Scouting the Cougars:
The Mountain Heritage Cougars are coached by eighth-year head coach Joey Robinson who has turned around a club that is just two seasons removed from an 0-11 season. Heritage won a school-record 11 times in 2008, advancing to the third round of the state 2A playoffs where they lost to eventual state champion Newton-Conover.
Mountain Heritage graduated 19 seniors from last year’s historic squad, but returns a number of players to run its ground-oriented Spread offense and shifting defense from an eight-man box. Calling the signals for the Cougars is Josh Laws (22 of 44, 440 yards, 6 TD, 5
The Cougars offense involves a number of quick-hitting tailbacks and slot backs that are multi-talented. Leading the Heritage rushing attack is one of the state’s leading ball carriers in senior Casey Randolph (169 rushes, 2,077 yards, 27 TD), who stepped in for graduated standout running back Jesse Ballew. Randolph
When the Cougars throw the football, receivers Drew Letterman (6 receptions, 217 yards, 3 TD in 2009), along with Randolph and Trevon Miller (61 yards receiving, TD) will be part of the mix.
Fender and Peterson will plug up the middle of the defense, with Austin Rice at middle linebacker along with Miller and juniors Nick Ray, Dalton Woody, and Trenton Burleson.
The Low Down:
Avery faces a stiff challenge if it hopes to turn around its three-game losing streak. Mountain Heritage has been an offensive juggernaut, as the team leads the league in rushing. The unsung portion of the Heritage team has been its defense, surrendering only 14 points per contest.
For Avery to have any opportunity to win Friday night, it must find a way to work over, through, and around the Heritage front line enough to consistently hit running back Casey Randolph. The Cougar running back had a 100-yard game a season ago against Avery, and he could eclipse that mark very early in Friday’s contest unless the Vikings find the ability to slow him down.
Look for Avery to use the Spread offense to give quarterback Alex Villanueva enough time to throw. The perceived weakness of the Heritage defense may be its secondary, and the Avery receivers have the talent to break off big plays. The longer Avery stays close on the scoreboard, the greater its chances are of pulling off the major upset Friday night.
By The Numbers:
0 - number of losses by Avery in its series with
2- receiving touchdowns by Avery WR Andy Gonzalez last week against
12 - turnovers over the previous four games committed by Avery.
37 - points per game scored by the Mountain Heritage Cougars offense this season.
117 – lowest single-rushing total by Cougars running back Casey Randolph this season (occurred in loss to
244- yards in total offense gained by Avery in last week’s loss to
271 – combined rushing yards for Heritage quarterback Josh Laws (162) and running back Matt Kardulis (109) in last week’s win, in addition to the 316 yards gained by
656 – yards in total offense gained by Mountain Heritage in last week’s win over Mitchell (592 yards rushing)
A full recap of this week’s game, as well as a preview of next week’s regular season finale at Mitchell, can be found both here on the Sports Blog, as well as in next week’s print edition.
