. There is no way you can go into a Concord game and not be ready to play you're best football. I wasn't thinking about a letdown or not being prepared we were just ready to get out there and play it. Every year I played Concord and even the year that we lost in 96 the intensity of that game is something you have to experience to understand. Its like a dog fight between two pitbulls and the strongest most determined team is going to prevail. We're bringing our A game and you best bring yours.
(QP) What can you say it's Concord. Anybody who has ever played in that game knows what I'm talking about. It's just a different level of competition. You know alot of those guys you played against them all through middle school and junior varsity so there is a deep rooted animosity towards those guys wearing that black and gold. You have to kick it up a notch when you play them. Records don't mean a thing. It was also a personal thing for me too that year because I had a cousin who was a star linebacker over there that year. We're in the same house together at Christmas and now we trying to take each others heads off. I never thought about losing to Concord. We don't lose to Concord.
(FIK) The largest crowd to ever witness a bell game that year. What were you're thoughts on that?
(NM) I didn't realize that until the next day when my mama told me that the game was sold out. I thought "Are you serious, They sold out a football game" (Laughing) That was just a foreign concept for me for a high school football game to be sold out (Laughing)
(FIK) Did the noise from the crowd ever becaome a distraction or could you tune it out as Will Craft said he did at times?
(QP) You get in a zone when you're down there and all you're tuned into is the sound of your quarterback's voice and what is happening right in front of you at the time. You really tune all that extra curricular stuff out. I remember Nick and I were going back through some these old articles when we played and in those articles were accounts of some of the crowds we played in front of and I was like "We played infront of that many people" But thats how it was. Back then we grew up wanting to be Wonders, and it just so happens that we ended up being some of the better Wonder teams that ever played there so we were fortunate enough to experience all the perks that went along with being one of the better teams. We experienced alot more than we ever bargained for during our time there.
(FIK) What were you thinking after the second running play of the Concord game when Evar Johnson got injured?
(NM) Like I said I had faith in all my teammates, but when Evar Johnson went down it was like I lost my right arm. I was really uncomfortable. He was my lead back, cause I was an "I" back and we ran very few single back running plays so when he went down I was extremely, extremely uncomfortable, and that just goes to show how aware you are of the people that are protecting you and the people that are in front of you. Paul Allen was a great linebacker and a great fullback, but I had been running behind Evar Johnson since I was in seventh grade. That was no excuse for me though. We still had to go out there and play our best.
(QP) It was tough to see him go down, but what got me more than anything was when I saw the emotion on his face. He was barking at us on the sidelines to get back in there and finish the game. So when he started saying stuff like that, and finishing the game without him I knew it must have been more serious than what we originally thought. It was like we got a soldier down and we got to get in there a pick it up and do the best we can and win this one for him. We all knew Evar would give his heart to be out there with us so we just had to pick it up for him.
(FIK) Do any of you remember it as being a dirtty hit?
(NM) If I remember correctly it was a fullback dive play and the guy come up and cut his knees out from under him. Was it a dirty hit? Aaaaaaa I'm not sure if it was a dirty hit, but it was a cowardly hit. I got to see more stuff like that in college more so than when I was in high school, but when you got a two hundred and thirty or two hundred and fifty pound back coming up on you full speed sometimes the only way you can get him down is to go for his legs. I remember the play, but I can't say for sure whether or not he intentionally meant to hurt Evar, but I would say it was cowardly. I guess he didn't want to get run over.
(FIK) After defeating Concord what were you're feelings going into the first round with Fred T Foard?
(QP) I thought we were ready. I know we had to play fundamentally sound because we were smaller up front. I was confident we were going to be back in the state championship from the start.
(NM) I just thought we needed to go take care of business. We found out Evar wasn't going to get to play. We all knew we were gonna miss him, but we couldn't slack off. We had to come out and play our game and forget everything else.
(FIK) I got some divided reactions on this issue, but tell me about the infamous mis matched socks episode?
(NM) (Laughing) Uuuuuuu I wore one sock up and one sock down (Laughing) yes I did that (Laughing) I got that from Phillip Johnson. He was the first person I saw do it back in 1997.
(QP) You got that from Kerry Kittle man (Laughing)
(NM) I dont even know who Kerry Kittle is Quincy. (Laughing)
(QP) He was that guy from Villanova.
(NM) Oh OK, I know who he is now, I got it from Phillip Johnson. (Laughing)
(FIK) Now Evar Johnson said he got all that started and that he was all for it. Paul Allen was also the first to say that he didn't have no part of it!
(Both) (Laughing Loudly)
(NM) That sounds about right. Paul Allen was so straight forward and by the book he wasn't about to go off on his own and do something like that (Laughing)
(QP) (Laughing) Paul would never wear one sock up and one sock down (Laughing) He was scared of coach Hardin he wasn't about to go outside the rules. (Laughing)
(NM) Evar was the one who brought it up, I think he suggested we do it for the entire playoffs. I don't think you wore one sock up and one sock down.
(QP) I just wore those blue tights. I was a lineman Scott, I didn't care about no one sock up and one sock down I worked in the trenches. (Laughing) I had work to do I couldn't get involved in stuff like that. (Laughing)
(FIK) Coach Hardin didn't like that did he?
(NM) No he didn't like that at all. He thought we were trying to be individuals and that upset him extremely.
(QP) I don't think it was anything intentional to make a statement or be individuals, but looking back on it now and me being a college and high school coach I can see where coach Hardin was coming from. That was a distraction and we didn't need that, but being young you didn't see that at the time. We were just having fun. Thats why they call it a uniform because it's a unified thing. You don't want distractions especially in the playoffs so I understand now why coach hardin got so upset with us. He wanted us to be unified.
(FIK) Did coach Hardin say anything at the half to get you more focused on the task at hand?
(QP) Yea, He laid into us pretty good, but I was use to that because I seemed to always be in the hotseat, because I would say things to the refs about what I felt on the field and he would yell at me for it, but at the end of the day I knew he loved me or wouldn't care what I said or how it affected the team.
(FIK) How did you react to Danny Jenkins getting injured?
