Topic: Football

Asheville – The festivities of Parents’ Night, Senior Night, and the final game of the regular season were capped off with a big Cougar victory at Asheville High Memorial Stadium last Friday.  Asheville (8-2, 5-1) stunned North Buncombe (8-3, 4-2) in a 62-6 lopsided victory, giving Asheville coach Danny Wilkins his 80th career win, and Asheville a share of its third straight conference championship.  Cougar fans and players alike were surprised and upset after last week’s 21-20 loss at Franklin, and took out their aggression against the Blackhawks.

North Buncombe drew first blood, with a 73-yard scoring drive capped off by a 2 yard touchdown run by QB Randy Pressley.  Asheville quickly responded, and took the lead for good. Quarterback Rahkeem Morgan’s first carry resulted in a 42-yard touchdown run.  Spenser Clement, Giovanni McKnight, Greg Ray and Marcus Thorpe also had touchdown runs for the Cougars.  Phillip Lamy caught Morgan’s only touchdown pass of the night.  On defense, Antonio Carson and Jamal Johnson each returned an interception for a touchdown.  The Asheville defense also caused five Blackhawk turnovers.

Rahkeem Morgan now has 2,513 career passing yards, nearing the school record of 2,760.

Asheville advances to the first round of the NCHSAA 3A Playoffs as the #4 seed. The Cougars’ first round draw is #13 Tuscola, who was defeated by Asheville 3 weeks ago during Homecoming, 39-7.  Also competing in the playoffs from the MAC are #7 North Buncombe vs. #10 Franklin, and #6 T.C. Roberson vs. #11 Mooresville.

From Citizen-Times.com
By Andrew Pearson

ASHEVILLE — Asheville High quarterback Rahkeem Morgan’s campaign to win every individual postseason award imaginable is back on and then some.  Morgan ran for 254 yards and two touchdowns Friday to go along with 60 passing yards and a third score as the Cougars routed North Buncombe 62-6.

Coach Danny Wilkins’s 80th career victory at Asheville (8-2, 5-1) coincided with his team clinching a share of its third consecutive Mountain Athletic Conference championship.  “We needed to come out and make a statement tonight and I thought we did,” Morgan said. “We were frustrated with the way we played last week at Franklin (where the Cougars lost, 21-20). I really have to give all the credit to my line tonight, they really blocked well and showed that they were a good line.”

Read full article: 'Cougars' Morgan does it all in rout'

Reprinted from Prepalert.com




By 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?


(Continued)

Read full article: 'Life in the fast lane: Cougars race past Warriors'

By Tim Amos, Executive Producer of CSN TV

First of all, I would like to congratulate all of the young men who were selected to this year's Shrine Bowl team.  Once again, however, the NC Shrine Bowl team has omitted perhaps one of the best players in WNC:  Asheville High QB/DB Rahkeem Morgan.  Morgan's stats speak for themselves.  He is fast approaching the career passing yardage record at Asheville High and can run with equal skill.  He is a leader on the best team in WNC (as ranked by the Citizen-Times), and can play any skill position on the field.  His talents are displayed on TV regularly so only a caveman could have not known about him.

So why was he not selected to the Shrine Bowl team?  Perhaps the better question is why am I surprised?  Asheville's John Avery (1993) (NFL, XFL and CFL star) and Petie Scarborough (1999)(All-State MVP) were left off the roster.  What about this year's Darious Spencer of A.C. Reynolds and Justin Wynn of T.C. Roberson?  Anyway, I am losing more respect every year for the selection process and the treatment of WNC athletes.  Politics, not skill, is what rules.

I hope the Shriners raise a lot of money for their very worthy causes, but as far as an "all star" game for NC high school athletes, the event falls far short in my opinion.  North Carolina does not select its best athletes and that is why their record is 27-38-4 versus SC.

Thanks for allowing me to vent my disappointment at our annual snub.  To end on a positive note, click below for a list of Asheville High/Lee Edwards players who have made the roster over the years.  Find out what NC's record versus SC is when these guys played.

Read full article: 'Annual Shrine Bowl Snub: How can they omit Rahkeem Morgan?'

By Derek Norton, Prepalert.com

ASHEVILLE-October 5, 2007-It seemed 2007 would be the year that the TC Roberson Rams, ranked 4th in the Associated Press 3A state poll, would finally pick up a win on the road against the Asheville Cougars. 

The Cougars, with history on their side, led the Rams the entire game en route to a 24-9 victory and sole possession of first place in the Mountain Athletic Conference.Read the full article here: http://prepalert.com/2007/10/06/asheville-moves-to-1st-place-in-mac-with-win-over-roberson/