Vikings Fall to Maroon Devils in Opening Round

The Avery Vikings lost a tight contest to the Swain County Maroon Devils by a final score of 15-8 at MacDonald Stadium Friday night.

Swain took a 15-0 lead with the help of a generous Avery defense, who fumbled three times in the opening half while throwing a pair of interceptions. Avery suffered an additional setback late in the first half when starting quarterback Adam Pate suffered a leg injury and did not return to the contest.

The only Viking touchdown in the game came courtesy of a 79-yard Chris Childress punt return in the third quarter. Avery drove deep into Swain territory midway through the fourth quarter, but Avery could not capitalize.

Swain will travel to Mount Airy next week to take on the undefeated Granite Bears, who pasted North Moore by the final score of 79-0 last night. Avery closes its season with an overall record of 5-7, and a tie for second place in Western Highlands Conference play.

HIGHLANDER GAMEDAY

Who: Harriman Blue Devils (5-5) vs. Cloudland Highlanders (7-3)

Where: Cloudland is looking for the home crowd advantage as the contest is being played at Orr Field.

Weather: Partly Cloudy around 46 degrees with a feel like temp of 41 degrees. Winds from the west around 6 mph. (weather.com)

What’s at Stake: A trip to the second round of the TSSAA playoffs to face the winner of Grace Christian and Midway

What to watch: Both teams love to run the ball. The battle of the lines in the trenches could be the difference. Also with both teams running, turnovers could be magnified.

The Highlanders will host the Harriman Blue Devils on Friday night for the first round of TSSAA playoffs. The ‘Landers enter the playoffs as the #2 seed from Region 1, while the Blue Devils enter the contest as the #3 seed from Region 2. The Blue Devils are 5-5 and are coming off a 35-13 win over Oakdale, who went 0-10 this season. The Highlanders did not make the playoffs last season and Harriman’s road to Murfreesboro ended with a second round loss to Hampton 42-7. The two teams have met once before in the playoffs. In 1999 when both teams were in 2-A, the Blue Devils got the best of the ‘Landers winning 28-14 before losing in the state semifinals 35-8 to eventual state champion Goodpasture. Harriman has notable victories over Coalfield 28-20 and at Greenback 31-14. The Highlanders were 7-1 in the state of Tennessee including the last second victories over Grace Christian, Jellico, and rival Unaka. Kickoff is 7:00 at Orr Field. (The regular season games had been at 7:30)

Keep Checking the Avery Journal Times for updates on the playoffs.

Avery native Paul Johnson leads Navy to historic win over Notre Dame

It was an historic day for the Navy Midshipmen football program last Saturday as they defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish for the first time since 1963. Congratulations to Avery County native Paul Johnson in leading his team to the win!

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -It took 44 years and three overtimes for Navy to beat Notre Dame again.
The Midshipmen snapped an NCAA-record 43-game losing streak to the Fighting Irish on Saturday with a 46-44 victory in triple overtime.
Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada threw a 25-yard TD pass to Reggie Campbell on the first play of the third overtime, then found him again in the end zone for the 2-point conversion.
Notre Dame (1-8) cut the lead to two on a 5-yard TD run by Travis Thomas. But after a pass interference call gave Notre Dame a second-chance at the 2-point conversion, defensive lineman Michael Walsh and linebacker Irv Spencer tackled Thomas well short of the end zone.
It was the first time Navy (5-4) beat Notre Dame since a 35-14 win in 1963 when Roger Staubach was quarterback for the Midshipmen. The Midshipmen celebrated the long-awaited victory at midfield, jumping on top of each other.
"Wow, what a game," Navy coach Paul Johnson said. "I'm so happy for our players. Now they will have that they are the class that broke the streak and they won't have to hear any more about it."
For Notre Dame, it was its school-record fifth straight home loss, another low point in a season of lows.
"We lost the game. The streak doesn't mean anything to me," Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis said.
The Irish, who could do little to slow Navy's offense, held the Midshipmen to three-and-out late in the fourth quarter with the score tied at 28. Greg Veteto had the first punt of the game, and Tom Zbikowski returned it 32 yards to the Navy 38.
The Irish drove to the 24, but on fourth-and-8 Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis decided to go for it rather than attempt a field goal. Chris Kuhar-Pitters, who earlier returned a fumble 16 yards for a touchdown, sacked Evan Sharpley with 45 seconds left.
It was the fourth sack for Navy, which entered the game with five.
Notre Dame, which hadn't scored more than 20 points all season, led 21-14 at halftime, the first halftime lead for the Irish all season.
The two teams traded touchdowns most of the day and had just traded missed field goals when Kuhar-Pitters came up with his big play early in the fourth quarter. Sharpley dropped back to pass and was wrapped up by nose guard Nate Frazier and defensive end Michael Walsh knocked the ball loose. Kuhar-Pitters scooped up the loose ball and rumbled into the end zone.
Kaheaku-Enhada scored the 2-point conversion to give the Midshipmen a 28-21 lead.
The Irish responded, though, with a touchdown of their own as Thomas went in from 3 yards out with 3:25 remaining to tie it.