(NM) If you want my personal opinion, We didn't go back to the state championship because we started losing some of the key players that brought alot to the table.
(QP) Absolutely!! If we had Danny Jenkins and Evar Johnson theres no doubt in my mind we would have been better. We started losing those guys and we started trying to figure out what we were gonna do on defense and on offense in certain situations. It affected us in a major way no question.
(NM) Like I said earlier, none of us got hurt, so when it started happening it was like a new thing for us. We didn't know how to react to it and it can take your focus off when you're not prepared for that kind of adversity.
Nick Maddox in 2000
(FIK) Do you think as these injuries started mounting up that it destroyed your confidence?
(QP) I don't personally think it hurt our confidence level I just think it hurt us in some of the aspects of the game and in the game planning. With Evar leading the way and Danny stretching the field offensively thats alot of your attack, and when you don't have that you get away from what you do best. I can't say enough how important those two were to our game plan. You don't take those two out and expect to have the same consistency.
Evar you know on a dive is going to get four or five yards a pop and when you're in short yardage situations when you need that muscle type runner thats who you're going to. That definitley hurt our productivity no question. Danny Jenkins is tall and he's the curl route master. You go from having a 6.5 6.6 reciever who can run a curl and have to switch to a guy who is 5'10 you're going to miss that size differential. Now Blair was a great reciever granted, but Danny not only has the height but the experience as well. You know Danny is gonna make that clutch catch. Nobody run a curl route like Danny Jenkins could create space and catch the football. When we lost that then all the focus went to nick and they started loading the box, and you're in an uphill battle from that point on. They started going from eight in the box to ten in the box and our gameplan suffered.
(QP) I don't personally think it hurt our confidence level I just think it hurt us in some of the aspects of the game and in the game planning. With Evar leading the way and Danny stretching the field offensively thats alot of your attack, and when you don't have that you get away from what you do best. I can't say enough how important those two were to our game plan. You don't take those two out and expect to have the same consistency.
Evar you know on a dive is going to get four or five yards a pop and when you're in short yardage situations when you need that muscle type runner thats who you're going to. That definitley hurt our productivity no question. Danny Jenkins is tall and he's the curl route master. You go from having a 6.5 6.6 reciever who can run a curl and have to switch to a guy who is 5'10 you're going to miss that size differential. Now Blair was a great reciever granted, but Danny not only has the height but the experience as well. You know Danny is gonna make that clutch catch. Nobody run a curl route like Danny Jenkins could create space and catch the football. When we lost that then all the focus went to nick and they started loading the box, and you're in an uphill battle from that point on. They started going from eight in the box to ten in the box and our gameplan suffered.
NM) You know we still put points on the board, but I think the biggest difference after those people started going down was defensively we couldn't get a stop. Evar played some defensive end that year and did an outstanding job. Evar was solid and did whatever they asked of him for the good of the team so to have him in on defense gave them some added dimension. Danny was our punter and I can't say enough about how important that dimension is to your game plan. Danny could flip the field position on a dime with his kicking skills. So when we lost those two players we lost a big part of what made us so dangerous that year.
(FIK) Nick, Tell us about that acrobatic first touchdown run you made in the Fred T Foard game?
(NM) (Laughing) You know Scott, a lot of those runs that seemed so amazing to everyone in the stands I really didn't think about when they happened. I remember that run as I was started jogging towards the end zone I was just thinking "How did I get out of that" The first guy who grabbed me should have tackled me, but he spent so much time trying to strip the ball instead of trying to get me on the ground that I was able to do a little dancing and get away from him. The rest of that run I was getting just some tremendous blocks from my teammates. Nobody gave up on the play. That was the difference in that run. That was one of those moments you were talking about when you tune everybody out in the stands and you're just concentrating so heavily on whats happening in front of you. That was a great example of that to be honest with you.
(FIK) Runs like that were something that fans just come to expect from you, Do you think about how amazing some of those runs you made actually were?
(NM) You know I really dont. I had such amazing blockers that year that making runs like that really wasn't that difficult. Nobody gave up on a play that year, and the way I see it if everybody was going to give me 100% of themselves in order for me to be successful then I was going to do everything in my power to take advantage of what they were presenting me with. I had some huge holes to run through because of my blocking up front. Those guys never gave up on play until the whistle blew and that was the difference in them being a good offensive line to a great offensive line. If you look back at that year they were out weighed a lot, but the heart they showed made all the difference. Concord, Fred T Foard, East Rutherford and finally Kings Mountain all had defensive fronts that were much bigger than our offensive line, the difference was their athletic ability and tmost importantly their heart.
(FIK) Do you think you learned a lesson with Fred T Foard that helped you the following week against East Rutherford?
(QP) I think so. Coach Hardin made it very clear that you can't go into a playoff game and think you're reputation is going to carry you through. I think the Fred T Foard game was a perfect example of a group of guys thinking that we were invincible and we didn't have to play at that standard that we had set for ourselves at the beginning of the year. I think it was an eye opening experience. Not taking anything away from Fred T Foard because they were a physical ball club, but we were so much better than what we showed that night and to be perfectly honest with you we didn't give our best which almost cost us in the first round. I definitely think it was a wake up call. We knew we had to approach the rest of these games in a different manner than the way we approached this one. It was only going to get tougher down the road.
(NM) I agree totally. I think reality smacked us in the face that game and we had to come back that following week and play a fine East Rutherford team and just show everybody that we had our heads on right. Looking back I think we may have let our reputation take this place of some of our effort. You can't do that in the playoffs against a quality oponent. So yea I think we learned a great lesson that game.
(FIK) How do you explain having a game where you don't play to your standard like Fred T Foard, then come out the following week and lay such a whipping on a team who pound for pound were as good as Kings Mountain?
(QP) Nick, I don't know if you remember this, but they had a guy who was a defensive in named Travis Smith who was a D1 recruit that was suppose to be going to Tennessee that next year. Coach Hardin told me that week that alot of the running game was going to come behind me and that I was really going to have to work my butt off. He told me he was going to help work with some different blocking techniques to use against him, but I was going to have to hold my own out there against him because this guy was alot bigger than me. I was coached that whole week by coach Hardin and coach Jacobs (God rest his soul) to attack him. I knew going into that game that alot was riding on how well I performed so I wasn't going to go in to that game and let my teammates down. So after being called out that week by my coaches to step up I took that game personally, and in the end I believe I was 100% that game. I think that was probably one of the better games I played that year.
