Avery fans are asked to “Pack the Mac” this week and attend Avery’s second round playoff game this Friday, Nov. 19, when the Vikings play host to the Swain Maroon Devils.
On just the third play from scrimmage during Nov. 12’s first-round game, the Vikings asserted its dominance, as senior running back Taylor Potter scurried past the Yellow Jacket defense for a 44-yard touchdown. The Dustin Clark point after touchdown (PAT) gave the Big Red the early 7-0 lead.
The Avery defense continued to swing momentum in favor of the home team as a third-down pass from Bessemer quarterback Travis Black was picked off by Viking junior Spencer Blackburn. The defensive back returned the pick to the Jackets 5-yard line, where on the next play brother Colton Blackburn blasted across the goal line. The PAT doubled the Avery advantage to 14-0 just two-and-a-half minutes into the contest.
Bessemer was held to a three-and-out on its ensuing series and punted the ball back to the Vikings. For a third straight possession Avery found its way to the end zone. A pass connection from quarterback Dustin Childress, filling in for his sixth start of the season for injured starter Alex Villanueva, to wide receiver Andy Gonzalez covered 22 yards into Bessemer territory. The Vikings then ran the football for six of the next seven plays to reach the goal line, capping the 9-play, 72-yard drive with a one-yard Childress plunge. Clark’s extra point pushed Avery out in front 21-0.
The fast start was just what the doctor ordered for the Big Red.
“That’s what we felt like we needed to do,” Brewer said after the game. “I tell you, they’re the best 1-9 team I’ve ever seen. Watching them on film, they moved the football well against Lincolnton, and everybody knows Lincolnton is a powerhouse and ranked No. 1 in 2-A right now. They were a scary football team.”
Bessemer City found the going tough for most of the evening against the underrated Avery defense. The Yellow Jackets turned the football over on each of its next two possessions, once on a Hunter Shields interception and secondly when Jackets quarterback Blake fumbled and Avery linebacker Tyler Buchanan fell on the loose football.
Following the latter turnover, the Vikings embarked on a 7-play, 45-yard scoring drive culminating in Colton Blackburn’s second score of the half, an 8-yard gallop that provided the Vikings with an insurmountable 28-0 advantage midway through the second quarter.
Late in the half, the Jackets forced and recovered a fumble from Avery ball carrier Childress, then scored on a Jhalen Adams 32-yard touchdown run. The two-point conversion failed and Avery held a 28-6 lead at halftime.
The Vikings doubled the Jackets’ total yardage output in the first two quarters.
Bessemer City showed its fighting spirit as it scored on its first possession to open the second half, cutting the Avery lead to 28-12 with 6:59 to play in the third quarter. Each time the Jackets put points on the scoreboard, however, Avery would answer with a touchdown of its own to hold Bessemer at bay.
With its first series of the half, Avery recovered an onside kick attempt from the Jackets, and marched 56 yards on a 9-play scoring drive. Spencer Blackburn hit pay dirt on a 10-yard touchdown run as the Vikings built its lead to 35-12 with 3:14 left in the third period.
The Yellow Jackets made its next offensive series count as much as a 20-yard Adams touchdown run capped a 70-yard possession early in the fourth quarter. The two-point conversion was successful and cut the Avery lead to 35-20 with 10:40 left in the contest.
Avery held the Yellow Jackets on downs on its ensuing possession and the teams also traded turnovers before the clock ran out and Avery punched its ticket to a second-round matchup with the Swain County Maroon Devils, a 30-7 winner over Hendersonville in Bryson City in its opening round contest.
“I think our offensive line came out and really blocked well,” Brewer said after the Viking victory. “The kids stayed with their blocks.”
Colton Blackburn led all players with 144 yards rushing on 18 carries and a pair of touchdowns. The senior also eclipsed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season with the performance, despite missing two games earlier this season with a hamstring injury. The senior shouldered much of the ground game burden for the evening as teammate Potter was knocked out of the game late in the first quarter after making a hard tackle on a Bessemer running back.
“It just opened up. We had watched game film this week and looking at the holes—their defensive line was split pretty wide,” Blackburn said of the team’s success with its rushing attack. “The five and six holes were open pretty much the whole game and that got us most of the yardage. Our line did a good job blocking and in practice, we worked on sticking with our blocks and driving down the field.”
