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Avery High Vikings Have Home Football Debut Last Friday Under Direction of New Head Coach Ethan Farmer; Lose to Wilkes Central

The Avery Vikings prepare to make a goal line stand on a foggy night at MacDonald. Stadium against Wilkes Central.

By Leah Potter

Coming off a defensive battle that resulted in a 14-0 loss at Cherryville on August 19, the Avery County Vikings played their football home opener verses the Wilkes Central Eagles last Friday evening (August 26th). But the Vikings fell 49-13 in the non-conference game at Newland’s MacDonald Stadium.

The game started off with quick punches from both the 3-A state classified Eagles and the 1-A Vikings being dealt. With 10:39 left in the first quarter, the Eagles (1-1) went down the field resulting in a touchdown and a two-point conversion to claim an 8-0 lead. Avery bounced right back to score as Elijah Holtsclaw took the ball 85 yards into the end zone for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 8-6.

Avery’s momentum remained strong, but with fifty-five seconds left in the first quarter, Wilkes Central scored another touchdown and two-point conversion to push its lead to 16-6. The Vikings (0-2) had some more solid defensive plays, including a pass breakup from Holtsclaw and tackles for loss of yardage from Landon and Lukas Hughes. But Wilkes Central managed to punch the ball into the endzone once more for a touchdown before halftime to lead 24-6.

In the second half, Avery’s defense was unable to halt the offensive attack from the Eagles, who put up twenty-five consecutive points. The Vikings were unable to score until the game’s last minute of the game when quarterback Will Stanford ran the ball in for a touchdown and Kaden Knight added the extra point kick, providing the final tally.

Farmer and his young team hope to get the wheels turning for a victory on Friday September 2nd when they host the undefeated (2-0) and Tennessee 2-A classification state-ranked Hampton Bulldogs. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

A’Trell Baker and Elijah Holtsclaw ready to receive the kickoff for the Avery High Vikings versus Wilkes Central.