(NM) That game was a dog fight. We came out that game trying to redeem ourselves from the previous week. Coach Hardin challenged us and we responded. Even though we put up forty two points against Foard we knew we were capable of better and to put up forty five against a team like East Rutherford just gave us so much confidence going into the next week that we felt like we could beat anybody. This may sound arrogant or cocky, but who we played was irrelevant to me. It was just another oponent. We had to go out there and play our best every game and show each team we were the team to beat. That was our mindset in a nutshell.
(FIK) Did you all feel like you were destined to run back into Kings Mountain that year?
(NM) Looking at the score from the previous year I think the game was a lot closer than the final score indicated being a 40-27 game. I wasn't sitting in the wings waiting for them or following them or anything like that. If I had to guess they were probably looking more so for us than we were looking for them. I don't think it was distiny you know. If it happened it happened, if it didn't it didn't.
(QP) They were a great team. They were big, they were physical, they were talented, thats just the way it rolled. I think that game was going to be the game that decided the state championship in my opinion. I dont want to say that we were anticipating running back into them because really to us it made no difference who we faced because no matter who that was it wasn't going to change the fact that we had to play our best no matter who we faced. I have to say this too Scott, I can accept the fact that we played Kings Mountain twice, beat them once and lost to them once, but at the end of the day we played the best of the best the 3A had to offer. A lot of kids today can't say that. Now you got this split classification with two state champions and I don't like it. Our team can truthfully say, and when you go into that stadium and see that sign that says 1989 and 1997 state AAA champions that those teams played the best of the best in AAA and won championships both times. Programs today can't say that.
(FIK) What comes to mind when I use this term "Unfinished Business"?
(NM) To tell you the truth I had forgotten all about that if that shows you how relevant that was. (Laughing) I think those guys from Kings Mountain came in with something to prove bottom line. I don't think it was to prove thay were a better team than we were, but to prove they were just as good a team as we were. We already knew that going in. None of us took that team lightly. In my estimation that game in and of it's self was the state championship game. I think maybe for them it was unfinshed business. They very well may have thought they should have won that game in 1997. That was a tough game that year. I didn't get to play against teams that big until I got to college if that tells you anything about the caliber of team they were.
(QP) I remember that now. I didn't put to much into it to be honest with you. If thats what they needed to get motivated to play us than so be it. You have to have the mental edge going into a game like that. I thought we had it, and if it took them wearing a slogan or using the score from the previous year to give them that edge than it worked.
(FIK) Quincy, How did you feel as a defense knowing you were going into that game outweighed sixty pounds per man accross the board?
(QP) Just another day at the ballpark. (Laughing) There was no question in my mind that we were prepared going into that game. Coach Jacobs and coach Hardin did a fantastic job coaching us up that year. Those guys on that line had alot of heart Scott. We could have cared less how big those guys were it made me no difference. We knew if we put our right foot forward and didn't flinch we would be OK. I feel like we did that. We attacked them the way we should and we showed heart. Thats all you can ask from your teammates is to play with heart. Makes no difference how big the other guy is.
(FIK) How would you summarize your level of play against Kings Mountain?
(NM) I though we played as good as you could play, but I go back to what I said earlier. That game above any other game showed that we needed everybody in that effort, and we didn't have that. Two of our key players were gone, now with that said can I say that with those guys in there we would have won that game? No, but we may have been able to do more of what we were use to doing than we were able to do without them. That game definitley showed that one player was not going to carry a team. We needed Evar, We needed Danny to be involved in that game. That game is the game I am specifically referring to when I say when we needed a stop we couldn't get it. Thats no slam to the anybody, its just the fact of the matter. Most of that credit goes to Kings Mountain. Those guys were big, they were physical, they had speed and talent in the skill positions, but look how close we played them. Thats probably what makes that loss so difficult for me because I have to sit back and think everyday what if? What if we would have had Evar and Danny back in there, What if I had caught that last pass. Man thats tough.
I remember they just pounded and pounded the ball on us that game and we just couldn't get a stop. I think they had an eight minute drive in that game where they just methodically drove the ball down our throats, and nobody had done that to us all year. I really think we missed Evar on defense that game, and on the offense with Danny we missed alot of what made us successful.
(FIK) What were you're thoughts on Kings Mountain's runningback Anthony Hillman?
(QP) He was a great player. I can honestly say if you were to interview him about this that he would say he had alot to hang his hat on that game. He carried the ball thirty some times that game and got all those yards on a defending state champion. He's a great player. Being a football player I have to give him his respect because he played such a tremendous game, but they all played a tremendous game. He wouldn't have got all those yards if he didn't have a line that played physical and provided him with the opportunity to play at that level so I tip my hat to him and to all those guys. They were an outstanding team that night.
(FIK) When I asked Justin Hardin about how that game ended his response was "I should have picthed the ball to NIck" What do you think about that statement?
(NM) Hinesight is 20/20 isn't it? (Laughing) You know there was one last pass I had a chance to catch in that game and I think it was in that final drive. Justin threw the ball and I went up for it with one hand and I missed it. I think everyday what would have happened if I had went up for that ball with two hands? Hinesight is 20/20 but I think everybody did their best and you cant blame the loss of the game or pin that loss on one play or on one player. Justin played the best he could have played that game. Everybody did. You cant beat yourself up for missed opportunities or it will drive you crazy. Nobody had any reason to hang their heads after that game. It hurt, I'm not saying that, but we all lost that game together and we felt that loss as a team.
(FIK) What were you thinking as those final seconds ticked off and you realized that dream of back to back state titles was over?
