Huskies Football Win on Parents Night

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Article by Nathan Ham - Jefferson Post

Jonathan Cox picked the perfect time for his  breakout game of the season.

The speedy junior had 233 rushing yards and 82  receiving yards to lead the Huskies by a resilient Elkin team, 41-34.

Ashe got the scoring started with a touchdown  pass into the corner of the end zone from Eli Gambill to junior wide receiver  Grayson Gilley. Anthony Federico nailed the extra point to put Ashe ahead  7-0.

The Huskies continued the first half scoring with  a TD run from Gambill to increase the Ashe lead to 14-0.

Elkin finally found some offensive momentum in  the second quarter. The Elks drove the ball deep into Ashe territory, and  punched it in from one yard out with fullback Seth Creed. The extra point was  good, which cut the Ashe lead in half to 14-7.

After that, Cox started to take over the game.  The third score of the first half took place on a 32-yard run from Cox to answer  the Elkin score on the previous position. Federico nailed the extra point again,  putting Ashe in front 21-7.

The junior wasn’t done yet. Cox caught a short  screen pass from Gambill, and took it to the house from 52 yards out for his  second TD of the night. Ashe took a 28-7 lead to the halftime break.

“The first half, we came out inspired and played  some great defense,” said head coach Brian Hampton.

In the second half, Elkin started a comeback that  had Husky fans starting to sweat a little. Sophomore quarterback Josh Strickland  ran for a touchdown, then tailback Jamiles Hayes capped off a spectacular run  from 58 yards away, weaving through the Ashe defense on the way to the  endzone.

Ashe got a pair of TD runs from Gambill,  including a 58-yard scamper right through the middle of the Elkin defense to  maintain its lead.

Late in the fourth, Strickland tossed a short TD  pass to Chris Hudspeth to pull within seven points at 41-34.

On the onside kick attempt, junior defensive back  Michael Elliott easily recovered the kick, and Ashe simply ran the clock out the  rest of the way.

Ashe moved to 2-2 overall and 1-0 in the Mountain  Valley Athletic Conference. Elkin fell to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the MVAC.

“It’s always good to get your first conference  win, your first win at home for these seniors on Parents’ Night,” said Coach  Hampton.

Individually, Gambill shined with 109 passing  yards and 103 rushing yards as he continues to get better each week at the  quarterback position.

“He (Gambill) is starting to really relish that  roll as a leader, I’m awfully proud of him,” added Hampton.

The Huskies hit the road next week for a tough  matchup against the undefeated Starmount Rams.

Read more:  Jefferson Post - Huskies hold off Elks 41 34