On Friday night at MacDonald Stadium, the Avery Vikings honored its 16 football seniors and members of the cheerleading and band squads. Unfortunately the game ended on a sour note for the Big Red faithful, as the visiting Mitchell Mountaineers used a ball-control offense to dominate Avery 38-14 in the regular season finale for both clubs.The rivals struggled to build offensive momentum in the game’s early stages as the teams traded punts. It was the visitors from Ledger who drew first blood in the game, however, when Mountaineers junior quarterback Logan Jensen took a quarterback draw play and skirted through the Avery defense, speeding for an 84-yard touchdown run. The point after touchdown by kicker Jesse Mimken put Mitchell on top 7-0 at the 4:09 mark of the first quarter.
On the ensuing possession the Vikings held the football for the remainder of the period. The team was forced to make a fourth down decision with the opening play of the second quarter. Avery could attempt a field goal or try to convert a first down on 4th and 6 at the Mitchell 24-yard line. The Vikings tried a fake, but the Mountaineers managed to prevent quarterback Adam Pate from reaching the first down marker, turning the ball back over to the Mitchell offense.
With possession of the ball, Mitchell consumed over nine minutes of the second quarter clock on a 17-play, 68-yard scoring drive. The club converted a trio of third or fourth down plays to keep the drive alive, culminating the series with a seven-yard touchdown pass from Jensen to tight end Austin Burleson. The PAT gave the Mountaineers a 14-0 advantage with 2:35 left in the first half.
The momentum built from its last offensive possession continued as Avery used its next drive to hit pay dirt. Avery capitalized on a 67-yard run by quarterback Pate to get into the Mitchell red zone, and scored three plays later on a Pate one-yard sneak. Sutton Stanley’s PAT cut the Mitchell lead in half at 14-7 at halftime.
Mitchell took momentum of the game for good during the third quarter of action. The Mountaineers received the opening kickoff of the second half and trudged downfield to the tune of a 10-play, 61-yard drive that was capped off by five-yard head-over-heels jaunt into the end zone by Jensen, again moving the Mitchell lead to 14 points at 21-7 at the 7:35 mark in the third quarter.Avery held the pigskin for only two plays with its first series of the half. Pate completed a 17-yard pass to receiver Colton Blackburn, but was intercepted one play later by Mitchell QB-turned-defensive back Jensen.
Mitchell’s offense went back to work, pounding relentlessly on a tiring Viking defense that was on the field for long intervals all evening. An 11-play drive was completed in the final minute of the third quarter with a two-yard scoring run by Jensen, his third touchdown of the night pushed the Mountaineers further ahead at 28-7 after three quarters.
The two teams traded punts in the early moments of the fourth quarter, but the Mitchell defense, specifically linebacker Burleson, made a play that sealed Avery's fate when he intercepted a Pate pass and ran untouched for a 21-yard touchdown. Mitchell led 35-7 and tacked on a field goal midway through the period to up its lead to 38-7.
Avery refused to lay down in the game’s final minutes, however. The offense mounted one final drive in the game’s final three minutes, marching 80 yards over eight plays. Pate crossed the goal line for his second one-yard touchdown of the game with six seconds left, and the Stanley extra point closed the scoring.
The Vikings improved on its offensive performance from a week earlier, gaining 241 yards of total offense. The defense was unable to slow the Mountaineers, however, as the visitors gained 261 yards on the ground and 332 yards of total offense.
Senior Adam Pate paced the Big Red with ten rushes for 92 yards and a pair of touchdowns, with 33 yards on nine carries by fellow senior Chase Arrowood. Logan Jensen led Mitchell with 161 yards on 20 carries and three scores.
Mitchell improved to a final record of 3-8 on the season, but failed to qualify for the 2A high school playoffs. The loss dropped Avery’s final regular season record to 2-9.
Due to a total of only 74 total 1A high school teams across North Carolina, the Vikings qualified for the North Carolina high school playoffs as a number 14 seed, traveling this Friday night to take on a familiar foe in the #3 seeded Hendersonville Bearcats. Hendersonville defeated Avery 35-6 earlier this season in Newland.
