In just two years at Ashe County High School, Head Football Coach Bill Strong has managed to earn two championship banners in the Mountain Valley Athletic Conference. In his first year with the Huskies in the 2006 season, Coach Strong led his team to a record of 9-2 on the season and a 5-1 conference total on the way to being named Conference Co-Champions with the Surry Central Golden Eagles. This year, the Huskies have tallied a record of 7-3 on the season, and an identical conference from last year of 5-1 to earn a portion of the conference championship for the second year in a row.

The Huskies are tied with Wilkes Central (8-2 season, 5-1 conference) for first place in the MVAC after Wilkes Central defeated Forbush (1-10 season, 1-5 conference) 56-8 Friday evening, and are both named Conference Co-Champions. The Huskies sealed their share of the title Friday evening with a commanding 44-20 victory over the Surry Central Golden Eagles (1-10 season, 1-5 conference).

“I am tickled to death for the kids, they have played hard all year,” said Coach Strong following the victory.

The Huskies forced a tie atop the leader boards in the MVAC last Monday when they upset the conference leading Eagles from Wilkes Central 39-28 to place each team with one loss in conference. The Huskies followed the electrifying triumph over the Eagles with a solid 44-20 victory Friday evening. The Huskies had an evenly distributed offense, which gained a commanding total of 257 yards in the game (141 rushing, 116 passing) and scored with six touchdowns and one forced safety. David Grubb, for the second game in a row, led with three rushing touchdowns in the first half on a 73-yard night on 18 carries. Daniel Waln continued his impressive play out of the backfield with 116-passing yards, tallying two touchdowns on twelve completions out of twenty attempts. Waln connected with Ethan Graybeal and Nick May for the two passing touchdowns for the Huskies.

Defensively, the Huskies held the Golden Eagles to only 172-yards for the game (80 rushing, 92 passing), only eight first downs, earned two sacks, scored a defensive touchdown and a defensive safety also during the dominant performance. Ryan Shepherd, Dylan Brown, and Ryan Moser continue to be a threat to the Huskies’ opponents with powerful defensive play. Between the three, they recorded fourteen tackles, and eighteen assists in the game with Shepherd leading with 5.5 tackles (Brown added 4.5 tackles, Moser four tackles). Greyson Wells had a outstanding defensive play with a 50-yard fumble recovery for a defensive touchdown for Ashe. The Huskies’ defensive unit also recorded two more points with a defensive safety in the third quarter when stout defensive pressure sent the Golden Eagles’ quarterback out of bounds in his own endzone for two points for the Huskies.

The first points of the game came on a Huskies drive in the first quarter. Following short possessions by both teams, the Huskies offense took over and moved the ball down field with key pass plays to Brandon Rinehart, and then two carries by David Grubb set up a one-yard touchdown pass from Daniel Waln to Ethan Graybeal in the back of the endzone for the first points of the game. Dakota Price’s extra-point gave Ashe an early 7-0 lead.

Central retaliated fast and gave foresight of what appeared to be a good game when they returned Ashe’s kickoff to the Huskies’ 43-yard line to give themselves a short field. On the first play of the drive, Central’s Brett Boyles gained twenty-four yards on a run to set up a nineteen-yard touchdown pass from Boyles to Rocky Hall, and with a successful extra-point, Central tied the score at 7-7.

On Ashe’s next possession, the offensive unit for the Huskies had difficulty as Central’s defense was pumped up from their impressive offensive drive. The Huskies had a three-play and punt series giving the Eagles possession on their own sixteen-yard line. The Huskies’ defense was not intimidated by the Eagles’ offense and on first down, defensive pressure by the Huskies caused a fumble recovered by Jake Brown to give the Huskies’ offense excellent field position starting at the Eagles’ twenty-yard line.

With the help of a ten-yard Personal Foul Penalty against the Golden Eagles, Ashe was able to put six more points on the board when David Grubb found a hole in Central’s defense and carried the ball into the endzone from twelve yards out for the Huskies’ second touchdown of the game. Price’s extra-point attempt was once again good to give the Huskies a 14-7 lead.

With the Huskies’ fans in the game now, both the offense and defense for Ashe was pumped as the excitement and intensity was heavily felt in the stadium. The Huskies’ defense stopped the Golden Eagles in their tracks on the next three possessions causing three more fumbles in sequence, which led to three more touchdowns for the Huskies as Central quickly saw the game escape their grasp. The Huskies saw another touchdown run by David Grubb for his second touchdown of the game and then a ten-yard touchdown pass to Nick May, which was followed up with another touchdown run by David Grubb, his third of the game to give the Huskies total control of the game. With three more successful extra-points by Price, the Huskies led 35-7 at halftime.

The second half saw more life from the Golden Eagles than the first half. Half way through the third quarter, Central was able to move the ball down to the Huskies’ nineteen-yard line when the Golden Eagles would score their second touchdown with a Boyles-to-Newton touchdown pass of nineteen yards to cut the Huskies lead to 35-14.

With the kickoff by Central, a gutsy call was rewarded when the coaching staff from Surry Central called for an onside kick. The recovery by the Golden Eagles brought their offense onto the field, but their possession was short lived as a fumble on the fourth play of the drive was scooped up by Grayson Wells who carried the ball down the field for a 50-yard touchdown fumble recovery, and Price’s sixth extra-point of the game gave the Huskies a 42-14 grasp on the game.

The two teams traded possessions with two punts until the Huskies could strike again. The third quarter proved to be a defensive highlight for the Huskies as they had the Golden Eagles backed up to their own five-yard line following a perfectly placed punt for the Huskies by Dylan Brown. Central struggled deep in their territory and on third down, Boyles scrambled into the endzone after a bad snap. After recovering the snap, Boyles attempted to scramble and was forced towards the sideline and stepped out of bounds in the endzone to give the Huskies a defensive safety, which awarded them two points and possession. The safety increased Ashe’s score to 44 compared to Central’s 14, and was Ashe’s ninth defensive point of the quarter and the game.

Surry Central was able to strike once more in the game, which was ended with a thirty-yard pass from Boyles to Kirk Johnson, and with a failed extra-point, Ashe led with the final score of 44-20.

The victory was sealed, and the Championship also, when Coach Strong of the Huskies was doused with the sports traditional Gatorade Bath for the second time of the week. Following Ashe’s victory Monday evening against Wilkes Central, Coach Strong commented: “I didn’t get wet for nothing, let’s take care of business Friday night.” His team listened and sealed the Championship with the 44-20 defeat of Surry Central.

The Huskies, for the second year in a row, will be hosting a first round NCHSAA 2AA Football Championship game this Friday. The Huskies have been paired with the South Iredell High School Vikings. The Vikings are entering the game Friday night on a two-game drought after losing to East Lincoln 28-21 to conclude the regular season. South Iredell record on the season stands at 5-6. South Iredell in comparison to their opponents are at a disadvantage points wise as they have been outscored by roughly three points per game as they are averaging 22.9-points per game to their opponents twenty-six-points. The Huskies on the other hand have outscored their opponents by two possessions on average by scoring 33-points per game to their opponents’ nineteen-points per game.

Coach Strong gave foresight to the Huskies’ game plan and preparation for Friday night by stating: “We just go back to what we’ve been doing all year and try to get better in all aspects of the game.”

The Huskies will not only be seeking their first ever home playoff victory this Friday, but also, the Huskies’ first ever post season victory. The Huskies have placed into the playoffs for four straight years now, but still have not earned their first victory yet. Ashe has they goals set on a spot in the second round of the playoffs, which will be determined this Friday night. With kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. come out and cheer the Huskies onto victory and their way into Ashe’s record books!