Ashe Host Wilkes Central In Pivotal Bout
October 23, 2009 By ACHS iHigh of Ashe County Huskies
By: Nathan Ham/ Sports Writer
Jefferson Post 10/23/09
The Ashe County Huskies will be looking to improve their 3-5 record as they host the Wilkes Central Eagles Monday night in another pivotal conference game.
The Huskies are coming off of two very impressive victories, a 21-0 win over Alleghany and a 53-0 dismantling of North Wilkes.
Getting the running game going will be a huge priority for the Huskies in this game. Jaren Holman and Aaron Scott will look to run it inside and outside against the Eagles' defense. Holman has 415 yards on 95 carries while Scott has 435 yards on 61 carries, getting just over 6 yards per carry. Also expect to see the quarterbacks Dalton Lewis and Sam Gammons both look to Grayson Wells and Matt Nichols in the passing attack. Nichols scored his first touchdown of the season last week against Alleghany, the only offensive touchdown of the games for Ashe.
Wilkes Central counters the Ashe attack with a fierce running game centered on their star runningback, Trae Alexander. Alexander is only 43 yards shy of 1,000 yards on the season, averaging 137 yards per game, and has found the endzone 11 times already with three games still yet to play. Alexander really does it all for the Eagles, as he is also their leading receiver with 11 receptions for 240 yards and a touchdown. Alexander is coming off his biggest game of the season, carrying the ball 23 times for 296 yards and scoring 7 touchdowns in the Eagles 56-36 win over East Wilkes.
Also getting plenty of carries for the Eagles is Brandon Parsons, who has ran the ball 77 times and gained 470 yards while also scoring five touchdowns. The Eagles do not throw the ball a lot, but when they do quarterback Austin McConnell will be the guy putting it in the air. He has passed for almost 600 yards this season, completed 56 percent of his passes, and threw 6 touchdown passes for Wilkes Central.
The Huskies will be going for their third straight win over Wilkes Central, and the fourth win in the last five games against the rival Eagles. This rivalry has had a few very interesting moments in the fast few seasons, none greater than last year's game when the Huskies traveled down the mountain. The very last play of the game, with the Huskies trailing, quarterback Daniel Waln threw a Hail Mary pass as time expired. The pass was pulled down in the endzone by two Husky players, Grayson Wells and Tatum Lemly, giving Ashe their second straight win over Wilkes Central.
Two years ago, the conference championship was on the line for the Eagles. If they won the game, they would be the outright conference champions. Ashe had something else in mind. The Huskies had a balanced attack through the air and on the ground behind Waln and company, and the Huskies prevailed 39-28 and clinched a share of the conference title.
In 2006, the game was a slugfest and the outright conference championship was once again on the line. Unfortunately, the Eagles defended their home field and picked up a huge win against the Huskies by a score of 38-28 and forcing a share of the conference title between Ashe and Wilkes Central. The 38 points scored by Wilkes Central was the most the Huskies had given up in any game that season. Overall they allowed the fewest points of any team in the Mountain Valley 2-A conference during the 2006 season.
The game in 2005 was another hard fought win for the Huskies. Both defenses played strong, but it was Ashe that came out on top in the end in a low scoring game, with the final being 13-7 in favor of the purple and silver. |
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