New quarterback Connor Bowers hopes to pick up his first varsity victory as Ashe County hosts Alleghany this week.

The sophomore finished last week completing six of his 15 passes for 69 yards and an interception in the 15-13 loss to North Wilkes. He will certainly hope to improve on those numbers this week against the Alleghany Trojans, who enter play on a two-game winning streak over Forbush and East Wilkes.

The Trojans knocked off East Wilkes 28-15, and have started playing much better after a rough 0-5 start to the season. Alleghany played Wilkes Central close, only losing by 13, then beat Forbush and East to give them a 2-5 record overall and a 2-2 mark in the Mountain Valley Athletic Conference.

Alleghany head coach Frank Sessoms is only in his second year with the Trojans, but has already put together back-to-back wins for the first time since 2009, and only the third time in the last nine seasons.

Grant Caudill leads the team on offense from his quarterback position. The senior scored three touchdowns last week, and had a terrific game passing the ball. Caudill completed eight of his nine passes for 213 yards.

Lucas Edwards and Brandon Eubanks are the favorite targets for the senior quarterback, while Chandler Caudill should see most of the rushing attempts this week.

Defensively, the Trojans have improved each week. In the first game of the season, Alleghany gave up 49 points to North Stokes, then allowed 48 points to Grayson County in the team’s next game.

Slowly but surely, the points-allowed total started to drop. In the first conference game, Alleghany lost 42-19 to North Wilkes. After that, South Stokes defeated the Trojans 35-17. Next up, Alleghany held Wilkes Central in check through most of the night, allowing just 27 points to the second highest scoring team in the MVAC. In Alleghany’s two victories, they have outscored its opponents 56-22 and have allowed the third fewest points in conference games this year behind Starmount (three points) and Wilkes Central (40 points).

Ashe hopes to end a three-game losing skid while keeping its chances for a playoff spot alive. The team has to win four games to qualify, so Ashe will need at least two wins in its final four games to have a chance to keep its playoff streak alive. The last time the Huskies did not make the 2A state playoffs was in 2002. Alleghany has not beaten the Huskies since 2003. That year, the Trojans won in a defensive struggle, 9-7.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. from ACHS. Live play-by-play can be heard on 580 WKSK.

Other area games

Avery County at Polk County

Bishop McGuinness at Surry Central

East Burke at West Caldwell

East Surry at South Stokes

North Surry at Mount AIry

North Wilkes at Elkin

Starmount at West Wilkes

Watauga at Alexander Central

West Stokes at North Stokes

Wilkes Central at East Wilkes