–Cougars claw the Patriots
22 September 2007By Greg Bolvi
Photos by Michael Painter
ASHEVILLE - September 21, 2007 - On paper, the Freedom High/Asheville High football matchup looked one sided. The visitors were coming into the Cougars’ den 0-3, and had been overwhelmed last week by Roberson. The Cougs were playing with increased confidence since their 35-14 beatdown of Brevard. On the field, the game was as predicted on paper as Asheville showed its superiority on both sides of the ball to crush Freedom 32-10 and keep the Pats winless for the season.
The game started out with some surprises. Freedom took the opening kickoff and, using a sometimes huddle, sometimes no-huddle offense on its first series, ran 5:52 off the clock as the Pats took 15 plays to score first.
Quarterback Bo Taylor mixed in a steady diet of runs and a few passes to keep the Asheville defense off balance and on the field in the first quarter. Taylor drove his squad to a first and goal on the Cougars’ eight yard line. Here the home team’s defense stiffened, and the Patriots had to settle for a 24 yard field goal by Collin Taylor. The field goal by Taylor provided the only scoring of the first quarter.
Hope for the scrappy Freedomites? Alas, ’twas not meant to be. 
Asheville has a quarterback named Rahkeem Morgan, and he orchastrated the Cougars’ own 16 play drive that ended in the end zone when Giovanni McKnight took a pitch from Morgan and scampered 16 yards to paydirt on the first play of the second quarter. Morgan and placekicker Reed Turchi then showed Freedom a slight of hand and foot trick on the PAT. Reed faked the kick, and Morgan, the holder, picked up the ball and raced untouched into the end zone for the two point conversion.
Taylor led the Pats down the field on the next series, highlighted by his 23 yard scramble to the FHS 36. Here, the Cougars’ defense rose to the occasion, and forced a bad pitch on the option by Taylor, and Jamil Hawes recovered on the visitors’ 32. Morgan went for the jugular, and hit his receiver who was wide open in the end zone, except the end didn’t hang on to the ball.
Undaunted, Morgan connected with Darius Harrell for a first down on the Pats’ 21. The Patriots’ defense came alive at this point and Asheville’s offense sputtered. Turchi’s 40 yard field goal gave the Cougs an 11-3 advantage.
It was here that the turnover nemesis, which has plagued the Freedom all season long including six last week at Roberson, showed up again. Taylor Smith rushed for 7 yards and he got the ball again on the next play. After gaining three yards, he was stripped of the ball by linebacker Phillip Lamy, who returned the pigskin 24 yards to the Pats’ six yard line. After Greg Ray ran the ball to the one, a false start put the Cougs back to the six. The next play Morgan found Spencer Clement alone in the left corner of the end zone, and Asheville had their second score in just over a minute.
Neither team was able to put together a consistent drive the rest of the first half, especially with their passing games, as both squads overthrew wide open receivers several times. Asheville led at intermission, 18-3.
If there was any doubt about the outcome of the game, the Cougars ended that concern with their first drive of the second half. After Darion Ray returned the second half kickoff 24 yards to his own 25, he went off tackle for 4 yards. Clement slashed for seven yards, Morgan added four on a keeper, the hit Ray with a shovel pass for two more. After Clement was stopped for a gain of one yard. Morgan found Lamy for 19 yards, and a first and ten on the FHS’ 12 yard line.
Three plays later Morgan scored on a three yard run off left tackle to increase Asheville’s lead to 25-3.
The rest of the third quarter was characterized by penalties woven into the fabric of each team’s offense. Included in the miscues were facemask penalties by both sides, plus an incomplete pass by Asheville, even though the Pats had only ten defenders on the field at the time.
With the start of the final stanza however, it was Asheville’s Morgan who lit up the scoreboard again when he found Lamy in the back of the end zone. The successful PAT boosted the margain to 32-3, and set the stage for Freedom’s final scoring thrust of the night.
Ethan Kincaid returned the kickoff to the Pats’ 35, and the red and white offense went to work. John Kincaid ran for ten yards on a pair of carries; Taylor ran the option for eight more and Anthony Harbison picked up two yards, and then got 15 more added on to the end of his run, thanks to a personal foul. Taylor scrambled for six, then a pass interference penalty gave the Patriots a first down on the Asheville 12. Four plays later Smith scored Freedom’s lone TD of the game from two yards out.
Both coaches were unhappy with the number of penalties their teams were guilty of–especially upsetting were the three penalties that were committed by both teams in the game’s final 41 seconds.
Asheville improves to 3-1 with their triumph, and travels to Enka next week. Freedom falls to 0-4.
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