MIddle School Football Roundup

The Avery Middle School Panthers continued their winning ways last week with a 30-20 win at MacDonald Stadium over the Bowman Bulldogs.

Avery used a punishing ground game to pound the Bulldogs into submission in the early going. Wade Smith opened the scoring for the Panthers when he scurried into the end zone on an 11-yard touchdown jaunt to give Avery an early lead. The Panthers turned a single point opportunity into a two-point conversion when the snap on the extra point sailed into the hands of kicker Tre Jackson, who raced around the left side for the conversion and an 8-0 lead.

Bowman answered on the first play from scrimmage after the Avery score with a 53-yard touchdown run to cut the margin to 8-6. The Panthers defense turned the Bulldogs away on the two-point try to preserve its slim lead at the 6:09 mark of the first period.

On its next offensive series, Avery again struck pay dirt with a quarterback sneak off left guard from a yard out by Vikings signal-caller Austin Phillips. The extra point kick failed, but Avery led 14-6.

Two plays into its ensuing series, Bowman’s running game continued to churn out yardage as the Bulldogs again slipped through the hands of the Avery offense for a 69-yard touchdown run, this time by the Bowman quarterback. The two-point conversion was successful to tie the game at 14-14. The score remained unchanged through the remainder of the first half.

In the third quarter, Avery regained the lead on a 17-yard touchdown pass play from Phillips to wide receiver Wade Smith. The two-point running play was successful to put the Panthers ahead 22-14 with 2:09 to play in the third period.

Avery’s defense made a fourth-down stand on Bowman in the early fourth quarter to turn away a possession, then five plays later scored on a nine-yard quarterback run off the right side by Austin Phillips, padding Avery’s lead with 3:30 left in the contest. The two-point conversion run by Phillips was also good to give Avery a 30-14 advantage.

Avery surrendered a final touchdown on a 77-yard kickoff return following its score, but took the conference win as the final horn sounded for the team’s second consecutive
Also the same evening the Cranberry Wildcats traveled to take on conference leader Cane River.

The Rebels, who have been strong this season, continued to show its strength as Cranberry sought its second conference victory of the season.

Cane River proved too much for the Wildcats, who were playing without the services of its offensive juggernaut Tyler Pittman, who was lost for the season previously with a broken collarbone. The Rebels came away with a 40-8 victory.

Avery played Cane River in conference action this past Tuesday, while Cranberry hosted Harris Middle School. A recap of these contests can be read in next week’s edition, as well as online at the Avery Journal-Times Sports Blog at www.ajtsports.blogspot.com

This Week in Avery Soccer

The Avery soccer team continued its busy schedule with a trio of games this past week.
On Tuesday, September 7th the Vikings journeyed to North Henderson High School and came away with a 4-2 win

Vikings senior Daniel Lusk picked up where he left off the previous week as he netted a pair of goals in the win, while Isauro Estrada and Jorge Arreola also scored goals for Avery. The Vikings were victorious as freshman keeper Alex Magner faced 20 shots on the evening from the Knights.

Last Thursday evening the Vikings played host to Owen in the first conference contest of the season. It was a disappointing evening at MacDonald Stadium for the home fans, as Avery was shut out for the first time this season, losing the match by a 2-0 final score.
The loss was just the second suffered by the Big Red this season, as the team fell to 6-2-1 overall.

This past Monday evening the Vikings looked to rebound from its defeat at the hands of Owen when they traveled to Mooresboro to play the Thomas Jefferson Gryphons. Last season the Vikings manhandled TJCA, defeating them by scores of 6-0 and 11-0 in the two encounters during the Gryphons’ inaugural season as members of the Western Highlands Conference.

Monday evening, however, the Gryphons showed much improvement. Avery jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but TJCA rallied with a pair of second half goals. Avery emerged victorious, but the competition was much stronger as the Vikings won by a final score of 3-2.

Avery received balanced scoring in the victory. Heraclio Flores, Forrest Sickler, and Isauro Estrada were each able to find the back of the net for tallies. Avery led the match late and defended its slim margin against a strong attack from TJCA.

The victory improved Avery to 7-2-1 overall, and 1-1 in Western Highlands Conference play. The Big Red travels to Hendersonville this week, and will host Polk County on Monday, September 20th at 6 p.m. at MacDonald Stadium.