(QP) I think for me Scott, more than anything was this is this last time I will ever get to play football with these guys. My career is over with them. I'll never be in this spot with these guys ever again. It was tough. It's still tough today thinking about it. Even though I've thought about it before today I don't think I've thought about it to this magnitude the way I'm thinking about it now that you've brought this back up. I'm sitting here right now looking at my scrapbook from that year, and I'm reading a comment I wrote that says "Right now I'm just not sure what I'm gonna do, but the most important thing is that I came away with alot more than I started with"
(NM) For me it was very emotional. It was the last time I was going to get to put the green and white #20 jersey on. It was the last time I was going to get to play ball with the guys I had played with all my life which I think hurt me the most. You know to be honest with you, We could have won the state championship that year, but I would have still felt the empty feeling of knowing it was all over for me and my friends. I hate it ended like that for us, but at the same time it's just the fact that it ended. I hated to go out with a loss because we were such a great team, but I don't think it would have been any easier had we won the state title for me knowing it was over.
(FIK) How do you respond to this statement. The 1998 team was actually better than the 1997 team?
(QP) I can't say because I was a part of both those teams. My argument has always been who was better between the 1997 team and those guys who won the title back in 1989.
(FIK) That would be a great game!
(QP) Man, we would beat the brakes off them man!! (Laughing) Maurice Blakeney and Mike Morton we would beat the brakes off them man, come on (laughing) and I'll tell them that personally. If they want to get together sometime and play a flag football game we can do that. (Laughing) and we'll show them that we still got it and we'll whoop that butt!! You tell em that that Scott. (Laughing) and Nick you better have my back on this! (Laughing)
(NM) I got your back Quincy, I got your back. (Laughing) that 97 team was a great team, but that 98 team, man that was a great team. Thats hard to say Scott. If it were possible and it's not you need to have the 1997 team play the 1998 team!!!
(QP) That would be a barn burner right there as Keith Jackson would say. (Laughing)
(FIK) What are you're thoughts on the way the program progressed today?
(QP) It's great to see the winning continue, but I will say this Scott, There should be more state championships in that trophy case and theres not. I know some good teams have come through there since we left, and I believe they did go back to the state title game in 2008. There should be more state titles in that trophy case in my opinion. Thats all I'm gonna say about that. We've got to get back to form and I believe we can. Theres too much talent in Kannapolis and I know those kids coming up want to be part of that winning tradition so you've got to take time with them and prepare them for whats to come.
(NM) I will go one further on that. When I was playing ball as a kid I grew up wanting to be like Wayne Martin and I remember some of those guys use to come to the school and talk to us. We grew up knowing the guys who were Kannapolis football players and there was that connect. I think that is something the new coach needs to take time to get back. The old guys should feel welcome back at their home school. Thats where your tradition comes from and when you lose that connect from the people who helped build that tradition and you lose that connect from your past the whole program suffers. Theres alot of benefit to be had from the guys who have been there and know.
(QP) I think it's amazing what you're doing with this site. It's bringing our winning past back into the forefront where it should be. There is no way you can get to where you're going if you don't know and understand where you've been. We have got to find a way to explain to these young boys and to these coaches about the tradition from which all of this comes from, but more than that its got to be something that is important enough to them to get the ball rolling.
(NM) I would like to see a homecoming weekend where all the former players are invited back to maybe have a flag football game and have the opportunity just to get back at the same location to remember the old times. Make it a community event. Thats how you keep the fire going. Thats what I always remember about Kannapolis football. It was all about community and team. It needs to get back to that. I wanted nothing more than to be a part of what I saw as a kid on that field. Thats what I dreamed about. You can't let there be a division between the team and the community and these young kids coming up through the elementary and middle school ranks need to have that connect with the athletes and the great history of the program needs to be shared with them
There seems to be such a disconnect between these new kids and the past greats that wasn't there when we were coming up. All of us knew who Maurice Blakeney, Mike Morton, Wayne Martin, Micheal Barnes and Keenan Lott were back then. I bet you could ask over half of these kids today who some of these people were and they would have no clue. Thats what gets these kids excited about wanting to play football and becoming Wonders when they get old enough to get to high school.
(FIK) In your opinion where do you think the 1998 Wonders belong in the history of Wonder football?
(QP) Honestly, I would say number one. Granted we didn't get back to Chapel Hill that year, but I think what we brought to the table, the number of fans we brought into that stadium every Friday night, the level of talent that was on that team, our love and respect for eachother was unmatched. It would be close to compare 1997 to 1998, but I have to go with 1998 as the very best that school has ever seen. If we are not number one were at worst number two.
(NM) I'll have to break this down two ways. The 1998 team was the most exciting team to ever put on a Wonder uniform. I think the 1997 team was probably the most accomplished team to ever put on a Wonder uniform, and I say that because they won the state championship and they put up some great numbers. I think the 1998 team, though we fell short we were the most exciting team to watch simply because of the explosiveness we had on both sides of the ball. We were the greatest show on grass that year hands down. Thats how I break it down.
(FIK) Finish this scentence; If I had it to do all over again, the first thing I would do is blank?
(QP) Thats a tough one, and I say that because granted we didn't make it back to the state, but I cant sit here and say if I had it to do all over again I would play harder because I played as hard as I could. If i could do anything over again I would put more focus on my off season training. If I would have known then what I know now I would have put more focus on that aspect of my game because I think it would have prepared me to play at a different level when I got to college. The experiences I had with my teammates, the friendships I made, and the level of coaching I got from Bruce Hardin and his great staff of assistants I wouldn't trade for the world.
(NM) Wow, That is a tough question to answer. I would say spend more personal time with my teammates, and we spent a whole lot of time together. Thats really difficult for me to say. I think I was blessed to be able to come away from my high school football experience with so much more than I brought in. It was the best times of my life.
(FIK) Nick, Tell us about that acrobatic first touchdown run you made in the Fred T Foard game?
(NM) (Laughing) You know Scott, a lot of those runs that seemed so amazing to everyone in the stands I really didn't think about when they happened. I remember that run as I was started jogging towards the end zone I was just thinking "How did I get out of that" The first guy who grabbed me should have tackled me, but he spent so much time trying to strip the ball instead of trying to get me on the ground that I was able to do a little dancing and get away from him. The rest of that run I was getting just some tremendous blocks from my teammates. Nobody gave up on the play. That was the difference in that run. That was one of those moments you were talking about when you tune everybody out in the stands and you're just concentrating so heavily on whats happening in front of you. That was a great example of that to be honest with you.
