Highlanders fall to Hampton; Official TSSAA Playoff Bracket for Regions 1 and 2

The Cloudland Highlanders fell to the Hampton Bulldogs 48-13 at Orr Field on Friday night. The loss sets the 'Landers up with a #2 seed and a game against Harriman in the first round of playoffs. The Bulldogs captured the Mountain East Conference Crown with a perfect 10-0 overall record and a 5-0 conference record. The Highlanders finished the regular season with a 7-3 record and a 4-1 conference record.

For the complete a recap and preview of the playoffs, keep checking the Avery Journal Times next week and the Avery Journal Sports Blog.

OFFICIAL TSSAA BRACKET (www.tssaa.org)

(No Changes were neccessary from our projected bracket)

Region 1 vs. Region 2 *H-Home team

#1 Hampton (H) vs. #4 Coalfield
#2 Cloudland (H) vs. #3 Harriman
#3 Unaka vs. #2 Oneida (H)
#4 Grace Christian vs. #1 Midway (H)

Region 3 vs. Region 4
#1 South Pitt (H) vs. #4 Trousdale County
#2 Lookout Valley (H) vs. #3 Watertown
#3 Chattanoga Grace vs #2 Friendship Christian (H)
#4 Silverdale vs. #1 Gordansville (H)

Second Round
Game 3) Winner of Hampton-Coalfield vs. Winner of Oneida-Unaka
Game 4) Winner of Cloudland-Harriman vs. Winner of Midway-Grace Christian

Game 1) Winner of South Pitt-Trousdale County vs. Winner of Chatt. Grace-Friendship Christ.
Game 2) Winner of Lookout Valley-Watertown vs. Winner of Silverdale-Gordansville

Third Round
1)Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner
2)Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner

The Avery Journal Times Border Battle Pick'em

The Avery Journal Times Sports Staff's

Border Battle College Football Pick'em

The Games
(21) Wisconsin at (1) Ohio St.
Florida St. at (2) Boston College
(3) LSU at (17) Alabama

(4) Arizona St. at (5) Oregon

Rutgers at (13) Connecticut

Vanderbilt at (20) Florida

(24) Wake Forest at (23) Virginia

Matt

Cloudland Highlander's Beat Writer Picks

Wisconsin

Boston College

LSU

Oregon

Rutgers

Florida

Wake Forest

Shelldog

Avery Viking Beat Writer's Picks

Ohio State
Boston College
Alabama
Oregon
Connecticut
Florida
Virginia

Last Week: Matt 4-3, Jamie 3-4

MUSINGS & RAMBLINGS on..... Rivalries

Finally.... time for an opinion piece here on the blog!

There's nothing like a good ole' fashion backyard rivalry game to get a high school football team ready for playoff football. This Friday local high school teams get to add another 'W' in the column while taking bragging rights away at the expense of one of their most disliked opponents on the schedule.

Here are my two cents worth on a few of these matchups:

1. Avery at Mitchell

Avery enters Friday's border war in Ledger off a 21-20 win over an improved Mountain Heritage Cougars team. Mitchell pasted Madison 40-7 a week ago. Avery has won four straight in this series, last losing 16-7 on a cold, foggy night in Newland in 2002.

Mitchell boasts arguably the most explosive offense in the mountains with QB Joe Hoilman pulling the trigger and a complement of weapons in Jarrett, Bomar, Miller, Jensen, Jones, and company. The Mountaineers lit up Cloudland 72-21 earlier this season and hope to do the same to its bitter rival.

Avery meanwhile is still in a sense looking for its identity, especially on the defensive side of the football where the coaching staff has had to be creative to fill in holes left by injuries and lost players. The defense must play at its best this week in hopes of making Friday's contest a low-scoring affair. The higher the score, the more the game will favor the Mountaineers. And, oh yeah, the winner of this one might share a piece of the conference championship should Polk County lose this week to Hendersonville.

2. Hampton at Cloudland

My associate Matt is better suited to give a complete lowdown on this matchup across the TN border (which I understand is coming in a post prior to Friday's contest). Nevertheless, here is my take:

The 'Landers have been impressive in their ability to bounce back from losses to their two North Carolina rivals. Many felt that Cloudland might have been a year away, seeing that they were installing a new offense with a new coaching staff. But credit the team from Roan Mountain in putting the pieces together quickly with QB Jordan Hughes and company leading the way, and they are having a solid season to date.

