Blast From the Past

  • BLAST FROM THE PAST: E. Burke versus N-C girls in hoops, last 20 years - Red Devils chase first win over Cavs with Sylvia White as their head coach   By CHRIS HOBBS HobbsDailyReport.com A look at the East Burke-Newton-Conover girls’ high school basketball games over the previous two decades (1998-99 through this season), as they prepare to play Saturday at 6 p.m. in Icard in the third round of the state 2A basketball playoffs: ...
  • BLAST FROM THE PAST: Trio of Trojans receivers combine for 160 catches in 2008 - HobbsDailyReport.com TOP 10 RECEIVERS FROM THE 2008 SEASON (All totals are unofficial)                                                                                      Recp.-Yds              TDs                Best yardage game Seth Cranfill, Bandys                                         64-980                           11                   239 vs. Mooresville Daimyn Niemi, Bandys                                     52-868                            8                  182 vs. Mooresville Baine Martin, Watauga                                    ...
  • BLAST FROM THE PAST: Bandys’ Houser was red-hot passer in 2008 - HobbsDailyReport.com TOP 10 PASSERS FROM THE 2008 SEASON (All totals are unofficial)                                                                    C-Att.-Int.          Yds              PG         TDs      Best yds game Kyle Houser, Bandys                    186-357-21     2,707          225.5      27             452 vs. Mooresville Justin Sizemore, Maiden             114-243-13      2,161           180.0      18             344 vs. Hibriten Devan Corum, Watauga              141-273-13       1,789           149.0      11              341 vs. ...
  • BLAST FROM THE PAST: Trojans’ Justin McCombs had 350 carries as 2008’s top ground gainer - HobbsDailyReport.com TOP RUSHERS FROM THE 2008 SEASON (All totals are unofficial)                                                                                Car.-Yards                      TDs              Best rushing game Josh McCombs, Bandys                              350-2,253                    22                 32-287 vs. Ashe County a-Dorian Jones, Newton-Conover         219-2,145                  24                  12-225 vs. Patton Quin Smith, Hibriten                                   235-1,596                    25                  26-238 vs. Canton Pisgah Quenton Owens, Foard                               169-1,425                   22                 20-262 ...
  • BLAST FROM THE PAST: The top WRs from 20 year ago… do you remember Menyel? - HobbsDailyReport.com TOP 10 RECEIVERS FROM THE 1998 SEASON (All totals are unofficial)                                                                   Recp.-Yds            TDs                     Best yardage game Menyel Flowers, Hickory            57-1,132                   13                       178 vs. Fred T. Foard Ryan Coulter, Maiden                 47-1,009                     12                       136 vs. Chase, Thomasville Ray Winford, Mooresville          36-754                       14                      143 vs. E. Lincoln Wesley Black, Lincolnton           26-620                       4                       127 vs. ...
  • COMMENTARY: Marty Curtis made us all love baseball a little more - By CHRIS HOBBS HobbsDailyReport.com CLAREMONT – Given his love of baseball, being as close to the action as possible was something Marty Curtis insisted on before becoming the head coach at Bunker Hill High some 35 years ago. Curtis, 67, said Friday his long coaching career at ‘The Hill’ is over – he’s retiring after spending 35 of his 46 ...
  • BLAST FROM THE PAST: The day Harv faced Ripken, Murray, Lynn and Knight in his big-league debut - By CHRIS HOBBS HobbsDailyReport.com On the day Hunter Harvey was called to the major leagues by the Baltimore Orioles, only fitting to take a quick trip down memory lane for a more detailed review of May 16, 1987 – the day his father, Bryan, made his debut in The Show against, really, a remarkable number of the game’s all-time greats. ...
  • BLAST FROM THE PAST: Who will go longest without a baseball loss, Bandys or S. Caldwell? - HobbsDailyReport.com Bandys High is off to a 7-0 start and South Caldwell is 8-0 with games on Tuesday night at West Lincoln and at McDowell at 7 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., respectively. It’s between those two programs to see who grabs the 2018 spot on this list — the team from a Greater Hickory area conference that went the longest ...
