Avery (7-3, 3-3 WHC) enters this week’s tilt tied in the conference with Mitchell (5-5, 3-3 WHC) as well as Hendersonville. The Mountaineers evened its mark last week with a 28-0 shutout of the Madison Patriots in Marshall.
Last season the Vikings needed a last minute touchdown pass on 4th-and-goal from Alex Villanueva to Andy Gonzalez to defeat Mitchell 42-38 in Ledger.
Scouting the Mountaineers
On the field, the Mountaineers are coached by Russell Barnett and offensively will utilize a spread attack, as well as an I formation. Both Justin Hughes (25-of-51 passing, 478 yards, 3 TD) and Troy Self have seen time at the quarterback position, with senior running back Shawn Jackson anchoring the Mountaineer running attack.
Mitchell has attempted only 81 passes all season, but when the team throws the football, the target has usually been Ryan Sparks, who leads the squad with 268 yards. Corey Greene is the only other receiver with over 100 yards for the season (101 yards on four catches), reinforcing the desire that the Mountaineers look to the ground game to generate yards and points on opponents.
On the defensive side of the football, Ben Smith leads the club with 71 tackles, with 58 from Styles and 50 from Jackson. Josh McClellan has pulled down 44 tackles for the Mountaineers, with 40 tackles from teammate Dayshawn Blackmon and 39 from Hughes. Styles leads the Mitchell defense with 5.5 sacks this season.
Beyond the game of football, if any school, community, or team knows something about the ability to exhibit grace and dignity through adversity, it has been Mitchell. The football team was rocked shortly before the season began when a truck accident affected six of the team’s players. A couple of months later, the loss of two students in an automobile crash further tested the resolve of the community.
Through it all, the football team of around 22 players and the community has rallied together. The Mountaineers continued to play with great heart and determination while representing their school and community, despite doing so at times with heavy hearts. For that alone, those who take the field in purple this week deserve to be commended and applauded by fans at MacDonald Stadium who support home and visiting teams alike.
The Low Down
The old adage about throwing the records out when rivals play each other always seems to apply to the Mitchell/Avery series. There is usually no team that the other one wishes to defeat more than the opponent across the field this week.
The formula for the Vikings to pick up a victory begins with the defense stopping the rushing attack of Mitchell. As a whole this season, Avery has fared well in stopping the run defensively, while the team has shown a little weakness defending good passing squads.
Unless Mitchell veers away sharply from its general weekly game plan this week, don’t expect the Mountaineers to be flinging the football around the yard on Friday. Offensively, Avery has to limit penalties and take care of the football. Avery amassed over 70 yards in penalties last week, while a pair of interceptions were turned into points at Mountain Heritage, putting the Big Red in a hole it could not escape from.
Mitchell must be prepared for both the Avery running and passing game this week, something the team has seen before in the Polk Wolverines and handled to the tune of a 24-23 upset win in Ledger just a few short weeks ago.
Two players may well reflect the fortunes of their respective teams this week. If Shawn Jackson finds success running the football on the Viking defense, Mitchell will be primed to spring what some would call an upset on the road in Newland.
On the Avery side of the ledger, quarterback Alex Villanueva must find receivers with the efficiency he showed in the fourth quarter of last week’s game against the Cougars, where he and the Viking offense were within a possession of overcoming a 21-point deficit.
The formula is boring and simple, yet continues to ring true. Teams that take care of the football win games. Whichever squad forces the most turnovers should walk off the turf this week with a victory and, maybe more importantly, much needed momentum into next Friday’s first round of the state 1-AA football playoffs.
By the Numbers:
0 – points surrendered by Mitchell in a 28-point win over the Madison Patriots last week.
2 – touchdown receptions from Avery wide receiver Hunter Shields in last week’s contest against Mountain Heritage.
50 – number of times the Mountaineers ran the football in last Friday’s win, good for 287 rushing yards.
95- rushing yards gained by Madison on 22 attempts in last Friday’s 28-0 Mitchell victory.
106 – yards rushing on 22 attempts by Mitchell running back Shawn Jackson in last season’s 42-38 loss.
132 – rushing yards by Colton Blackburn (on just 10 carries) in last year’s meeting in Ledger.
1,412 – passing yards by Avery quarterback Alex Villanueva in six games this season, with 16 touchdowns.
For a full recap of this week’s Mitchell/Avery contest, as well as a preview of Avery’s first round opponent in the NCHSAA 1-AA state football playoffs which begin on Friday, November 12, read next week’s edition of The Avery Journal-Times
