This Friday, November 12, the roles will be reversed, as the seasoned Vikings (8-3) host the youthful Yellow Jackets (1-10) in a rare opportunity to avenge a setback almost a year to the day of last season’s loss.
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| Avery's 17 seniors begin their final run at a state football championship this Friday night at home against Bessemer City. |
Scouting the Yellow Jackets:
The Bessemer City Yellow Jackets are members of the Southern Piedmont 1A/2A Conference and are coached by Larry Boone (seventh season; 30-54 overall record). The Yellow Jackets returned six offensive starters and four defensive starters from the club that faced Avery in 2009.
Leading the charge for Bessemer City has been senior defensive lineman/tight end Jordan Coleman (6’2”, 250 lb.). Coleman was an All-Conference performer in 2009 and is on his way to similar honors in 2010. Coleman’s excellence on and off the gridiron has fostered interest from multiple colleges, including Duke, East Carolina, Georgia Southern, Western Carolina, and Catawba. As well, junior teammate Zack Cole has stepped up for the Jackets with 90 tackles to lead the club through the end of the regular season.
Offensively, the team looked over the summer to implement the spread offense, but within the past month chose to move away from the spread and back into a familiar double-wing option offense to take advantage of its speed in the backfield.
Triggering the offense earlier in the season was sophomore Brad James, who took over for graduated 2009 All-Conference quarterback Xavier Logan. One of James’ top performances of the season came in the lone Yellow Jackets victory this season, a 36-21 win over Highland Tech on September 11th, when James completed 18 of 25 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns.
However, in recent games quarterbacking duties, especially in the option attack, has been the job of senior Travis Blake (60 rushes, 284 yards, 2 TD). Blake, who also plays at defensive back, serves as the most tenured member of the Yellow Jacket secondary.
Junior fullback Jhalen Adams (96 rushes, 547 yards, 8 TD) anchors the Bessemer City running game along with fellow runner Raheem McMiller (68 rushes, 222 yards, 2 TD).
When Bessemer City passes the football, the likely target will be D.J. Huskey. The senior wide receiver leads the club with 32 receptions for 484 yards and two touchdowns.
The Low Down:
On a consistent basis this season, the Vikings as a team has shown the penchant to effectively run the football. In last week’s win over Mitchell, the swirling wind gusts and snow forced the Big Red to rely almost exclusively on the ground game to grind out a hard-fought win.
The victory by Bessemer City over Avery last season marked only the second time in the school’s 85-year history that the team had won playoff games in back-to-back seasons. The only other time the school achieved the feat occurred in the mid-1950s.
Avery quarterback Alex Villanueva re-aggravated his surgically-repaired collarbone after being tackled in the waning moments of last week’s victory over Mitchell. His availability for this week’s contest will likely be a game-time decision.
Avery should need no added motivation for this week’s contest, and the squad should show no trepidation that can come with playing an unfamiliar opponent. The 1-AA West pod bracket (the new seeding format adopted by the NCHSAA this season) sets up well for the Vikings, who is the top seed in the pod and holds home-field advantage both this week and next week, should the team win its matchup with the Jackets.
The winner of this week’s contest faces the winner of the game between Swain County and Hendersonville.
By The Numbers:
4 – pass attempts by Avery in last week’s game against Mitchell
5- touchdown passes by Yellow Jackets quarterback Brad James this season (James has thrown 7 interceptions)
6- tackles by Bessemer City’s Jordan Coleman and Octavious Hopper in last week’s loss to Lincolnton
41 – average points per game scored by Yellow Jacket opponents this season
124- rushing yards by Avery running back Colton Blackburn last week against the Mountaineers
717 – receiving yards this season by Viking leading receiver Andy Gonzalez. Six other Avery pass catchers have at least 110 receiving yards this season.
Read next week’s edition of The Avery Journal-Times for a full recap of this week’s playoff game with Bessemer City, as well as a preview (if applicable) of Avery’s second-round playoff contest.