  • BLAST FROM THE PAST: Foard’s last football team (1982) to reach the second round - By CHRIS HOBBS HobbsDailyReport.com NEWTON — Another memorable step in the history of Fred T. Foard High football could come tonight in Cabarrus County. This season’s Tigers — 9-3 and a West No. 12 seed in the state 2AA playoffs — face another set of Tigers at Mount Pleasant (10-2, seeded fourth) at 7:30 p.m. A victory would get Foard, ...
  • BLAST FROM THE PAST: A look back at Newton-Conover’s 12-win team in 1988 - By CHRIS HOBBS HobbsDailyReport.com NEWTON– A trip down memory lane with the 1988 Newton-Conover High varsity football team, the 11th of head coach Don Patrick’s 16 state playoff teams. That season, the Red Devils went 9-1 in the regular season and 12-2 overall, and it was the fourth team in a six-year stretch where Newton-Conover shared a Southern District 7 ...
  • BLAST FROM THE PAST: QBs often come up big in Hickory vs. St. Stephens battles - By CHRIS HOBBS HobbsDailyReport.com HICKORY – There are very few things, if any, that whet the appetite of St. Stephens High varsity football fans than beating archrival Hickory. It hasn’t happened often – they’ll play for the 31st time tonight at 7:30 p.m. out on Springs Road – and the Indians, in need of a victory to probably keep their ...
  • BLAST FROM THE PAST: Revisit some of the tightest N-C vs. Maiden football battles - By CHRIS HOBBS HobbsDailyReport.com NEWTON-CONOVER VS. MAIDEN VARSITY FOOTBALL The 10 closest varsity games in the Newton-Conover vs. Maiden high school football series: Margin                         Year                           Game site                         Result 1                                        1994                          Maiden                            Maiden 28, N-C 27 1                                       2000                         Newton-Conover           Maiden 21, N-C 20 2                                        1995                          Newton-Conover          N-C 17, Maiden ...
  • BLAST FROM THE PAST: Tigers’ Owens was a first down waiting to happen - By CHRIS HOBBS HobbsDailyReport.com NEWTON – Running back Quintin Owens left his mark on the Fred T. Foard High football program by averaging nearly 7 1/2 yards every time he took a handoff. That was usually from Landon Isenhour in 2008, when Ryan Gettys coached the Tigers (9-3) to a state 3A playoff bid, and from Byron Fullenwider in 2009 ...
  • BLAST FROM THE PAST: Can St. Stephens give head coach sweet birthday gift? - By CHRIS HOBBS HobbsDailyReport.com With one conference win so far, St. Stephens High’s Indians could give head football coach Wayne Hicks a heck of a birthday present if they can win tonight at home against Watauga. St. Stephens (2-5, 1-2) isn’t out of the postseason picture just yet … and if the Indians beat the Pioneers, the door opens for ...
  • BLAST FROM THE PAST: Patrick’s impact at N-C, in area sports still felt - By CHRIS HOBBS HobbsDailyReport.com NEWTON — Wow, it’s truly amazing how time flies by so fast. When my friends at WNNC 101.3 FM asked earlier this week if I could share some thoughts and information about former Newton-Conover High head football coach and athletic director Don Patrick, this didn’t – at first — register in my mind. Here we are, ...
  • BLAST FROM THE PAST: High-scoring Newton-Conover versus Bandys football games - By CHRIS HOBBS HobbsDailyReport.com As they prepare to play tonight for the 47th time in a series the Red Devils lead 31-15, take a trip down memory lane by reviewing the highest-scoring Newton-Conover versus Bandys varsity football games: Total points                      Year                        Results/location 103                                                              2006                             N-C 71, Bandys 32 at N-C 101                                                               2008                             N-C 60, Bandys 41 at Bandys 84                                                                 2015                              ...
  • BLAST FROM THE PAST: A few memories from the Bandys-Maiden football series - By CHRIS HOBBS HobbsDailyReport.com When WNNC Oldies 101.3 FM first asked me to write about some of my memories of the Bandys versus Maiden high school football series – which started three years before I was born – I cautioned that after 43 years of covering the series, the years sometimes run together. That said, here are some things that ...