The Bulldogs will ride into Orr Field Friday night as Cloudland's stiffest test since their loss at Mitchell. Hampton has a number of weapons offensively and a good-sized offensive line to protect senior QB Michael Lunsford. These two teams respect one another, but don't expect to see much love out on the field Friday night. Add the fact that a conference title is on the line between these intra-county schools, and there's a recipe for a potential barnburner this week.

3. Hendersonville at Polk

I add this matchup into the discussion because of its implications in reference to the Western Highlands Conference championship. Polk is in the driver's seat, already having clinched a share of the crown. A number of teams could add their names to the trophy, however, should the Wolverines stumble to the Bearcats Friday night.

These two teams know one another well and have played a number of close contests. Hendersonville, being one of the teams (in addition to Owen, Mitchell, & Avery) who currently have two conference losses, still have much to play for. On paper, Polk looks to be the better team on both sides of the football, but Hendersonville's team speed and its ability to run the football may keep the Bearcats in this one.

Enjoy these rivalry games this week!

NOTE: NCHSAA playoff football brackets are released on Saturday afternoon from the state office in Chapel Hill. TSSAA brackets should be released around the same time.

Where each of the teams discussed will be playing next week can be found right here at the blog on Saturday night (once the respective associations have the opportunity to correct any mistakes and finalize where teams are playing next week).

Thursday Night Treat: Highlanders Survive Wild Finish

On Thursday Night, the Cloudland Highlanders (7-2, 4-0) escaped a wild final two minutes and overtime to defeat the Grace Christian Rams (5-4, 1-3) 41-35. The Rams used every trick they had, but Cloudland enjoyed the treat as the victory ensured the Highlanders at least a second place finish with a chance to capture the conference title against Hampton next Friday.

However, Grace Christian had other plans. The Rams blocked a ‘Lander punt with 1:22 left in the game. The Rams would score with :23 left on an Amos two yard touchdown. The extra point was blocked giving the Highlanders 35-27 lead. On the ensuing kickoff, the Rams kicked an onside kick and recovered at the ‘Lander 45. The next play saw Self lateral to Williams who found Amos for a 45 yard touchdown with :11 left in the game. Amos ran in the two point conversion to send the game into overtime.
The Rams won the overtime toss and elected to go on offense first. However, they could not capitalize as the ‘Lander defense held on fourth down. Cloudland started and ended their possession and game on the same play. Hughes ran in from ten yards out to score and to give the ‘Landers the 41-35 victory.

For the complete review of the game against Grace Christian, check this week's Avery Journal Times. The Avery Journal Sports Blog will have a preview of Hampton beginning on Thursday.

Vikings Ladies Cross Country Team Advances to State Competition

Congratulations to the Avery girls cross country team, who qualified this past weekend for the state meet.

Two of Avery's team earned All Conference Honors the week prior: Kate Griewisch with her 4th place finish and Mary Chesnut Smith, with her 6th place finish. Their times were 21:33 and 21:54, respectively. If they could finish in the top four teams, the whole team would earn a spot in the NCHSAA state cross country meet; if not, two of the team stood a good chance of earning one of the 5 spots for individuals not on the top 4 teams. There were twelve schools represented at the meet, but not all had a full team.

The Avery girls got off to a strong start with Caroline Crenshaw, Smith and Griewisch in the early front group. At about the half-way point, Smith was in the lead for Avery with Griewisch close behind. When they came around the second time with 400 meters left, Griewisch was leading Smith. They both finished strong, earning 4th and 5th place finishes, and All-West Region honors. Griewisch finished in 20:55.67 and Smith in 21:06.34. Kristen Stout of Hendersonville had the winning time of 20:21.48. Teddy Jablonski finished 3rd for Avery, with Caroline Crenshaw on her heels; they finished 24th and 26th respectively. Katelynn Eudy finished 44th and Debra Anderson 52nd.

Two teams were clearly front runners but 3 others were close. Assistant Coach Helms felt like Avery had just missed the cut, as one of the teams in question had 3 finish in the top 15, and the other had all 5 of their runners in before Avery. After announcing the All Region Team, the MC announced the 5 runners whose teams didn’t qualify who qualified as individuals for the state meet. The first runner had finished below Avery’s top two girls, and then a runners from one of the teams which might have beat Avery, made parents, coaches and team realize that the whole team had qualified, long before their fourth place finish was made official by the MC.