County Middle School Volleyball Teams Clash

Last Thursday evening was a battle of the cats on the hardwood as the Avery Middle School Lady Panthers volleyball team invaded Cranberry to tangle with the Cranberry Lady Wildcats. Both teams have had solid starts to their respective seasons and played a hard-fought three set match that went to the wire. When the smoke cleared, it was Cranberry who defended home turf and came away with a thrilling match victory by scores of 18-25, 27-25, and 25-23, respectively.

Avery took the preliminary set by a 25-19 score prior to the beginning of the conference tilt.
When the best-of-three sets encounter began, Avery grabbed an early 7-4 advantage and extended its lead to 12-6. Cranberry battled back behind the play of Bethany Burleson to erase the margin and take the lead at 16-15 before an Avery timeout.

The stoppage of play seemed to motivated the visitors, as Avery went on to win 10 of the final 12 points of the game. Avery was paced by Raina Wiseman, who finished the game serving strong, scoring the team’s final eight points in the set to pull away from the Lady Wildcats and take the 1-0 set advantage.

Avery looked poised to win the match in two straight sets when it scored three of the first four points and 6 of 8 to take a four-point advantage. Cranberry rallied back to tie the game at 6-6. Avery then went on another scoring run to take a 13-8 lead, but the Lady Wildcats refused to fold. The Lady Panthers grabbed a 20-13 edge, but Cranberry finally broke serve, then came all the way back to tie the game at 22-22. The Lady Wildcats leaned on the service game of Brandy Banner and the scoring of Elizabeth Pittman to spark the comeback, one which swung momentum in the favor of Cranberry.

Although they gave up the lead, Avery hung tough and even had a match point opportunity, serving with a 24-23 lead. Cranberry turned the Lady Panthers away with a point and extended the match. Both teams played strong volleyball with extended rallies before the Lady Wildcats finally emerged victorious with a 27-25 win to tie the match at a set apiece.

In the third game, the squads were rarely separated by more than a couple of points on the scoreboard. Cranberry held its largest lead early on at 8-4, but Avery scored four consecutive points to tie the game at 8 apiece.

The teams continued to play a nip-and-tuck game as the team were tied on multiple occasions. Late in the game, the Lady Wildcats slowly pulled ahead at 23-18, forcing Avery to take timeout. Following the stoppage, the Lady Panthers scored five consecutive points, including the final two from Kylie Polsgrove, to tie the game at 23-23. Although they surrendered the lead, Cranberry showed its mettle and pride by scoring the final two points to win the set and the match.

It was a great effort and display of volleyball by both squads, indicative of the play they’ve employed throughout the season thus far.

For Avery, the loss the dropped the club to 2-3 for the season. Despite the defeat, the defending Toe River Conference champions have shown that they have the ability to play with any team in the conference and are a threat to take the title again this season.

“We have four returning players this year, and the rest have never played before. They’ve come a long way since early August and everyone has improved. We’ve had some tough games with Cane River, East Yancey and now with Cranberry,” Lady Panthers head volleyball coach Stephanie Huff said after the match. “Cranberry is a good team and a really scrappy club. I thought we played pretty equally today. There is a lot of promise for this team this season. I see us doing a lot of good things and seeing girls moving up and playing well for us. They all get along, and I’m really proud of them.”

The win vaulted the Lady Wildcats to 2-2 overall on the season, and the team looks to be a force for the remainder of the regular season and the upcoming conference tournament.

“We have two girls returning from last year and we’re mainly a seventh-grade team. The girls really pulled together tonight. Our serves have been down and have cost us in our other games, but tonight our serve was really good. We set the ball up and had a lot of teamwork,” Lady Wildcats head coach Hannah Trivett said after the win. “We have played to our level of competition this season. We had a lead in the first game, but we let up. The girls really served well in the last two games, and you could tell they wanted the win really badly. Our girls don’t care to hit the floor for a ball and I’m really proud of them.”

Both teams had home matches early in the week and will square off with one another in a rematch at Avery on Monday, September 27th.

Vikings Clain AJ-T Border Battle Classic over Highlanders

The Avery Vikings used their high-powered offense to take a 43-24 victory over border rival Cloudland on Friday night at Orr Field in the fourth annual Avery Journal-Times Border Battle Classic. The victory keeps the Border Battle trophy in Newland for the second straight year, as well as keeps the Vikings undefeated on the year.