(FIK) Runs like that were something that fans just come to expect from you, Do you think about how amazing some of those runs you made actually were?
(NM) You know I really dont. I had such amazing blockers that year that making runs like that really wasn't that difficult. Nobody gave up on a play that year, and the way I see it if everybody was going to give me 100% of themselves in order for me to be successful then I was going to do everything in my power to take advantage of what they were presenting me with. I had some huge holes to run through because of my blocking up front. Those guys never gave up on play until the whistle blew and that was the difference in them being a good offensive line to a great offensive line. If you look back at that year they were out weighed a lot, but the heart they showed made all the difference. Concord, Fred T Foard, East Rutherford and finally Kings Mountain all had defensive fronts that were much bigger than our offensive line, the difference was their athletic ability and tmost importantly their heart.
(FIK) Do you think you learned a lesson with Fred T Foard that helped you the following week against East Rutherford?
(QP) I think so. Coach Hardin made it very clear that you can't go into a playoff game and think you're reputation is going to carry you through. I think the Fred T Foard game was a perfect example of a group of guys thinking that we were invincible and we didn't have to play at that standard that we had set for ourselves at the beginning of the year. I think it was an eye opening experience. Not taking anything away from Fred T Foard because they were a physical ball club, but we were so much better than what we showed that night and to be perfectly honest with you we didn't give our best which almost cost us in the first round. I definitely think it was a wake up call. We knew we had to approach the rest of these games in a different manner than the way we approached this one. It was only going to get tougher down the road.
(NM) I agree totally. I think reality smacked us in the face that game and we had to come back that following week and play a fine East Rutherford team and just show everybody that we had our heads on right. Looking back I think we may have let our reputation take this place of some of our effort. You can't do that in the playoffs against a quality oponent. So yea I think we learned a great lesson that game.
(FIK) How do you explain having a game where you don't play to your standard like Fred T Foard, then come out the following week and lay such a whipping on a team who pound for pound were as good as Kings Mountain?
(QP) Nick, I don't know if you remember this, but they had a guy who was a defensive in named Travis Smith who was a D1 recruit that was suppose to be going to Tennessee that next year. Coach Hardin told me that week that alot of the running game was going to come behind me and that I was really going to have to work my butt off. He told me he was going to help work with some different blocking techniques to use against him, but I was going to have to hold my own out there against him because this guy was alot bigger than me. I was coached that whole week by coach Hardin and coach Jacobs (God rest his soul) to attack him. I knew going into that game that alot was riding on how well I performed so I wasn't going to go in to that game and let my teammates down. So after being called out that week by my coaches to step up I took that game personally, and in the end I believe I was 100% that game. I think that was probably one of the better games I played that year.
(NM) That game was a dog fight. We came out that game trying to redeem ourselves from the previous week. Coach Hardin challenged us and we responded. Even though we put up forty two points against Foard we knew we were capable of better and to put up forty five against a team like East Rutherford just gave us so much confidence going into the next week that we felt like we could beat anybody. This may sound arrogant or cocky, but who we played was irrelevant to me. It was just another oponent. We had to go out there and play our best every game and show each team we were the team to beat. That was our mindset in a nutshell.
(FIK) Did you all feel like you were destined to run back into Kings Mountain that year?
(NM) Looking at the score from the previous year I think the game was a lot closer than the final score indicated being a 40-27 game. I wasn't sitting in the wings waiting for them or following them or anything like that. If I had to guess they were probably looking more so for us than we were looking for them. I don't think it was distiny you know. If it happened it happened, if it didn't it didn't.
(QP) They were a great team. They were big, they were physical, they were talented, thats just the way it rolled. I think that game was going to be the game that decided the state championship in my opinion. I dont want to say that we were anticipating running back into them because really to us it made no difference who we faced because no matter who that was it wasn't going to change the fact that we had to play our best no matter who we faced. I have to say this too Scott, I can accept the fact that we played Kings Mountain twice, beat them once and lost to them once, but at the end of the day we played the best of the best the 3A had to offer. A lot of kids today can't say that. Now you got this split classification with two state champions and I don't like it. Our team can truthfully say, and when you go into that stadium and see that sign that says 1989 and 1997 state AAA champions that those teams played the best of the best in AAA and won championships both times. Programs today can't say that.
(FIK) What comes to mind when I use this term "Unfinished Business"?
(NM) To tell you the truth I had forgotten all about that if that shows you how relevant that was. (Laughing) I think those guys from Kings Mountain came in with something to prove bottom line. I don't think it was to prove thay were a better team than we were, but to prove they were just as good a team as we were. We already knew that going in. None of us took that team lightly. In my estimation that game in and of it's self was the state championship game. I think maybe for them it was unfinshed business. They very well may have thought they should have won that game in 1997. That was a tough game that year. I didn't get to play against teams that big until I got to college if that tells you anything about the caliber of team they were.
(QP) I remember that now. I didn't put to much into it to be honest with you. If thats what they needed to get motivated to play us than so be it. You have to have the mental edge going into a game like that. I thought we had it, and if it took them wearing a slogan or using the score from the previous year to give them that edge than it worked.
(FIK) Quincy, How did you feel as a defense knowing you were going into that game outweighed sixty pounds per man accross the board?
(QP) Just another day at the ballpark. (Laughing) There was no question in my mind that we were prepared going into that game. Coach Jacobs and coach Hardin did a fantastic job coaching us up that year. Those guys on that line had alot of heart Scott. We could have cared less how big those guys were it made me no difference. We knew if we put our right foot forward and didn't flinch we would be OK. I feel like we did that. We attacked them the way we should and we showed heart. Thats all you can ask from your teammates is to play with heart. Makes no difference how big the other guy is.
(FIK) How would you summarize your level of play against Kings Mountain?