Hayesville finished in first place with 53 points; Hendersonville in second with 61 points, Robbinsville was third with 84 points and Avery fourth with 89 points. It turned out not to be as close as feared because Murphy finished fifth with 104 points. In the latest poll of NC coaches, Avery girls were ranked #9 in the state. They may move up one or two spots after their regional finish.

Congratulations again to the Lady Vikings, and thanks to Serena Smith for photos and information about the competition.

Vikings Hold Off Late Cougar Surge 21-20

Avery picked up its fourth win of the season Saturday night, turning the Mountain Heritage Cougars away on a two-point conversion pass play with 1:38 remaining to win 21-20.

Adam Pate accounted for all three Avery touchdowns, with three separate touchdown runs. The Cougars outgained Avery on the evening by over 100 yards, but five Mountain Heritage turnovers were too much for the visitors from Burnsville to overcome at MacDonald Stadium.

Heritage quarterback Kirk Burnette was 9 for 13 passing for 170 yards with a TD and 2 interceptions. The Cougars fumbled five times on the evening, losing three.

Avery improves to 4-6 overall, and 3-2 in conference play, while Mountain Heritage falls to 3-7, with a 1-4 mark in conference. The Vikings travel to Ledger Friday night to take on the Mitchell Mountaineers.

Edwards, Lynch Lead Way for App State Victory

The Appalachian State Mountaineers traveled to Greenville, SC and escaped Paladin Stadium with a narrow 34-27 victory over Furman. The Mountaineers were led by Armanti Edwards, who had 334 total offensive yards, and Corey Lynch, who had 12 tackles and the game saving interception. App State looked to repeat last year’s 40-7 beat down of the Paladins as they jumped out to a 24-7 halftime lead. Edwards had 251 total offensive yards in the first half. However, neither Furman nor the Apps gave up. Both teams would trade touchdowns at the start of the second half. The Paladins used two Scott Beckler field goals to pull within 31-20 as the fourth quarter began. The Mountaineers would stretch their led to 14, but the Paladins’ Jerome Felton scored for a yard out to pull the Paladins within a score. The Paladins caught a break as Julian Rauch’s field goal attempt was blocked with 1:11 left in the game. Furman drove but Corey Lynch intercepted a pass in the end zone to preserve the Mountaineers 34-27 victory. App moves to 6-2 overall on the year and 2-2 in the SoCon. The Mountaineers travel to Charleston, SC to face the Citadel on Saturday. Kick off is set for 2:00pm.

For continuing coverage of the Appalachian State Mountaineers, continue to check out the Avery Journal Times Sports Blog.

WOW, WHAT A GAME! Cloudland Defeats Grace In Wild Last Minute Scramble

The Cloudland Highlanders won a wild game at Orr Field against Grace Christian 41-35 in OT. With 1:28 left in the contest, the Rams of Grace Christian were down 35-21. At that point, the Rams blocked a Cloudland punt and scored twice within the last :22 of the game. The Rams also got a two point conversion to tie the game at 35 with 11 seconds. Grace got the ball first in overtime and Jordan Hughes and Johnathon Moore stopped the Rams on fourth down. Hughes would run 1o yards on the Highlanders's first play in overtime to win the game. Hughes would end the night with 4 touchdowns rushing and 1 through the air. Matthew Tipton added a 72 yard score for the Highlanders and also went over a 1,000 yards rushing on the season.

The Highlander victory guarantees a #2 seed in the playoffs with a shot at the conference title when Hampton visits Orr Field next Friday. For more information on tonight's victory and the Hampton game, keep checking the Avery Journal Times Sports Blog this weekend and Avery Journal Times next week.

Viking Soccer Wins Season Finale

Avery defeated Mitchell tonight by a 4-2 final score to win on Senior Night. Sam Brown, Lucas Carver, & John Hensley were honored along with their families prior to kickoff.

The Vikings took a 2-0 halftime lead as a drizzling rain evolved into a downpour during the half. Despite the slick conditions, Avery played solid defense in shutting out the Mountaineers in the opening half. The seniors led the way as Hensley and Brown tallied for the Big Red in the opening 40 minutes.

