By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
Foard has won four straight varsity football games, its longest win streak since winning five games in the 2008 season.
NEWTON — Fred T. Foard High’s 55-34 victory at St. Stephens on Friday night gave the Tigers a four-game win streak as they head into Friday night’s game at Patton.
Foard (4-1) and Patton (3-2) kick off a Northwestern Foothills 2A opener at 7:30 p.m.
After visiting Maiden beat the Tigers 37-14 to open the season, Foard has won 23-17 at Bandys, 40-26 at North Lincoln, 22-20 over West Lincoln and then at St. Stephens.
The last four-win streak for the Tigers came in 2008, when they also had a separate five-game win streak within the same season.
That team went 9-3, losing to North Buncombe in the first round of the state playoffs after finishing third in the Catawba Valley Athletic 2A-3A (7-2).
It was the sixth of Ryan Getty’s eight seasons as Foard’s head coach and one of his three state playoff teams.
THE LAST TIME
The last time Foard’s varsity football team won four straight was nine years ago (2008), when the Tigers also had a five-game win streak:
Win streaks, 2008
5—After winning four straight (see below) before losing to Newton-Conover, defeated Hickory 47-28, Hibriten 21-20, West Caldwell 42-0, Bunker Hill 49-13, Bandys 35-28 before falling to St. Stephens 10-7 in a regular-season finale.
4—Defeated S. Caldwell 33-7, West Lincoln 33-0, Maiden 47-14 and Patton 48-733-7 S. Caldwell, 33-0 at W. Lincoln, 47-14 Maiden, 48-7 Patton before losing 29-20 to Newton-Conover at Foard.
Individual statistical leaders
RB Quinton Owens: 169-1,425 yards, 22 TDs… three games 100-199 yards, three games 200 or more yards
QB Landon Isenhour: 70-269 rushing, 5 TDs… 55-118-4 for 1,021 yards, 10 TDs passing.
Team highlights
Had 3,869 yards of total offense – 322.4 per game – and scored 42 rushing TDs and 10 via passing… Forced 23 turnovers and had a plus-17 turnover ratio after losing just five fumbles and throwing only one interception in 12 games.
FROM THE PAST
1981
Fred T. Foard won six straight games, going 9-2 and falling in the opening round of the state playoffs under Foster.
The wins were in the first six games over Mountain Heritage, West Wilkes, A.C. Reynolds, Bessemer City, Bunker Hill and West Lincoln. Maiden ended the streak, beating the Tigers 16-0 at Foard in the seventh game of the season.
Marshall Shuford — one of the top running backs in Fred T. Foard football history (left) — with his dad. Shuford now lives in Atlanta./FACEBOOK PHOTO
The Tigers averaged 331.1 yards on offense and 273.1 of that was from a running game led by RBs Marshall Shuford (22 rushing TDs) and Brian Kimball (nine rushing TDs).
1982
The Tigers won eight straight games in 1982, the year they went 10-2 and beat Southwest Guilford to win a West 2A Division II title under head coach Dick Foster.
That season, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) had a secondary playoff bracket for teams that did not win conference championships or didn’t get into the main playoffs.
After going 2-2 to start the season, Foard beat Bunker Hill, West Lincoln, Maiden, Newton-Conover, Cherryville and Bandys in regular-season games and Franklin and Southwest Guilford in the Division II bracket.
Despite a 35-turnover season (23 lost fumbles – 17 in the first seven games – and 12 interceptions), Foard won behind a defense that forced 42 turnovers – including 20 interceptions – and gave up a mere 178.9 yards per game (111.1 rush, 67.8 pass).
A.C. Reynolds gained 408 yards against the Tigers but only three other foes had more than 200 yards.
Kimball ran for 21 touchdowns and caught two TD passes to spark the Foard offense. Steve Buchanan played QB and Kenny Wagner was the kicker (24 PATs).