ASHEVILLE — Asheville High football coach Danny Wilkins told the Cougars all week long that he would exhaust every trick and means of deception necessary during Friday’s 3-A Western Regional championship game.But in the end, it was the Cougars seniors who dictated the biggest gamble.

Instead of a tying extra point, they persuaded Wilkins to go for two points with 1:03 remaining. But junior Greg Ray was stuffed at the goal line, denying Asheville a potential conversion run in a 35-34 loss to North Gaston.

A large number of his teammates fell to Memorial Stadium’s turf and sobbed uncontrollably once the game ended. But one by one, Cougars senior quarterback Rahkeem Morgan called them together and gave an emotional speech.

“We went out fighting and gave it all we could,” Morgan yelled in the huddle. “Everyone who isn’t a senior, you come back and fight like we did. You come back and fight.”

Morgan threw for 223 yards in his final game — 146 of which went to fellow senior Darius Harrell, who also caught a 60-yard touchdown. For the second straight game, sophomore Marcus Thorpe made multiple interceptions (three) and returned one 62 yards for Asheville’s first points

The Cougars outgained the Wildcats in total yardage, 370-296, despite managing only 61 in the first half.

“Give all the credit in the world to our kids and to Asheville’s kids, too,” Wildcats coach Bruce Clark said. “That’s a great team, and they never gave up.”

Wilkins was determined to use some trickery and did. The fourth-seeded Cougars (11-3) attempted four onside kicks (one was successful) and a hook-and-ladder play. But nowhere in Wilkins’ bag was there a magical answer that could contain or adversely affect the many talents of North Gaston quarterback A.J. Blue.

The 6-foot-2, 203-pound senior proved to be insurmountable for Asheville with both his arm and legs, accounting for four touchdowns as the No. 6 Wildcats held on to win their first regional championship.

Blue, who has been offered scholarships to Illinois and North Carolina, ran for a pair of 1-yard touchdowns to go along with a third from 8 yards out. Blue also threw a 29-yard strike to Darius Edwards as time expired in the first quarter.

Still, the three-time Mountain Athletic Conference champions were within a single point of North Gaston (12-2) when Ray bulled into the end zone for a pair of fourth quarter, 1-yard touchdown runs.

Wilkins called his final timeout, during which the Cougars seniors persuaded him to go for two points.

“North Gaston is a big, tough team, and we had the momentum,” Wilkins said. “I thought we had a good surge, and it looked like (Ray) might have gotten in, but I couldn’t tell. Nobody is going to hang their heads. We lost to a good football team tonight.”

Ray, who rushed for a team-high 65 yards, scored his first touchdown of the game on a 3-yard run with 3:29 left in the third.

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