Toe River Conference Football Regular Season Winding Down
Last week, both Avery Middle School and Cranberry Middle School football teams were in action. On Tuesday, September 21st, the Panthers from Avery Middle hosted the Harris Blue Devils, defeating them by a 28-0 final score. On the same evening, the Cranberry Middle School Wildcats hosted Panthers from East Yancey Middle School, falling by a 22-8 final score.
In Cranberry, the Wildcats utilized a ball-control running game in an attempt to keep the game close and the score low.
Cranberry received the opening kickoff but fumbled the football, which East Yancey recovered. The Panthers capitalized on the turnover by driving the football downfield for the vast majority of the first quarter, eventually crossing the goal line for a touchdown and the game’s first points. The two-point conversion was successful for an 8-0 Panther lead.
The Wildcat offense worked to march the pigskin downfield, but the East defense was tough in holding Cranberry on downs to give the ball back to the visitors. Late in the second quarter, East Yancey worked the ball on the Cranberry defense and punched across another touchdown. The two-point conversion was again successful to push the Yancey County team ahead by a 16-0 margin.
“Even at halftime we still felt pretty good about our chances to come back. They were just a little more physical and a little bigger, and it was harder to get the ball to the outside on them,” Wildcats head coach Kent Hayes said after the contest.
East Yancey received the second half kickoff and scored with its first series to extend its lead to 22-0. Cranberry showed great heart and fire in not giving up despite the score. The club rallied to put together its strongest drive of the night late in the third quarter, resulting in a touchdown on a long pass play from quarterback Shane Carpenter to wide receiver Kasey Ross.
“Kasey has scored a touchdown for us in just about every game this season. He scored our lone touchdown against Cane River and he’s been one of our go-to receivers with great hands,” Coach Hayes said of his receiver.
The Wildcats made good on its two-point conversion attempt when Caleb Stansberry carried the ball across the goal line out of the Wildcat formation to provide for the final 22-8 margin.
“I told the guys at the half that the least we could do was go out there and win the second half, and we were able to do so. East Yancey is a balanced team. We were worried about the Cash kid getting to the outside running on us with his speed, so we concentrated in practice during the week on keeping him inside. East really did a lot to grind it out, a lot like a Mountain Heritage would do with misdirection running the football,” Coach Hayes explained. “They had the one kid who was a strong runner and was faster than anyone on our side, and he probably hurt us more with his speed on defense than he did on offense.”
Overall, the coach was proud of how his kids played with passion and hopes to continue to see that effort through the rest of the season.
“I was proud of how our kids never hung their heads and didn’t quit. They played hard for the entire game, and we’ve got to keep working to get better,” Coach Hayes stated.
Meanwhile in Newland, the Avery Panthers tussled with the Harris Blue Devils in another Toe River Conference showdown. Avery scored all 28 of its points in the first half, 13 in the first quarter and 15 points in the second, to put Harris away early. Avery rushed in the first half for 136 yards on just seven carries with a pair of touchdowns.
Austin Phillips and Wade Smith each scored for the Panthers, while the Avery defense pitched a shutout, holding Harris to just three total yards for the game while recording nine quarterback sacks.
The Panthers used a number of reserves in the second half and primarily kept the football on the ground to close out an impressive victory.
“At halftime we’d decided to call off the dogs, change formations, and run clock rather than try to score. Generally we tried to avoid the outside and wanted to chew up time, and with our first drive in the third quarter we took several minutes and was successful in doing what we wanted, “Avery head coach Donnie Johnson said after the win. “We worked to get every one of our reserves into the game, and the guys who came in did a great job. Even with all the players we used, the defense was able to hold Harris to only three yards. All around we had one of our best performances of the year.”
Avery and Cranberry played one another on Tuesday, September 28th in the 29th renewal of the Brad King Bowl. Proceeds from the game benefited Carolina Skye Odom, a local child and family with medical and financial need. A full report of this year’s intracounty skirmish can be found in next week’s edition.
Lady Panthers Volleyball Finishes Regular Season with Three Straight Wins, Avenges Loss to Lady Wildcats
In Cranberry, the Wildcats utilized a ball-control running game in an attempt to keep the game close and the score low.
Cranberry received the opening kickoff but fumbled the football, which East Yancey recovered. The Panthers capitalized on the turnover by driving the football downfield for the vast majority of the first quarter, eventually crossing the goal line for a touchdown and the game’s first points. The two-point conversion was successful for an 8-0 Panther lead.
The Wildcat offense worked to march the pigskin downfield, but the East defense was tough in holding Cranberry on downs to give the ball back to the visitors. Late in the second quarter, East Yancey worked the ball on the Cranberry defense and punched across another touchdown. The two-point conversion was again successful to push the Yancey County team ahead by a 16-0 margin.
“Even at halftime we still felt pretty good about our chances to come back. They were just a little more physical and a little bigger, and it was harder to get the ball to the outside on them,” Wildcats head coach Kent Hayes said after the contest.
East Yancey received the second half kickoff and scored with its first series to extend its lead to 22-0. Cranberry showed great heart and fire in not giving up despite the score. The club rallied to put together its strongest drive of the night late in the third quarter, resulting in a touchdown on a long pass play from quarterback Shane Carpenter to wide receiver Kasey Ross.
“Kasey has scored a touchdown for us in just about every game this season. He scored our lone touchdown against Cane River and he’s been one of our go-to receivers with great hands,” Coach Hayes said of his receiver.