Ramblings on Playoffs

Since Jamie has already posted his first column on here, I thought I would join in on the fun. The fall is one of my favorite times of the year, and on Friday night that is even more so. Friday night begins the high school football playoffs, and there are some interesting matchups in Tennessee and North Carolina. A win means you come closer to your dream of a state championship, but a loss means that you can start practicing basketball earlier. There is never a team playing on any given Friday night that wants to lose, and that is even more so this week. I thought I would offer my take on some of the most interesting games on Friday Night.

Tennessee:

Harriman (5-5) vs. Cloudland (7-3)- On paper, this looks to be the most interesting matchup. Both teams are very solid and have great players. Neither team has a clear cut advantage on paper. This one may just come down to pride, and there is not shortage of that. The 'Landers have been the cardiac kids this season and that may serve them well in the playoffs. This is a game you don't want to miss if your a 'Lander fan. A cold Orr Field (The Weather Channel is calling for some snow showers Thursday Night and Friday Morning and a low around freezing for kickoff) will be rocking on Friday Night. (A preview of this matchup will be posted later on this week with the Highlander Gameday post!)

Trousdale County (7-3) vs. South Pitt. (10-0)- When I was working on projected brackets Friday Night, this matchup as a first round game blew my mind. I honestly thought I had made a mistake since it was so late, but it was the case. There was not a single seed set in Trousdale's region until Friday night. Many felt this would be a third round matchup this season, including myself. There may not be 2 other schools with so much football success. Honestly, this may be one of the most anticipated first round games. This is another pretty even matchup that will probably result in a lot of action.

Oak Ridge (9-1) at Dobyns Bennett (7-3)- From 1A to 5A, this game is a rematch from early in the season. Both teams have improved tremendously from when Oak Ridge left DB with a 14-7 win. This looks like another game to be a lot of fun.

North Carolina:

Swain (4-7) at Avery (5-6)- This game has to be the most intriguing. These two teams actually mirror each other on several aspects. The teams are almost equal. Jamie will have a better take on this game which is featured in today's Journal and may be in a later post.

Some other North Carolina games that will be quite interesting. Jamie may have more to add on these games:

Mitchell at Lincolnton: Mitchell controlled its own destiny after Avery upset Owen, but losses to Mountain Heritage and Avery last week have put the Mountaineers in a pretty even matchup with Lincolnton.

Independence vs. Page- This may not even be a close game, but it grabbed my attention because of the issues surronding Independence's coach. Independence boasted the nation's longest winning streak coming into the year, but have lost two games this season. One was last week to rival Butler after Coach Tom Knotts was suspended. If the Patriots let the off field issues affect them, Page will be more then delighted to move into the second round.

On Friday Night, the Avery Journal Times will have you covered for the football playoffs. We will have updates posted as soon as possible after the games. Friday night is a big night for the Avery Journal Times as both Avery and Cloudland will be at home. Since, you can only be at one place we will have you covered. Jamie will be in his usual perch high above MacDonald Stadium working on the radio. I will be at the Cloudland game as usual, so if you see me walking around don't be afraid to say hey. Enjoy the Playoffs!!