Francisco Robles scored on a skilled shot from 20 yards out early in the second half to put the Vikings up 3-0 before Mitchell rallied with a pair of goals within a 7 minute stretch to narrow the score to 3-2. Kyle Griewisch added an insurance goal late for Avery as they took the win.

Avery finishes the season with a 5-14-2 overall mark, and a 2-9-1 mark in Western Highlands Conference play.

Vikings Take on Cougars in Home Finale

A pair of teams with momentum will square off on Friday night in MacDonald Stadium as the Avery Vikings (3-6, 2-2 WHC) host the Mountain Heritage Cougars (3-6, 1-3 WHC). It will be the final home game for a number of seniors who have been witness to some of the highest points in the history of Big Red football.

A season ago the Vikings rolled through Heritage in a rare Monday night game by a 55-6 final score. The last time the teams met in Newland was a convincing win for Avery, a 49-28 victory over their Yancey County opponent.

Avery defeated Madison 30-6 in action last Friday night, while the Cougars upset the Mitchell Mountaineers 22-14 in Burnsville last week.

Scouting the Cougars:

The Mountain Heritage Cougars are coached by Joey Robinson and return 29 lettermen from a team that finished with a winless mark of 0-11 in 2006. The team remains one of the youngest squads in the Western Highlands Conference, with only ten seniors anchoring the squad. However, youth should not be mistaken for inexperience, as ten starters returned this season on both sides of the football from a year ago.

Heritage employs a spread offensive formation and will base its defensive packages primarily off the 4-3 scheme. The squad has greatly improved in areas of speed and depth from previous seasons, as evidenced by their increased victory total this season.

The undisputed leader on the field for Heritage is junior quarterback Kirk Burnette. The 5’11”, 170 pound signal-caller has taken control of the Cougar offense and has emerged as an offensive threat with 758 yards passing and 9 touchdown passes on the season. Helping Burnette in the backfield is junior RB Jessie Ballew (94 rushes, 283 yards, 3 TD this season), with Dylan McMahan (6’0, 155 lb. junior) serving as wide receiver and key passing target. Anchoring the defense for the Cougars is 6’3”, 210 lb. lineman Sean Swick, who is a potential college prospect.

The Low Down:
Avery came off the deck Friday night thanks in large part to a ball-hawking defense that turned in one of its best performances of the year last week. With several forced fumbles and a defensive touchdown to its credit in last Friday’s win, the defense will again have to stand tall, as it will be tested early and often by a Mountain Heritage running game that dominated the line of scrimmage last week against Mitchell.

Speaking of Mountain Heritage, the Cougars’ might be able to fly to Newland, considering the high they are on following last week’s huge upset over the Mountaineers. For a repeat performance, the Cougars will have to find a way to slow down Avery junior QB Adam Pate, who ran and threw for over 100 yards last week.

For Avery to win, they will have to slow the Cougars offense down beginning with the source, last week’s Asheville Citizen-Times Player of the Week Kirk Burnette. They must also keep their emotions in check and distractions to a minimum as they deal with the festivities surrounding Senior Night this week.

A win for the Vikings this week would set up an interesting encounter with the Mitchell Mountaineers next Friday night in Ledger.

By The Numbers:

0 – passing yards allowed by Avery’s defense in last week’s win over Madison.
4 – total possessions allowed by the Mountain Heritage Cougars to their opponent Mitchell last week, holding the Mountaineer offense to only 14 points.
5- turnovers forced by the Big Red defense in defeating the Patriots 30-6 last Friday night.
68- yardage total in Avery’s defensive touchdown last week, a fumble return by Hunter Robbins.
205- yards gained by Avery QB Adam Pate (combined rushing and passing) in last week’s win.
228 – yards of total offense from Mountain Heritage QB Kirk Burnette in last week’s victory over Mitchell.
644- yards of total offense rolled up by Avery in last year’s 55-6 win over Mountain Heritage.

App State Falls to Georgia Southern

The Appalachain State Mountaineers fell to Georgia Southern last Saturday 38-35. The loss was their first loss since the 2002 NCAA 1-AA Playoffs when Maine defeated the Apps 14-13. The Mountaineers had 557 total offensive yards and made a serious comeback attempt, but it was not enough as the Eagles held on. Armanti Edwards started at quarterback for the Mountaineers and had a career day of it. Edwards had 398 yards of total offense, and became the first quarterback in school history to rush for over 200 yard. Edwards had 220 yards on 29 carries and threw for 178 yards. The Mountaineers move to 5-2 overall and a SoCon record of 2-2. App begins a two week South Carolina road trip at Furman this Saturday. The game begins at 3:00 pm and will be televised on SportsSouth.

