Page 6B-THE KINGS MOUNTAIN HERALD-Thursday, November 1, 1990
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ANOTHER BELL RINGER - Reserve running back Diron Bell
(9) picks up some good yardage for Kings Mountain's Mountaineers
in Friday’ s Southwestern 3-A Conference football game at North
Kings Mountain's Mountaineers
could have just about named the
score they wanted to defeat North
Gaston by in Friday's Southwestern
3-A Conference game at North's
Trudnak Stadium.
But, rather than run up a big
Hicks was happy to settle for a 33-
0 victory and take advantage of the
situation by allowing all of his
players plenty of playing time.
The Mountaineers scored two
touchdowns in the first three min-
utes of the game and had a 26-0
unties
lead by halftime. Coach Hicks sent
his first team on the field for the
first drive of the second half--
which resulted in another touch-
down--and then turned the game
over to the reserves.
Many players who have seen
more time on the sidelines than on
the playing field this year got to
have some fun and show
Mountaineer fans a sampling of
things to come next year. Although
the reserves didn't score they did
mount some impressive drives and
played excellent defense.
on a 44-yard
THE BELL TOLLS - Kings Mountain's Victor Bell (40) is loose
touchdown in run in Friday's football game at North
(Gaston. The Mountaineers won 33-0 and will close out their season
at home this w En ight Bg first place East Rutherford.
Gaston. Coach Denny Hicks was able to play all of his players in the
big 33-0 victory. Kings Mountain closes out its season Friday at 8
p.m. at John Gamble Stadium against East Rutherford's Cavaliers.
"We were really pleased with the
way we played after coming off a
big victory the week before over
Shelby," Coach Hicks said. "We
went out and played fairly sharp
early in the game. We were con-
cerned going in. Even though
North Gaston's had some problems
this year they have four or five re-
ally good football players."
The Mountaineers took the
opening kickoff and drove 65 yards
for a 7-0 lead. D.J. Williams scored
from two yards out and Kevin
Moss booted the point-after.
On North Gaston's first posses=
sion, the KM defense doused any
hopes the Wildcats may have had
for an upset. Backed up inside their
own 20, the Wildcats had to punt
and KM's Scottie Hopper put on a
one-man rush and blocked it. Diron
Bell picked the ball up at the eight
and ran into the end zone for a 13-
0 Mountaineer lead.
Kings Mountain went on to roll
up 183 of its 308 yards rushing in
the first half and added two more
TDs in the second quarter on runs
of seven yards by Jeff Lockhart
and 44 yards by Victor Bell.
After North Gaston failed to pro-
duce any yardage after the second
half kickoff, the Mountaineers
drove their first possession 60
yards for the final score of the
night. Lockhart covered the final
45 yards, giving him two touch-
downs and 112 yards rushing in
just nine carries.
"Coming out in the second half,
we felt like it was really important
that our first group make some-
thing happen offensively and de-
fensively," Coach Hicks said. "We
wanted to make sure we kept the
game under control. We wanted ev-
erybody to play hard and we were
concerned that a little letdown
would result in injuries.
"Our kids accepted the challenge
real well," he added. "They played
hard and we were able to play a lot
Skin 'Cats 33-
of kids almost two-thirds of the
third quarter and all of the fourth
quarter. We even had a chance to
look at some prospective tailbacks
for next year."
Eleven different players rushed
the football for the Mountaineers
and reserves gained 77 yards.
Diron Bell had the biggest night
for the reserves with 41 yards in
eight carries.
The reserves twice marched in-
side the Wildcat 15 in the fourth
quarter but North Gaston was able
to keep them out of the end zone.
Cavaliers Here
| Friday Night
For Final Game
It will be "role reversal" time
Friday when Kings Mountain's
Mountaineers host East
Rutherford's Cavaliers in the final
football game of the 1990 season.
A year ago, the Mountaineers
were flying high and preparing to
go into the state 3-A playoffs when
they were embarrassed 48-14 at
East Rutherford in the final regular
season game. East, which finished
7-3, had played outstanding foot-
ball but because of narrow losses
to Shelby, Burns and South Point
had no chance to make the play-
offs.
This year, the Mountaineers
have played outstanding football
but an unexpected 27-0 loss at R-S
Central and a tough 16-13 setback
at Burns have eliminated them
from post-season play. East
Rutherford, though, has the top
playoff seed wrapped up.
Coach Dennis Hicks and his
Mountaineers would love to repay
East Rutherford for last year's loss.
Hicks doesn't expect the
Mountaineers to beat the Cavaliers
48-14 but he knows if his men play
as well as they're capable of play-
ing they can beat the SWC champi-
ons.
"Quite obviously, they are the
premiere team in the league,"
Hicks said. "They do a lot of things
extremely well on offense and de-
fense. They caused us problems the
last two years and they just totally
embarrassed us last year."
East Rutherford, 5-0 in the con-
ference and 8-1 overall, is not as
big as they've been in past years
but Hicks says they're much quick-
er. "I think speed always out-per-
forms just pure size," he said.