Avery County Parks and Recreation Named 2007 NRPA/NFL Local Agency Grant Recipient

Newland, NC, Oct 31, 2007 – This year over 200 agencies from parks and recreation, schools, and leagues applied for the 2007 National Football League (NFL) Youth Fund Local Agency Grant in partnership with the National Recreation & Park Association (NRPA). Each applicant submitted detailed information concerning the state of youth football within their community in order to qualify for funding through this competitive process. Both tackle and flag programs were considered for support across the country.
Avery County Parks and Recreation received funding support for local youth flag and tackle football in order to provide new equipment and volunteer background checks. These programs will effect over 160 youth every fall season.
Over 100 agencies received funding to enhance programs and create stability for the future of youth football at the grassroots level. Avery County Parks and Recreation was awarded a grant in the amount of $4,000. Director Robbie Willis stated “the award will go toward unifying our services in the area of youth football. A portion of these funds will be used to pay a one-time fee to a NRPA network provider of volunteer background checks, while another portion will be used as seed money for flag football and yet another portion will go toward tackle football equipment.” Willis concluded the department was very excited to be recognized by both the NFL and NRPA through this grant.

Edwards has Record Setting Day, Apps Dominate Citadel 45-24

The Appalachian State Mountaineers used the legs of Armanti Edwards, who was named National Offensive Player of the Week from The Sports Network and Southern Conference Co-Offensive Player of the Week, to defeat the Citadel Bulldogs. Edwards had a career day with 291 rushing yards and had touchdown runs of 80 and 25 yards. The 291 yards fell just 18 yards short of the national record of quarterback rushing yards (either division). The Apps took a 31-14 lead at the half as Edwards amassed a total offensive production of 341 yards in the first half alone and a total of 439. The Citadel made a charge as the second half started, scoring the first ten points of the half, but Kevin Richardson took control of the contest. The App defense stood up to the second half challenge to secure the win. The Apps return to "The Rock" on Saturday as they host Western Carolina for the Battle for the Old Mountain Jug.

For continuing coverage of the Appalachian State Mountaineers, continue to check out the Avery Journal Times Sports Blog.

Vikings Upset Mitchell; Host Maroon Devils in Playoffs Opening Round

On Friday night the Avery Vikings used a key fourth quarter drive and a blocked field goal to hold off the Mitchell Mountaineers 28-27 in Ledger. A Travis Thomas one-yard run that just cleared the pylon in the corner of the end zone drew Avery to within one point with 52 seconds remaining. An Adam Pate QB draw on the ensuing two-point conversion proved to be the difference.

The Mountaineers had one final opportunity with a 27-yard field goal attempt by Jesse Mimkin with 3.2 seconds remaining in the game, but the Vikings special teams rose up to block the kick and preserve the win.

Avery finishes the regular season with a 5-6 overall record, and hosts the Swain County Maroon Devils (4-7) out of the Smoky Mountain Conference.

Avery's portion of the 1-AA playoff bracket:

#8 Avery Co. vs. 9 Swain
#1 Mt. Airy vs. 16 North Moore
#5 Cherryville vs. 12 East Surry
#4 Albemarle vs. 13 East Montgomery







Swain County Maroon Devils (4-7, 4-2 SMC)
2007 Schedule:
08/17 @ Polk Co. L 0-20
08/24 Smoky Mountain L 0-9
08/31 Saint Stephens L 0-19
09/07 @ Franklin L 6-24
09/15 North Buncombe L 12-15
09/21 @ Robbinsville* L 25-33
10/05 @ Hayesville* L 20-21
10/12 Cherokee* W 20-16
10/19 Andrews* W 32-13
10/26 @ Rosman* W 24-14
11/02 Murphy* W 21-13

Much more on this week's playoff matchup in this week's edition of the Avery Journal-Times and here on the Blog!