Notes/Observations from the game:

• The Black Saturday crowd was 28,202 and was the second largest in Kidd Brewer Stadium history.


• Kevin Richardson scored both of ASU’s first-half touchdowns, marking the 19th time in his career and fourth time in the last five games that Richardson has scored multiple touchdowns in a game.


• Offensive tackle Mario Acitelli injured his leg in the first quarter. He will most likely miss several games.


• Senior Hans Batichon went over the 1,000 yard career mark. Bantichon caught four passes for 95 yards to go over the 1,000-yard career receiving mark with 1,061.

For continuing coverage of the Appalachain State Mountaineers, continue to check out the Avery Journal Times Sports Blog.

Avery Cross Country Competes at Conference championships

Avery High's girls and guys teams traveled to Black Mountain for the Western Highlands Conference Championship Cross Country meet on Thursday October 18th .

Coach Anne Avery had recruited a number of players from the boys soccer team, and so the guys had a full team for the first time this season. Running for the guys were: Mark Polsgrove, Jarred Clark and Thomas Anderson, joined by soccer players Dillon Gentry, Kyle Griewisch, Francisco Robles, JC Steinbaugh and John Ray Benfield. Avery finished 6th of 7 teams, thanks to the willing and very able soccer players joining the other guys.

Girls running in the meet included Kate Griewisch, Caroline Crenshaw, Katelynn Eudy, Debra Anderson, Teddie Jablonski, and Mary Chesnut Smith. The girls finished 3rd as a team in conference competition, even with only 6 runners. Several teams had twice that many girls running. The top five finishers are the ones which constitute the team score, but in a case of a tie, runner/finisher #6 and breaks the tie.

Kate Griewisch was the top girls’ finisher for Avery, finishing 4th. She was joined on the All Conference team by Mary Chesnut Smith, who finished 6th. Caroline Crenshaw finished 3rd for the Avery girls. The team next races this Saturday at Jackson Park in Hendersonville for Regionals.

Update: The Avery girls cross country team is ranked #9 in the most recent state 1A cross country rankings. Congrats Ladies!

WELCOME, plus HS Sports Musings & Ramblings

BLOG

Welcome to the Official Avery Journal-Times Sports Blog!!!

This blog has been created as a complement to the weekly local sports coverage provided by the Avery Journal-Times newspaper, located in Newland, North Carolina and is Avery County's oldest newspaper, serving as the newspaper of record since 1959!

Jamie "The shELLdOg" Shell and Matt Laws will offer commentary, news, notes, musings and ramblings, plus whatever else might be of interest in the local sports scene in Avery County, NC, with some additional coverage 'across the border' in Cloudland Highlanders sports territory as well.

We hope this space will be of service to you, the sports fan, and we welcome comments or thoughts. Just shoot us an email at: sportsaj@xtn.net

Without further ado, our maiden voyage in the vast sea of Blog-dom!

10-22-07

Soccer News...

The Vikings soccer team lost 3-0 to Mountain Heritage earlier this evening in Burnsville. Two goals in the match's first 90 seconds were too much for the Vikes to overcome.

Avery will try to end its losing skid in its home finale, Senior Night on Wednesday against Mitchell. The Vikings fall to 4-14-2 and 1-9-1 in conference play.

Congratulations to the Avery volleyball team who qualified for the NCHSAA 1A playoffs. The team unfortunately was defeated in three games at East Surry on Saturday 25-20, 25-15, and 25-11. Avery ends their season with a 9-10 record.

From the Gridiron...

Vikings 30 Madison 6

Avery used a fake field goal-turned-touchdown and a Hunter Robbins 68-yard fumble recovery to down the Patriots in Marshall Friday night. Avery led 17-0 at halftime after its offense, particularly the running game, was highly effective. Adam Pate both threw and ran for 100 yards in the win, and the Vikes advance to 3-6 overall with a 2-2 Western Highlands Conference mark.

The Vikings take on the Cougars of Mountain Heritage for SENIOR NIGHT at MacDonald Stadium. Festivities will begin around 7 pm with kickoff at 7:30 pm.