Victor Hicks III's Page

8/28/09 - Plymouth's defense, QB Hicks spark second-half comeback in 25-11 victory
BY ED WRIGHT / plymouthcantonsports.com or (734) 453-1980
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His team trailed cross-campus rival Salem 11-3 at halftime Friday night, but Plymouth coach Mike Sawchuk stayed calm and collected when he addressed his team in the locker room.
"Coach told us he still believed in us and that he knew we had it in us," said Victor Hicks. "I just don't know if he knew where it was going to come from."
It ended up coming from Hicks, the Wildcats' elusive back-up quarterback who engineered three second-half touchdown drives in Plymouth's 25-11 victory.
Hicks entered the game late in the second quarter after starting quarterback Ryan Barrera suffered an apparent shoulder injury.
On a night when big offensive plays were few and far between, Hicks lit a fire under the Wildcats, tossing a pair of second-half TD passes while running for a team-high 48 yards on nine carries.
Hicks kept several plays alive with his quick feet, including a crucial 13-yard, third-and-9 scramble with 1:58 left that led to the Wildcats' icing-on-the-cake touchdown -- a 16-yard TD pass to Jake Morris.
"At first, I wasn't going to play tonight because I got hurt in practice," Hicks said. "When Ryan got hurt and coach put me in at the end of the second quarter, I was prepared. I felt it was my time to shine." The Wildcats drew even with 25 seconds remaining in the first quarter when junior kicker Kyle Brindza drilled a 47-yard field goal. The kick cleared the cross bar with 10 yards to spare.

"We hurt ourselves in the first half," said Sawchuk. "We only gave up one big play, but we had three turnovers and a bad snap that led to a safety.
"I told the guys at halftime that life is all about dealing with adversity. You can either step up or go the wrong way. I didn't scream and yell. I just told them we're going to coach you and put you in a position to win, but you have to execute."

TURNING THE TABLES
The Wildcats heeded their coach's advice, knotting the game at 11-11 with 1:20 left in the third quarter when Tony Rhodes capped a 10-play, 59-yard drive with a 1-yard scoring plunge. Hicks lofted a perfect pass to Beyer in the corner of the end zone for the game-tying two-point conversion.
After forcing Salem into a three-and-out, Plymouth took over at its 49 and scored seven plays later when Hicks hit a diving Beyer in the back-left corner of the end zone from 21 yards out. Brindza's extra point made it 18-11.
Salem crafted a solid drive on its next possession, however, it stalled at midfield when Trublowski was stoned at the line of scrimmage by Daryl Cohn and Co. on a fourth-and-1 play with 4:58 left. Just under four minutes later, Hicks hit Morris with the clinching 16-yard scoring pass.

UNYIELDING 'D'
Led by Beyer, Cohn, Tyler Goble, Jacob Zawaski and Austin Gosnell, the Wildcats' defense sacked Peterson six times and limited the Rocks' offense to 88 total yards.
Paced by Hicks' 129 all-purpose yards, Plymouth amassed 187 total yards.
Neither team's running game could get untracked. Tommy Whitlow was the 'Cats' most productive running back, picking up 34 yards on 12 carries while Trublowski gained 24 on 16 attempts.
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August 28, 2009 - Rallying Wildcats slip past Rocks, 25-11
BY TIM SMITH / OBSERVER STAFF WRITER

Plymouth Wildcats head coach Mike Sawchuk urged his football team to get up off the floor after a sluggish first half on opening night Friday against Salem.

The pep talk, and the scrambling and passing ability of substitute quarterback Victor Hicks during the second half, sparked the Wildcats to a 25-11 WLAA crossover win.

The Rocks, trying to make their new coach Kurt Britnell’s first game a winner, were up 11-3 at the intermission and Sawchuk decided to throw in his two cents. “We turned the ball over three times, we blew a coverage on third-and-12 and we bit on a quick screen instead of playing deep,” Sawchuk said, recalling the events that contributed to the halftime deficit. “We mentally were not into the game in the first half.”

Sawchuk then said he asked his players in the locker room if they knew how to deal with adversity. “Do you fold your tents or do you gather yourself and get it done?” the Plymouth coach said. “That’s why football is like life. You have things that happen to you in life and you either go down the wrong road or you man up and do the right thing.”

The right things started happening after junior Hicks took over at quarterback in the third quarter. Senior Plymouth starter Ryan Barrera got nicked up during the first half and Sawchuk put Hicks into the PCEP spotlight on a drizzly night.

“Vic came in a did a great job for us,” Sawchuk said. “That scramble ability is crazy. ... It opens everything else up. If they don’t stay in their pass rush lanes, it’s off to the races, which is a good dimension to have.”

With Salem up 11-3, and both teams not managing much of anything on offense, the Wildcats marched 58 yards in 10 plays and scored on a 1-yard run by junior tailback Anthony Rhodes to make it 11-9 Salem. Then, a two-point pass from Hicks (4-of-8, 76 yards, two TDs passing and another 33 yards rushing) to junior wideout Brennen Beyer evened the contest with 1:20 left in the frame.

But there were two key plays registered by Hicks during that drive as he refused to be stopped. On a third-and-seven at Salem’s 40, the quarterback went back to pass and decided to run himself — scampering for 11 yards and a first down.

Then, on second-and-eight at the 27, a high snap bounced off Hicks’ fingers, but he managed to field it and then launched a 25-yard pass to senior wide receiver Alexander Ruffin-Johnson to move the ball down to the one. “My favorite part of the game for me is the breakdown play, to see what I can make out of it,” Hicks said. “I mean, on third-and-10 we need at least 10 yards to keep the drive alive.”

With 8:21 left in the fourth quarter, the Wildcats padded their lead to 18-11 when Hicks threw a high pass into the corner of the end zone that Beyer caught for the 20-yard TD.

Plymouth opened up a two-TD spread with 1:07 remaining when Hicks connected on a 23-yard touchdown pass to junior Jacob Morris.