The Cavaliers played well early
in the season but they really began
to shine after their first and second
string quarterbacks were injured
and third stringer Dennis Logan
took control of the team.
"He has added a whole new di-
mension to their offense,” Hicks
said. "He's an exceptional runner.
They'll bring him out on a bootleg
and let him try to outrun you, and
he'll fake to the fullback and pull
the linebackers up and throw the
ball. He's a very accurate thrower.
He throws well underneath and is
strong enough to throw deep. He's
a good all-around athlete."
The Cavaliers' leading rusher is
big fullback Robert Gray, who ran
roughshod over the Mountaineers
last year. He's being recruited by
most major colleges in the south-
eastern United States.
"All the coaches I've talked to
say they've gone into the East
game saying Gray's pretty much
going to get his yardage and they
just try to stop the rest of the
team," Hicks said. "I don't know if
we'll take that approach or not. He
does a good job of getting big
yardage up the middle and off tack-
le. They'll also fake to him and
give the ball to one of their scat
backs and they they're off to the
races."
Hicks said he believes the
Cavaliers are better than they were
last year. "The have more fire pow-
er on offense with Logan at quar-
terback,” he said. "They've always
played a real aggressive, disruptive
type of defense. They get a lot of
people on you."
But Hicks says all of his players
are at top physical condition and he
See Football, 8-B
Photos By Gary Stewart
UH, OH! - North Gaston quarterback Neil Mintz (12) has nowhere to go as Kings Mountain defenders
Jon Hicks (77) and Scott Pearson (52) close in for the sack in Friday's Southwestern 3-A Conference foot-
ball game at North Gaston's Trudnak Stadium. The Mountaineers jumped on top early and rolled to a 33-
0 victory. Kings Mountain closes out its season Friday at 8 p.m. at John Gamble Stadium against first
place East Rutherford.
Making Jump To 'Sguared Circle’
TERENCE LADD
Kings Mountain sports fans will remember him as
; | Terence Blalock, a sharp shooting forward who helped
lead Kings Mountain's Mountaineers to back-to-back
Southwestern Conference basketball titles in 1981 and
'82.
But today he's Terence Ladd, a professional wrestler
/{ who hopes to capture the heavyweight championship
from the Russian Assassin in a big PWF (Professional
Wrestling Federation) card November 8 at the Kings
Mountain National Guard Armory.
Unless you look him directly in the face, you're not
likely to recognize him. He weighs 270 pounds, com-
pared to 175 when he was a basketball star at KMHS,
and is so muscular his muscles have muscles.
Blalock took an interest in boxing and wrestling
when he was in the U.S. Air Force and was encour-
aged by the Mexican professional wrestling champ,
Elgrande Marco, to pursue a wrestling career.
After he got out of the Air Force, Marco put him in
contact with Gene Anderson, one of the members of
the famous Minnesota Wrecking Crew of the National
Wrestling Alliance, and Anderson began training him
in 1988.
"Anderson doesn't actually run a training school, but
he hand picks certain people that he thinks can make it
big in professional wrestling," Blalock said. "After a
lengthy training period, I got into the NWA and start-
ing appearing in independent shows around here."
Blalock took the professional name Ladd and is
billed as the nephew of "Big Cat" Ernie Ladd, who
turned professional wrestler after retiring from profes-
sional football. He's now retired from wrestling.
Blalock has wrestled against some of the NWA's top
stars, including Stan Hansen, Ivan Koloff, the
Fantastics, Doom, and others. He started his career try-
ing to be a "Bad Guy" but couldn't get the crowd to
boo him.
"Maybe it was the smiling face," he joked.
The pay's good and Blalock hopes to make it big in
the NWA soon.
"I expect to be in the NWA on a regular basis in two
or three more years when I get more experience,” he
said. "I hope to strive for some championships there."
The match in Kings Mountain November 8 will be
his biggest so far.
"The Russian Assassin will be a tough opponent,"
he says. "If I win the title that'll be a feather in my cap
and give me more recognition."
Blalock says most of his close friends in Kings
Mountain know he's now a professional wrestler but
this may be news to many sports fans here.
“It's a big transition, jumping from the hoops to the
squared circle," he said. "It takes a lot of weight train-
ing." ;
Blalock played basketball for his father, John
Blalock, at KMHS. He teamed with Demetris Goode,
Carl Smith, and others to lead the Mountaineers to a
25-2 record in 1981 and a 28-2 mark in 1982. Both
years the Mountaineers were knocked out of the state
playoffs in the district finals against teams (Burns and
Shelby) which they had beaten several times during
the regular season. In the '82 finals played at the
KMHS gym, the Mountaineers were upset by Shelby
in four overtimes. After graduation, he played three
years at Cameron University in Lawton, Okla.
Tickets for the November 8 card here are on sale at
Allen's Flower Shop and 1-Hour Cleaners. Action be-
gins at 7:30 p.m. Fans can save one dollar off the ad-
mission price by buying their tickets in advance.
In addition to the heavyweight title match between
Ladd and the Assassin, the Italian Stallion will battle
SST Samoan in a grudge match and several other top
stars will also be in action.
For more information about the matches, call 739-
4741.