(NM) I though we played as good as you could play, but I go back to what I said earlier. That game above any other game showed that we needed everybody in that effort, and we didn't have that. Two of our key players were gone, now with that said can I say that with those guys in there we would have won that game? No, but we may have been able to do more of what we were use to doing than we were able to do without them. That game definitley showed that one player was not going to carry a team. We needed Evar, We needed Danny to be involved in that game. That game is the game I am specifically referring to when I say when we needed a stop we couldn't get it. Thats no slam to the anybody, its just the fact of the matter. Most of that credit goes to Kings Mountain. Those guys were big, they were physical, they had speed and talent in the skill positions, but look how close we played them. Thats probably what makes that loss so difficult for me because I have to sit back and think everyday what if? What if we would have had Evar and Danny back in there, What if I had caught that last pass. Man thats tough.
I remember they just pounded and pounded the ball on us that game and we just couldn't get a stop. I think they had an eight minute drive in that game where they just methodically drove the ball down our throats, and nobody had done that to us all year. I really think we missed Evar on defense that game, and on the offense with Danny we missed alot of what made us successful.
(FIK) What were you're thoughts on Kings Mountain's runningback Anthony Hillman?
(QP) He was a great player. I can honestly say if you were to interview him about this that he would say he had alot to hang his hat on that game. He carried the ball thirty some times that game and got all those yards on a defending state champion. He's a great player. Being a football player I have to give him his respect because he played such a tremendous game, but they all played a tremendous game. He wouldn't have got all those yards if he didn't have a line that played physical and provided him with the opportunity to play at that level so I tip my hat to him and to all those guys. They were an outstanding team that night.
(FIK) When I asked Justin Hardin about how that game ended his response was "I should have picthed the ball to NIck" What do you think about that statement?
(NM) Hinesight is 20/20 isn't it? (Laughing) You know there was one last pass I had a chance to catch in that game and I think it was in that final drive. Justin threw the ball and I went up for it with one hand and I missed it. I think everyday what would have happened if I had went up for that ball with two hands? Hinesight is 20/20 but I think everybody did their best and you cant blame the loss of the game or pin that loss on one play or on one player. Justin played the best he could have played that game. Everybody did. You cant beat yourself up for missed opportunities or it will drive you crazy. Nobody had any reason to hang their heads after that game. It hurt, I'm not saying that, but we all lost that game together and we felt that loss as a team.
(FIK) What were you thinking as those final seconds ticked off and you realized that dream of back to back state titles was over?
(QP) I think for me Scott, more than anything was this is this last time I will ever get to play football with these guys. My career is over with them. I'll never be in this spot with these guys ever again. It was tough. It's still tough today thinking about it. Even though I've thought about it before today I don't think I've thought about it to this magnitude the way I'm thinking about it now that you've brought this back up. I'm sitting here right now looking at my scrapbook from that year, and I'm reading a comment I wrote that says "Right now I'm just not sure what I'm gonna do, but the most important thing is that I came away with alot more than I started with"
(NM) For me it was very emotional. It was the last time I was going to get to put the green and white #20 jersey on. It was the last time I was going to get to play ball with the guys I had played with all my life which I think hurt me the most. You know to be honest with you, We could have won the state championship that year, but I would have still felt the empty feeling of knowing it was all over for me and my friends. I hate it ended like that for us, but at the same time it's just the fact that it ended. I hated to go out with a loss because we were such a great team, but I don't think it would have been any easier had we won the state title for me knowing it was over.
(FIK) How do you respond to this statement. The 1998 team was actually better than the 1997 team?
(QP) I can't say because I was a part of both those teams. My argument has always been who was better between the 1997 team and those guys who won the title back in 1989.
(FIK) That would be a great game!
(QP) Man, we would beat the brakes off them man!! (Laughing) Maurice Blakeney and Mike Morton we would beat the brakes off them man, come on (laughing) and I'll tell them that personally. If they want to get together sometime and play a flag football game we can do that. (Laughing) and we'll show them that we still got it and we'll whoop that butt!! You tell em that that Scott. (Laughing) and Nick you better have my back on this! (Laughing)
(NM) I got your back Quincy, I got your back. (Laughing) that 97 team was a great team, but that 98 team, man that was a great team. Thats hard to say Scott. If it were possible and it's not you need to have the 1997 team play the 1998 team!!!
(QP) That would be a barn burner right there as Keith Jackson would say. (Laughing)
(FIK) What are you're thoughts on the way the program progressed today?
(QP) It's great to see the winning continue, but I will say this Scott, There should be more state championships in that trophy case and theres not. I know some good teams have come through there since we left, and I believe they did go back to the state title game in 2008. There should be more state titles in that trophy case in my opinion. Thats all I'm gonna say about that. We've got to get back to form and I believe we can. Theres too much talent in Kannapolis and I know those kids coming up want to be part of that winning tradition so you've got to take time with them and prepare them for whats to come.
(NM) I will go one further on that. When I was playing ball as a kid I grew up wanting to be like Wayne Martin and I remember some of those guys use to come to the school and talk to us. We grew up knowing the guys who were Kannapolis football players and there was that connect. I think that is something the new coach needs to take time to get back. The old guys should feel welcome back at their home school. Thats where your tradition comes from and when you lose that connect from the people who helped build that tradition and you lose that connect from your past the whole program suffers. Theres alot of benefit to be had from the guys who have been there and know.
(QP) I think it's amazing what you're doing with this site. It's bringing our winning past back into the forefront where it should be. There is no way you can get to where you're going if you don't know and understand where you've been. We have got to find a way to explain to these young boys and to these coaches about the tradition from which all of this comes from, but more than that its got to be something that is important enough to them to get the ball rolling.
(NM) I would like to see a homecoming weekend where all the former players are invited back to maybe have a flag football game and have the opportunity just to get back at the same location to remember the old times. Make it a community event. Thats how you keep the fire going. Thats what I always remember about Kannapolis football. It was all about community and team. It needs to get back to that. I wanted nothing more than to be a part of what I saw as a kid on that field. Thats what I dreamed about. You can't let there be a division between the team and the community and these young kids coming up through the elementary and middle school ranks need to have that connect with the athletes and the great history of the program needs to be shared with them
There seems to be such a disconnect between these new kids and the past greats that wasn't there when we were coming up. All of us knew who Maurice Blakeney, Mike Morton, Wayne Martin, Micheal Barnes and Keenan Lott were back then. I bet you could ask over half of these kids today who some of these people were and they would have no clue. Thats what gets these kids excited about wanting to play football and becoming Wonders when they get old enough to get to high school.
