Football Preview: Asheville Cougars vs. North Buncombe Black Hawks
Asheville is 10-0 against North Buncombe since October of 2014, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Asheville Cougars will welcome the North Buncombe Black Hawks at 7:00 p.m. Asheville is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 33.5 points per game this season.
Asheville is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They breezed by McDowell on the road to the tune of 56-14 on Friday. Given the Cougars' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina football rankings (they are ranked 46th, while the Titans are ranked 278th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Kyheem Plummer was his usual excellent self, rushing for 165 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries. The bulk of those rushing yards came from one huge play: a run that gained an incredible 86 yards. Another player making a difference was Meek Slydell, who threw for 121 yards and four touchdowns on only 11 passes.
Asheville wouldn't let McDowell keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Asheville can thank MaKyan Barton and Addison Cain for forcing both of them. Quavo Hayes was another major factor on D, making seven total tackles (1.0 for loss) and defending three passes in addition to snagging an interception.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Asheville was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 312 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 154 rushing yards in four consecutive games.
Meanwhile, a win for North Buncombe just wasn't in the cards back in September as the squad wasn't able to take the lead at any point. They were beaten by A.C. Reynolds 56-6. The contest marked the Black Hawks' lowest-scoring matchup so far this season.
The match pitted two dominant backs against one another in Kyngston Denson and Max Guest. Guest had a great game and rushed for 71 yards and two touchdowns. Meanwhile, Denson did his best for the losing side, rushing for 119 yards and a touchdown.
Asheville's victory bumped their record up to 3-1. As for North Buncombe, they now have a losing record at 2-3.
Friday's match might be decided in the on the ground. Asheville has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 274.5 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like North Buncombe struggles in that department as they've been averaging 289.5. It's looking like Friday's game might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Everything came up roses for Asheville against North Buncombe when the teams last played back in October of 2023, as the team secured a 59-12 win. Does Asheville have another victory up their sleeve, or will North Buncombe turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
