By Nathan Ham
It was a good night of football for three High Country teams this past Friday night. Watauga, Ashe County and Avery County all earned conference victories.
The Watauga Pioneers remained undefeated with a 43-23 road victory over Hickory. The game was tied 14-14 at the half, but the Pioneers scored four touchdowns in the second half to pull away for the victory.
Watauga ran all over the Red Tornadoes, piling up 535 rushing yards. Junior Jaiden Bond led the team with 247 yards and three touchdowns on 12 carries. Bond averaged almost 21 yards per carry. Junior Bryce Satterfield ran for 163 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 25 carries. Quarterback Anderson Castle carried the ball 12 times for 99 yards and a touchdown and Zach West had 24 yards on two carries.
The Pioneers attempted just two passes in the game.
Watauga is now 7-0 overall and 3-0 in the Northwestern 3A/4A.
The Ashe County Huskies also picked up a big road win with a season-high point total, beating North Wilkes, 60-7.
The Huskies finished with 587 total yards with balanced offensive attack through the air and on the ground.
Senior quarterback Luke Hudler completed 17-of-23 passes for 282 yards and three touchdowns. He also added a pair of touchdown runs.
Senior wide receiver Branson Shepherd led the Huskies with six catches for 106 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore wideout Austin Poe had six catches for 83 yards and a score while senior wideout Corbin Coldiron had five grabs for 93 yards and a touchdown.
Sophomore running back Timothy Peterson continued his stellar season with 21 carries for 220 yards and three touchdowns. Dylan Hutchens added five carries for 51 yards and a score and Alex Lacroix had three carries for 23 yards.
The Huskies are 5-2 overall and 3-0 in the Mountain Valley Athletic 1A/2A Conference.
Avery County earned its second win of the season with a thrilling 48-46 win over conference foe Madison.
Sophomore QB Troy Hoilman completed 18-of-28 passes for 165 yards and a touchdown. He chipped in 72 rushing yards on 14 carries.
Senior running back Sam McCollum, who started the season at quarterback, had a huge game with 157 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 23 carries. He was also the Vikings’ leading receiver with eight catches for 94 yards.
Tyree Jackson had five grabs for 27 yards, Eli Hayes had three catches for 21 yards and a touchdown, Jesse Jones caught one ball for 18 yards and Jonas Bowman had one catch for five yards.
The Vikings finished with 437 yards of total offense.
Avery County is now 2-5 overall and 1-0 in the Western Highlands 1A/2A Conference.
This Friday, Watauga will host St. Stephens, Ashe County will host Wilkes Central and Avery County will be at Polk County.
You must be logged in to post a comment.