(FIK) In your opinion where do you think the 1998 Wonders belong in the history of Wonder football?
(QP) Honestly, I would say number one. Granted we didn't get back to Chapel Hill that year, but I think what we brought to the table, the number of fans we brought into that stadium every Friday night, the level of talent that was on that team, our love and respect for eachother was unmatched. It would be close to compare 1997 to 1998, but I have to go with 1998 as the very best that school has ever seen. If we are not number one were at worst number two.
(NM) I'll have to break this down two ways. The 1998 team was the most exciting team to ever put on a Wonder uniform. I think the 1997 team was probably the most accomplished team to ever put on a Wonder uniform, and I say that because they won the state championship and they put up some great numbers. I think the 1998 team, though we fell short we were the most exciting team to watch simply because of the explosiveness we had on both sides of the ball. We were the greatest show on grass that year hands down. Thats how I break it down.
(FIK) Finish this scentence; If I had it to do all over again, the first thing I would do is blank?
(QP) Thats a tough one, and I say that because granted we didn't make it back to the state, but I cant sit here and say if I had it to do all over again I would play harder because I played as hard as I could. If i could do anything over again I would put more focus on my off season training. If I would have known then what I know now I would have put more focus on that aspect of my game because I think it would have prepared me to play at a different level when I got to college. The experiences I had with my teammates, the friendships I made, and the level of coaching I got from Bruce Hardin and his great staff of assistants I wouldn't trade for the world.
(NM) Wow, That is a tough question to answer. I would say spend more personal time with my teammates, and we spent a whole lot of time together. Thats really difficult for me to say. I think I was blessed to be able to come away from my high school football experience with so much more than I brought in. It was the best times of my life.
"Nick Maddox"
The Nick Maddox dossier is an impressive collection of athletic achievements and honors, but to those who knew him personally this list of accolades do nothing to accurately portray Nick Maddox the teammate, the friend, and most importantly the man. I met Nick in the winter of 1999 shortly before he was to leave to begin his college experience at FSU. That day I spoke to a very humble young man who was a little aprehensive about leaving home for the first time, but excited nonetheless. Nick signed a football helmet for me as well as a football that I still have proudly displayed beside my computer desk in the office of Friday Nights in K-Town. I made Nick promise me that when he returned home this summer he would give me an exclusive interview with him to find out a little more about the man and the myth of one of Kannapolis Football's most prized protoges. Nick agreed so I'm holding him to it. Below is a partial list of what Nick had accomplished in high school prior to committing to Florida State. Like I said, the accolades do very little to describe Nick Maddox as anything other than just a superb athlete.
One of the most sought after running backs in the country...totaled 2,536 yards and 33 touchdowns on 267 carries as a senior (9.5 yards per carry)...had 20 catches for 268 yards and eight scores...added four punt returns for touchdowns of 50 yards or more...finished his career with 6,624 rushing yards and 114 touchdowns (a state record at the time)...a Parade All-American and first-team USA Today All-USA selection...the USA Today Player of the Year for the state of North Carolina ...Tom Lemming's No. 1 prospect in the Mid-Atlantic and No. 2 prospect nationally...SuperPrep's No. 4 running back (No. 14 player overall) nationally...No.1 running back in the country by PrepStar and offensive MVP of the ACC region… regarded as the No. 8 prospect in the country by The Sporting News...listed at No. 22 overall by the NRA...named the 1998 Gatorade Circle of Champions high school player of the year for the Southern region and state of North Carolina (athletic/academic achievement)...the No. 1 player in the state according to Bill Buchalter...also ran track and played basketball at Brown...led football team to 13-1 season as a senior...carried 10 times for 102 yards and two scores (12 and 60-yard runs) in the North Carolina/South Carolina Shrine Bowl...reported 40-yard dash of 4.5...chose FSU over Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee and Notre Dame.
One of the most sought after running backs in the country...totaled 2,536 yards and 33 touchdowns on 267 carries as a senior (9.5 yards per carry)...had 20 catches for 268 yards and eight scores...added four punt returns for touchdowns of 50 yards or more...finished his career with 6,624 rushing yards and 114 touchdowns (a state record at the time)...a Parade All-American and first-team USA Today All-USA selection...the USA Today Player of the Year for the state of North Carolina ...Tom Lemming's No. 1 prospect in the Mid-Atlantic and No. 2 prospect nationally...SuperPrep's No. 4 running back (No. 14 player overall) nationally...No.1 running back in the country by PrepStar and offensive MVP of the ACC region… regarded as the No. 8 prospect in the country by The Sporting News...listed at No. 22 overall by the NRA...named the 1998 Gatorade Circle of Champions high school player of the year for the Southern region and state of North Carolina (athletic/academic achievement)...the No. 1 player in the state according to Bill Buchalter...also ran track and played basketball at Brown...led football team to 13-1 season as a senior...carried 10 times for 102 yards and two scores (12 and 60-yard runs) in the North Carolina/South Carolina Shrine Bowl...reported 40-yard dash of 4.5...chose FSU over Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee and Notre Dame.
After graduation Nick Maddox pursued his college career at the Florida State University in Talahassee Florida where he played on the 1999 National Championship team. After a successful college career Nick played at the next level as a runningback in the National Football League. Nick played for such organizations as the Cleveland Browns, San Diego Chargers, ultimatley finishing his football career with the Carolina Panthers. After football Nick returned home to Leon County where he obtained dual degrees in Business and Real Estate.
Following graduation, Nick took a position as Director of Planned Giving with the Seminole Boosters. Maddox moved from the Boosters to once again join a team with his former head coach as the vice president of Development for the Bowden Foundation. In 2010 Nick Maddox threw his hat into the ring of politics seeking to run for County Commissioner At Large for Leon County winning a seat in the 2010 election. Commissioner Nick Maddox currently serves as the 2011-2012 Board Vice-Chairman and has served the citizens of Leon County since 2010. Commissioner Nicholas J. Maddox is one of two At-Large Commissioners for Leon County. Nick is married with one daughter.