The Wildcats made good on its two-point conversion attempt when Caleb Stansberry carried the ball across the goal line out of the Wildcat formation to provide for the final 22-8 margin.
“I told the guys at the half that the least we could do was go out there and win the second half, and we were able to do so. East Yancey is a balanced team. We were worried about the Cash kid getting to the outside running on us with his speed, so we concentrated in practice during the week on keeping him inside. East really did a lot to grind it out, a lot like a Mountain Heritage would do with misdirection running the football,” Coach Hayes explained. “They had the one kid who was a strong runner and was faster than anyone on our side, and he probably hurt us more with his speed on defense than he did on offense.”
Overall, the coach was proud of how his kids played with passion and hopes to continue to see that effort through the rest of the season.
“I was proud of how our kids never hung their heads and didn’t quit. They played hard for the entire game, and we’ve got to keep working to get better,” Coach Hayes stated.
Meanwhile in Newland, the Avery Panthers tussled with the Harris Blue Devils in another Toe River Conference showdown. Avery scored all 28 of its points in the first half, 13 in the first quarter and 15 points in the second, to put Harris away early. Avery rushed in the first half for 136 yards on just seven carries with a pair of touchdowns.
Austin Phillips and Wade Smith each scored for the Panthers, while the Avery defense pitched a shutout, holding Harris to just three total yards for the game while recording nine quarterback sacks.
The Panthers used a number of reserves in the second half and primarily kept the football on the ground to close out an impressive victory.
“At halftime we’d decided to call off the dogs, change formations, and run clock rather than try to score. Generally we tried to avoid the outside and wanted to chew up time, and with our first drive in the third quarter we took several minutes and was successful in doing what we wanted, “Avery head coach Donnie Johnson said after the win. “We worked to get every one of our reserves into the game, and the guys who came in did a great job. Even with all the players we used, the defense was able to hold Harris to only three yards. All around we had one of our best performances of the year.”
Avery and Cranberry played one another on Tuesday, September 28th in the 29th renewal of the Brad King Bowl. Proceeds from the game benefited Carolina Skye Odom, a local child and family with medical and financial need. A full report of this year’s intracounty skirmish can be found in next week’s edition.
Lady Panthers Volleyball Finishes Regular Season with Three Straight Wins, Avenges Loss to Lady Wildcats
The Avery Lady Panthers evened its record at 5-5 on the season with an impressive straight set victory over the Cranberry Lady Wildcats on Monday evening, September 27th at home.
It was the final home game for nine 8th graders, and Avery was looking for payback after the Lady Wildcats came-from-behind to upend Avery in their first meeting in Cranberry earlier in the month.The Lady Panthers were strong from the early going, using solid teamwork and steady serving to pick up a number of points. Avery won the opening set in the best-of-three format by a 25-18 score.
The Lady Panthers opened up an early 8-1 advantage in set two and never let the lead shrink to less than five the rest of the game as Avery closed out the match by winning the second set by the final score of 25-15.
It was the final home game for nine 8th graders, and Avery was looking for payback after the Lady Wildcats came-from-behind to upend Avery in their first meeting in Cranberry earlier in the month.The Lady Panthers were strong from the early going, using solid teamwork and steady serving to pick up a number of points. Avery won the opening set in the best-of-three format by a 25-18 score.
The Lady Panthers opened up an early 8-1 advantage in set two and never let the lead shrink to less than five the rest of the game as Avery closed out the match by winning the second set by the final score of 25-15.
Avery has shown much improvement since their previous defeat to Cranberry.
“We’ve come a long way with our skills and a number of our girls have improved a lot,” Avery Lady Panthers head coach Stephanie Huff said following her team’s victory. “We had girls barely able to serve the ball in August, and the girls are doing a better job with their foot movement and with their talking. The biggest thing I’ve seen is that the girls have never given up. They have not given up in the past three games and continue to play hard.”
The Lady Panthers have won three consecutive games and, outside of the undefeated Cane River Lady Rebels, carry the most momentum into this Saturday’s Toe River Conference volleyball tournament at Cane River Middle School.
“We really have nothing to lose going into the tournament. It could be a wide open tournament and all the teams are strong,” Coach Huff stated. “I feel positive that whoever we play, we’ll give them a run for their money.”
Cranberry has four losses on the season and has one game remaining this Thursday evening before Saturday’s tournament. A report on this weekend’s tournament can be found in next week’s edition of The Avery Journal-Times.
“We’ve come a long way with our skills and a number of our girls have improved a lot,” Avery Lady Panthers head coach Stephanie Huff said following her team’s victory. “We had girls barely able to serve the ball in August, and the girls are doing a better job with their foot movement and with their talking. The biggest thing I’ve seen is that the girls have never given up. They have not given up in the past three games and continue to play hard.”
The Lady Panthers have won three consecutive games and, outside of the undefeated Cane River Lady Rebels, carry the most momentum into this Saturday’s Toe River Conference volleyball tournament at Cane River Middle School.
“We really have nothing to lose going into the tournament. It could be a wide open tournament and all the teams are strong,” Coach Huff stated. “I feel positive that whoever we play, we’ll give them a run for their money.”
Cranberry has four losses on the season and has one game remaining this Thursday evening before Saturday’s tournament. A report on this weekend’s tournament can be found in next week’s edition of The Avery Journal-Times.
