–Life in the fast lane: Cougars race past Warriors
13 October 2007By Greg Bolvi
LEICESTER - October 12, 2007 - Okay, class, please pay attention. Asheville High travels to Leicester to take on Erwin in a MAC football contest. The Cougars are unbeaten in conference play, the Warriors have dropped their last two games in the final minute. It’s Erwin’s Homecoming. Which team runs 45 plays in the first half to their opponent’s 13? Which team has the ball for over half the first two quarters? Which squad has drives of 16, 15, and 13 plays? Which team is on the short end of a 34-7 halftime score?
If you answered Asheville, you weren’t paying attention at Friday’s game; perhaps you were more interested in the Homecoming court. Led by quarterback Rahkeem Morgan, the Cougs used their quick strike offense to overwhelm the Warriors 48-13 to remain atop the MAC at 3-0.
Morgan was 6-6 for 193 yards and four touchdowns as Asheville needed only 13 plays plus a fumble recovery to tally five touchdowns in the first half as they raced to a 34-7 lead at intermission.
The Warriors’ game plan included a ball control offense that mixed the run and pass, plus a few end around plays to keep the Cougars off balance, and the scheme paid dividends in the early going.
Erwin took the opening kickoff and ran 16 plays in the first 7:02 of the contest before a halfback pass was intercepted by Morgan on his own ten yard line and returned four yards. It took the Cougars just two plays and 44 seconds to reach the end zone. After a five yard run by Spencer Clement, Morgan found Darion Ray behind the secondary, and hit him in stride for an 81 yard touchdown. Reed Turchi’s PAT gave the visitors a 7-0 lead over the Home(coming) team.
After a three and out series, the Warriors’ long snapper hiked the ball over punter Andrew Nallenweg’s head from the Erwin 45. Nallenweg scooped up the ball and tried to run, but was tackled on his own 28. The Erwin defenders then got a steady dose of running back Greg Ray, as he carried the ball five times out of seven plays for 22 yards, including a six yard TD run to begin the second quarter.
Disaster struck EHS three plays later when Tyequan Finley tackled Robbie Nallenweg during a scramble and forced a fumble. The ball bounced into the waiting arms of Giovanni McKnight, who cruised untouched 38 yards down the right sideline for a touchdown that stretched the Cougs’ lead to 21-0 as they scored twice in a 55 second span.
Undaunted, the Warriors used a 15 play drive that consumed nearly seven minutes to find paydirt for the first time. Patrick Hensley kept the Asheville defense off balance with his misdirection end runs for 22 yards as well as catching a 10 yard pass. Hensley concluded the 69 yard drive with a two yard effort 4:21 before intermission.
After the kickoff was returned by Marcus Thorpe to the Cougars’ 33, the visitors had 15 yards added to the end of Thorpe’s run due to a personal foul. On the first play from scrimmage, Morgan dropped a pass into the arms of Darius Harrell, who had beaten his defender on the EHS 20. Harrell scampered to paydirt just 16 seconds after the Warriors’ score.
Asheville’s defense, led by Darius Roberts, held Erwin without a first down on the ensuing series, and the Warriors again punted. After a pair of rushes by Ray netted 29 yards, Morgan found McKnight with a 34 yard scoring toss with 52 seconds to play in the second stanza, and the Cougars led 34-7 at the half.
Asheville scored again on their first possession of the third period when Morgan again teamed up with McKnight. This time the M & M connection found the end zone from nine yards away to make the score 41-7. The drive was highlighted by a weaving 35 yard run by Morgan the play prior to the score by McKnight.
After Erwin had its second halfback pass of the night intercepted, the Warriors’ defenders got a really big helping of Greg Ray. Ray bulldozed his way for 41 yards on nine carries before backup quarterback Tyheim Bolden fumbled the ball back to the Warriors.
Four plays later , the pigskin was back in the Cougs’ possession, but not for long as Ronnie Fortune intercepted a pass and returned it 18 yards to the EHS 48. Four more snaps, and an Erwin fumble wound up in the hands of the Cougars on their own 28.
Thorpe then concluded the scoring for AHS when he broke three tackles and rumbled down the right sideline en route to a 78 yard scoring run with 4:10 remaining in the contest. The Warriors, showing true grit and character, mustered one last drive that ended when Doug Gobble finished a nine play drive with a one yard score with 1:04 remaining.
Asheville finished the game with 229 yards rushing, led by Ray’s 94 yards on 19 carries. The Cougars had 423 yards of total offense. Hensley topped the Warriors’ ground attack with 61 yards in ten carries. Erwin totaled 279 yards for the night on the ground and in the air.
Both coaches praised their opponent’s efforts. Coach Chris Brookshire, who saw his team fall to 3-6 and 1-3 in the MAC, said that the Cougars have excellent team speed, and that there’s a reason that they are the best team in the conference. Brookshire also commended his own charges, saying they played hard, and played to the end, like they have all season.
Coach Danny Wilkins was pleased with his team’s effort (6-1; 3-0), and that there was no letdown after last week’s big win. Wilkins also empathized with the Erwin squad, noting that they’d had some tough setbacks the past two weeks, and that they didn’t give up.
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