Following graduation, Nick took a position as Director of Planned Giving with the Seminole Boosters. Maddox moved from the Boosters to once again join a team with his former head coach as the vice president of Development for the Bowden Foundation. In 2010 Nick Maddox threw his hat into the ring of politics seeking to run for County Commissioner At Large for Leon County winning a seat in the 2010 election. Commissioner Nick Maddox currently serves as the 2011-2012 Board Vice-Chairman and has served the citizens of Leon County since 2010. Commissioner Nicholas J. Maddox is one of two At-Large Commissioners for Leon County. Nick is married with one daughter.
"Quincy Pedew"
After the 1998 varsity football season Quincy Pedew graduated with the class of 1999. Quincy played football with two Wonder varsity teams in 1997 and 1998 that went a combined 27-2 winning one state championship in 1997 and successfully defending the title until the District Championship in 1998 losing to Kings Mountain 26-21. After graduation Quincy attended North Carolina Central University where he was a three year starter and letterman in football. Quincy began his coaching career at North Carolina Central shortly after graduation as a Graduate Assistant. In 2004 Quincy would take the battle field against an oponent much more formidable than the Kings Mountain Mountaineers. That year Quincy's fight would be for his life against Chronic Myeloid Leukemia. Quincy would undergo rigorous treatment including a stem cell transplant courtesy of his mother who donated her cells that her son might live.
It was a tough road back for Quincy with many obstacles along the way, but through his faith, prayers, friends, and family support, Quincy did what the Wonders did many times on the battlefield of Memorial Stadium. He emerged victorious. Today Quincy has a full life and has been in remission for twenty one months. Quincy is currently living in Raleigh North Carolina and is coaching football at Cary High School for the fighting Imps. Quincy along with former Pittsburg Steelers Dewayne Washington and Charles Johnson operate a training facility in Morrisville North Carolina adjacent to Cary, NC called The Carolina Skills Academy. The Carolina Skills Academy is a year round skills specific developmental program that provides athletes with year round training both on and off the field. Carolina Skills Academy is a place where football players can develope detail fundamentals that will enhance their game time performance. The small group training sessions provide personal instruction to their athletes to develop and improve their overall skills. This is something Quincy is passionate about just as he was passionate about being a Wonder in the late nineties. Quincy's struggle with Leukemia has grounded him, and he takes nothing for granted.
Quincy knows it's a daily fight and takes each day one at a time enjoying to the fullest what God has restored to him. With that second chance Quincy wanted to use his story to motivate people in different walks of life fighting the same fight he fights. In 2011 with the help of some of his friends he started the Quincy Pedew Foundation. The Pedew Foundation has two primary functions. The patient assistant fund assist with the day to day expenses that patients encounter while going through transplant and recovery. This fund will assist patients during such a stressful phase of life, and will decrease unnecessary stress during their recovery.
The Pedew Foundation has also teamed up with Be the Match to increase the numbers of minorities registered in the bone marrow registry. Statistics show that there are estimated to be over 3 million registrants in the bone marrow registry. Of that 3 million only 375,000 are minorities, which decreases the chances of an African American to have a full unrelated match. Their goal is to educate and seek new members to join this organization. So as you can see Quincy Pedew has excelled off the field as well and has given a new meaning to the term Wonder. Friday Nights in K-Town wishes Quincy nothing but furthered success and rest assured prayers will go out to you as you continue to be a walking testament to the healing powers of a loving God.
http://marrow.org/Home.aspx
"Quincy Pedew for the Carolina Skills Academy"
A Special Thank You
from
"Friday Nights in K-Town"
Friday Nights in K-Town would like to express it's most sincere gratitude to all those who participated in this definitive retrospective of the defending state AAA champion Wonders varsity football season of 1998. It was an unbelievable experience having the opportunity to talk with so many of the great athletes from that team and listen to them recall their experiences. The best part of it all was seeing former teammates reunite for the first time in such a long time and watch them get reaquainted. A most sincere thank you I extend to Justin and Blair Hardin, Nick Gill, Evar Johnson, Paul Allen, and Danny Jenkins for taking the time out of your evening to sit down with this old Wonder football fanatic and allow me access into your world of great memories and experiences.
I further want to extend a very sincere word of thanks to Quincy Pedew and Wonder legend Nick Maddox for spending time with me on the phone giving your thoughts and views of that special moment in Wonder football history. This personal reflective diary could not have been completed without your contributions. To all the former Wonders and teammates from 1998 who I was unable to locate or make contact with during this process, I hope this summary will rekindle some special memories for you, and further fan the flames of pride you still have in being Wonders during this season.
To my good friend "Dirty Danny Jenkins" I want you to know that this featurette evolved into what it is because of you. Your assistance in this project took this featurette way beyond what it originally started out as, and made it personal for everyone involved. You are a great teammate and friend to FIK. I owe you one. Finally to Bruce Hardin and all the assistant coaches from the Hardin Era; You took over a very successful program from coach Bob Boswell and took it to the next level, and you did it with class. Wonder Nation and FIK are forever indebted to you for providing the material for some of the landmark chapters in the history book of Wonder football -The Editor
I further want to extend a very sincere word of thanks to Quincy Pedew and Wonder legend Nick Maddox for spending time with me on the phone giving your thoughts and views of that special moment in Wonder football history. This personal reflective diary could not have been completed without your contributions. To all the former Wonders and teammates from 1998 who I was unable to locate or make contact with during this process, I hope this summary will rekindle some special memories for you, and further fan the flames of pride you still have in being Wonders during this season.
To my good friend "Dirty Danny Jenkins" I want you to know that this featurette evolved into what it is because of you. Your assistance in this project took this featurette way beyond what it originally started out as, and made it personal for everyone involved. You are a great teammate and friend to FIK. I owe you one. Finally to Bruce Hardin and all the assistant coaches from the Hardin Era; You took over a very successful program from coach Bob Boswell and took it to the next level, and you did it with class. Wonder Nation and FIK are forever indebted to you for providing the material for some of the landmark chapters in the history book of Wonder football -The Editor