  • BLAST FROM THE PAST: Harper has never forgotten his Catawba County roots - By CHRIS HOBBS HobbsDailyReport.com CATAWBA – He left before the season began to chase his dream, but tonight would’ve been one that’s right up Justin Harper’s alley because he loves football and especially a big football game. Void of a sudden phone call with a great opportunity to resume coaching college football and focus on reaching his ultimate goal, Harper ...
  • BLAST FROM THE PAST: Brown found his calling in life very early - By CHRIS HOBBS HobbsDailyReport.com MAIDEN – Tom Brown has never been one to run a what-might-have-been checklist because he knows he found his life’s calling – coaching football – at a very young age. “It was an easy call for me to be a football coach,” Brown said this week. “And once I got involved, I never wanted to be ...
  • BLAST FROM THE PAST: Elder, Red Tornadoes had dream football season in 1996 - By CHRIS HOBBS HobbsDailyReport.com HICKORY – David Elder still remembers a conversation from more than 20 years ago that predicted one of the magic seasons he was to coach in, but there was really no way to be fully prepared for it. He was talking to veteran Shelby head football coach Jim Taylor after the Golden Lions had beaten Hickory ...
  • BLAST FROM THE PAST: Guitar in hand, Lowman enjoying playing a new tune (updated) - By  CHRIS HOBBS HobbsDailyReport.com CATAWBA – Even if he wanted to (and he doesn’t), it’d be difficult for retired Bandys High head football coach Randy Lowman to step completely away from his legacy at his alma mater. Legacy, though, is the kind of word that makes Lowman — who turns 63 next month — cringe. In his mind, the best ...
  • BLAST FROM THE PAST: Ready to again get things done - By CHRIS HOBBS HobbsDailyReport.com DENVER, N.C. – My birthday just passed (August 1), which means it’s the time of year to pin the ears back and do what I do – and have been doing – for 43 years. As high school football season (and volleyball, boys’ soccer, girls’ tennis, cross country and girls’ golf) near their starts and I ...
  • YOUR FOOTBALL CAREER: Get your stats, prove to the kids you were a star - HobbsDailyReport.com DENVER, N.C. — If you’re a former high school football player in the Greater Hickory area – or are dating or married to one, are the mom, dad, aunt or uncle or granny/grandpa of one or that superstar is your dad, brother or cousin – HobbsDailyReport.com is now offering a unique opportunity for a personalized gift that will dip ...
  • HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Ex-Bandys star following in dad’s footsteps - HobbsDailyReport.com CATAWBA – As a young boy, Justin McCombs always enjoyed watching the examples and lessons his father, Eric, provided about how to get things done. In about a month — in-a-follow-in-dad’s footsteps story — the younger McCombs is going down the same path. McCombs, 28 and a former wide receiver at Bandys High and at Lenoir-Rhyne University, has accepted ...
  • JOIN US: Would you like to sponsor your school’s sports page? - HobbsDailyReport.com is coordinated and authored by Newton native Chris Hobbs, the most experienced sports journalist in the Greater Hickory area. This will be the 43rd consecutive school year he has been on the beat in the region. As a new school year fast approaches, we’re currently looking for area businesses that would like to show support for individual schools or ...
  • BLAST FROM THE PAST: The Crawdads, Mader and all that pizza - As the Hickory Crawdads celebrate their 25th anniversary season, it’s time for a look back. Unless there’s someone out there I don’t recall, I’m the only journalist still around who was there in 1993 (covering the team that year and in 1994 during my tenure as a sports reporter with The Charlotte Observer). I was reporting from the time the ...
  • BLAST FROM THE PAST: Conference varsity football titles won since 1980 - CONFERENCE VARSITY FOOTBALL TITLES (by school since 1980) Varsity football conference championships won since 1980 by the schools that will play next season in the South Fork 2A, Northwestern Foothills 2A and Northwestern 3A-4A: CURRENT RANK Newton-Conover 16 Lincolnton 14 Maiden 13 W. Caldwell 11 Freedom 9 Hickory 9 E. Lincoln 8 Bandys 6 E. Burke 6 Hibriten 5 McDowell ...
  • HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: The best years for area teams - THE BEST YEARS A look at the most varsity football wins for each school that will play this season in the South Fork 2A, Northwestern Foothills 2A and Northwestern 3A-4A. How far back records HobbsDailyReport.com has for each school is noted and they carry from that year through 2016: School                          Most                                 2nd most Alex Central (1978)             11, 1983/2009                             9, 2006/2010 ...
  • HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL: Greater Hickory area team records, last 10 seasons - HobbsDailyReport.com GREAT HICKORY AREA BASEBALL RECORDS (Last 10 seasons, 2008 through 2017, unofficial records) School                                   Record                                Win pct.            Change in rank from ’16 South Caldwell             194-42                                      .822                  None Bunker Hill                  193-82                                      .701                    Up 1 Hickory                         170-106                                   .616                    Down 1 Patton                            155-100                                  .607                    ...
  • THANK YOU… HobbsDailyReport was 1 month old on Thursday - HobbsDailyReport.com Just a quick post to say “thank you” to all of you who have visited the site, which has officially been online for one month yesterday (Thursday, May 11). Won’t bore you with numbers, but the report has provided nearly 450 separate posts in 30 days on everything local — from a decision by Bandys High head football coach ...
  • BLAST FROM THE PAST: Rowan County’s biggest sports voice retiring - HobbsDailyReport.com Here’s a Blast From My Past… written not by me, but by one of the state’s best writers about one of the state’s sports radio icons. Normally, I would write my own reflections on Howard Platt and his decision to retire… but given this read I would be doing an injustice to even try. I was blessed to work ...
  • Enjoy your visit to HobbsDailyReport.com… and welcome to a former area prep athlete - Welcome to HobbsDailyReport.com…. if you’re a first-time visitor (please come back) or have been part of the audience since the newest local online site following local sports in the region began less than three weeks ago. The information you’re reading, in part, is available via the support and advertising of Dwayne Wilson Insurance and Financial Services (see ad this page) ...
  • WE WANT TO THANK AND WELCOME… - Proud to let HobbsDailyReport.com visitors know that we have our first advertiser who is supporting the site getting off the ground. The ads are forthcoming ASAP – they are in production — and we’re already working with Dwayne Wilson Insurance and Financial Services, Inc., for the next year. Please review the ads and seek out Dwayne and his staff for ...
  • BLAST FROM THE PAST: Been 8 years and I still — and will always — miss him - By CHRIS HOBBS HobbsDailyReport.com It’s nearing 5 a.m. on Saturday morning as I write this – running behind but finding my second wind – but, in many ways, that’s only appropriate for the guy I wanted to tell you a bit about. It was eight years ago Friday that the stunning news came that one of the best people in ...
  • BLAST FROM THE PAST: Dale Jr., my mom and Hazel’s love of Jeff Gordon - By CHRIS HOBBS HobbsDailyReport.com Dale Earnhardt Jr. is leaving NASCAR racing after the 2017 season — a decision he announced today – and it’s one of a very few sports-related things my mom, now 85, is or would be interested in knowing. To my knowledge, she’s never been to a race unless it was one at Hickory Motor Speedway (bet ...
  • TODAY’S BLAST FROM THE PAST: Last top seed to win Easter Classic was… - By CHRIS HOBBS HobbsDailyReport.com Generally, the road to the championship game of the Catawba Valley Easter Classic is – at best – bumpy. As the 27th edition of the tournament begins on Monday at the Legion Fairgrounds Field in Newton, five straight top-seeded teams have failed to advance to the title game. Fred T. Foard owns the top seed for ...
  • TODAY’S BLAST FROM THE PAST: Carroll Dale and Gabe - By CHRIS HOBBS HobbsDailyReport.com Collecting sports cards – baseball, football and basketball — is a hobby that keeps me young. A lot of fans who love sports, especially at the pro level, can often associate a particular player with a year/time in their life much like music/songs can also do for others. Had an interesting chat this week at lunch ...
  • TODAY’S BLAST FROM THE PAST: Start of a state high school record book - By CHRIS HOBBS HobbsDailyReport.com One of the things I spent a good amount of time on in my early sports reporting career was a push toward establishing a much-needed North Carolina High School Record Book. It doesn’t seem that long ago – 26 years actually – that many of the state’s newspaper reporters who were assigned to prep coverage worked ...