Football Recap: Asheville Falls Short of Northern Guilford in the Playoffs

Asheville and Northern Guilford squared off in some playoff action on Friday, but Asheville had to settle for second. They were outmatched by the Nighthawks and fell 46-13. While losing is never fun, the Cougars can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina football rankings (they are ranked 148th, while the Nighthawks are ranked 36th).

Although Asheville took the loss, they still got scores from TK Davis and Jams Skyes.

This one was won in the trenches and the lion's share of the credit has to go to Amare Akers and Christian Leach. Akers rushed for 87 yards and two TDs while Leach rushed for 117 yards and one score on only 13 carries. Those 117 rushing yards gave Leach a new career-high.

Cougars

Previous 5 Games

11/14/25 @ Northern Guilford	13-46
11/07/25 vs Western Guilford	42-7
10/31/25 @ Enka	20-17
10/24/25 vs North Buncombe	43-22
10/17/25 vs Erwin	41-35

Asheville moved to 6-6 with that defeat, which also ended their four-game winning streak. As for Northern Guilford, the victory was the ninth in a row for them, bringing their record up to 10-1.

Asheville does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Northern Guilford, they will face off against Kings Mountain at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.