“Cloudland did exactly what I knew they were going to do,” Avery Head Coach Darrell Brewer said. “They came out and tried to smash us and keep the football away from us, and they did a great job. They really got after us. I felt like they outplayed us in the first half. When our offense got the opportunity to score, they did. That says a lot about our football team.”

The Vikings wasted no time moving the ball after they received the opening kickoff as they embarked on an 11-play drive. That drive was capped off when Alex Villanueva scampered in from six yards out for the touchdown. Dustin Clark’s extra point gave Avery the early 7-0 lead with 8:30 left in the first quarter.

The ‘Landers responded with their own impressive 14-play drive, all running plays, ending when Matt Cole ran in from nine yards. Cloudland took the lead when Luke Childress scored on a two-point conversion with two minutes remaining in the quarter.

It took the Vikings all of 21 seconds to find the end zone as Villanueva hit Remington Austin for a 60-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful as Avery led 13-8 at the end of the first quarter.

The ‘Landers continued their ground attack as they ran to the Avery 25 on the legs of Cole and Childress, but was unable to convert a fourth and one that turned the ball over to Avery. The Vikings took advantage of the opportunity as they answered the call with a 57-yard touchdown pass from Villanueva to Andy Gonzalez with 5:16 left in the half. The duo hooked up again on the two-point conversion to improve their lead to 21-8.

Cloudland once again started driving, but was stopped when Avery recovered a CHS fumble. The Vikings took full advantage as Villanueva ran 47 yards into the end zone, and Taylor Potter punched in for the two-point conversion to give Avery a 29-8 lead at the break.

The second half saw Avery quickly add to their lead after recovering a Cloudland fumble at midfield. On the first play after the fumble, Villanueva hit Gonzalez for a 49-yard touchdown throw, and Clark’s extra point pushed the Avery lead to 36-8.

The ‘Landers kept fighting as they continued to have success moving the ball as CHS crossed midfield again, but was forced to punt. Avery moved the ball, but had their lone turnover of the night as Michael Hyden recovered a fumble for the ‘Landers on their own 2-yard line. However, Cloudland was unable to get anything going as they were forced to punt.

With 1:20 remaining in the third, Taylor Potter gave the Vikings their final score of the night when he ran in from nine yards out after having a 26-yard gain the play before. The extra point by Clarke gave Avery a 43-8 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Despite the score, the ‘Landers kept fighting as Taylor Whitehead scrambled into the end zone from five yards out. The ensuing two-point conversion was successful on a Tyler Shell run. Cloudland also scored in the fourth when Shell ran in from six yards out, then hit Colby Guinn to reach the final score. Both Avery and Cloudland allowed younger players to get experience in the final quarter.

For the Vikings, Villanueva was 12-for-20 passing for 281 yards and three touchdowns. He also added 55 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Potter was the leading rusher for the Vikings with 76 yards on seven carries. Gonzalez had five catches for 134 yards and two touchdowns, while Austin had 108 yards on three catches and a touchdown.

The ‘Landers were led by Cole who had 144 yards on 30 carries and a touchdown. Whitehead had 77 yards on nine carries and was 3-of-4 for 55 yards passing. Childress gained 63 yards on 11 carries while Shell gained 29 yards on six carries and had 55 yards through the air. Ronald Banner had three catches for 74 yards.

“I felt like we could sustain drives, but when you sustain drives, you have to be able to score,” ‘Lander Head Coach Robbie Turbyfill said. “The fourth down we didn’t get and the fumble were two plays where we sustained drives, but couldn’t punch it in. I think Avery has a dang good football team, and most of the teams we play, they (Avery) would give them a fit.”

Cloudland had 464 total offensive yards on 67 plays, while Avery had 420 yards on 42 plays. The ‘Landers had the ball a total of 32 minutes and Avery had possession for 16 minutes.

For Brewer, the win had a special meaning.

“It is a very emotional game for me as a coach,” Brewer said. “I have very fond memories of the people in Roan Mountain and they have always been nothing but good to me. It is a hard game for me. It’s like playing your brother, and I am tickled to death to come out of here with a win. I feel for them and I hope they win the rest of them. This is the one game I hope they lose all year.”

Cloudland hosts county rival Unaka on Friday night while Avery will be off before going to Owen on Sept. 24.