High School Football Friday Night Finish with Five of our Six Guilford County Teams moving on to Round Three of the NCHSAA Football Playoffs and Northern Guilford Nighthawks headed to Round Three after Big Win at Johnny Roscoe Stadium

Our team was at the Johnny Roscoe Stadium on Friday to see the Northern Guilford Nighthawks defeat the Asheville Cougars, 46-13…A very decisive win by the Nighthawks at the stadium where the Johnny Roscoe-coached NG teams won four State Championships, and now this year’s edition of the ‘Hawks is working to win the first-ever NCHSAA 6-A Football Title…

And more on that Northern victory coming, but first let’s say our Guilford County teams gave a real good account of themselves on Friday night in Round Two of the playoffs…Grimsley got Faizon Brandon back and the Whirlies prevailed in a BIG G way…Dudley pulled out a tough road win at Asheboro, and there is a chance we could still see a Dudley at Northern Guilford matchup later in the playoffs…Northeast Guilford faced a potent Dixon offense, but the NEG Rams Defense rolled another near super game again tonight, and Rams’s offense was more than capable in their huge home win at the still-standing Bill Bookout Stadium…High Point Andrews rolled over the Clinton Dark Horses, at Simeon Stadium in High Point…

Now that should give us Five solid winners for our Friday Football Finish…The Page Pirates lost at Charlotte Independence, and this was not unexpected, but Page still has a fairly young team coming back for next season, if they can keep them all together…Where will the Page players and fans be watching Friday Football in Round Three next Friday night??? Grimsley, Northern Guilford, and Northeast Guilford will all be home…

As the old Georgia Bulldog and WCW heavyweight champion Bill Goldberg used to ask, “Who’s Next?”…..Let’s go ahead and see who the Friday Football Foes will be, for our local teams…In the 7-A West Classification, #1 Grimsley(11-0) will be at home again, to face #8 Jack Britt(7-4)…Jack Britt got past Davie County, 22-20, in Round Two…#2 Northern Guilford(10-1) will be home to face the #10 Kings Mountain Mountaineers(8-4), in the 6-A West…Kings Mountain eased past TC Roberson, 21-20, for their Round Two game-winning ticket to Round Three…The Dudley Panthers(8-4) with the #11 seed in the 6-A West will hit the road again, and travel to face #3 Gastonia Ashbrook(11-0)…Ashbrook took care of Statesville on Friday night, 22-14, to stay in the hunt in the 6-A West…Dudley lost to Ashbrook, on a late field goal back in 2003(State Championship Game), in a game played at Carter-Finley Stadium, in Raleigh….Just happened to be there for that game…The Northeast Guilford Rams(9-2) and seeded #2 in 5-A East will be back at Bill Bookout Stadium, as NEG will host the #7 Rocky Mount Gryphons(8-4), and Rocky Mount was a splashdown winner over South Granville in Round Two, 28-6…The #7 seed from the 4-A East, the High Point Andrews Red Raiders are in the process of becoming the Road Raiders, as the (9-2) T. Wingate Andrews club will traveling to meet #2 seed West Craven(10-1) next Friday night…West Craven ripped Roanoke Rapids, 41-6, in Round Two on Friday…

So we still have Grimsley, Northern Guilford, Dudley, Northeast Guilford, and High Point Andrews all ready to roll next Friday night, as Round Three of the playoffs gets rolling…Who is Next has been determined, and how many of our Guilford County teams will be left in good standing/left standing, after Round Three is over????? Get ready, the next round is about to be found, and don’t make a sound, we are all bound to secrecy until the next Football Picks Pool hits the streets of G’boro….

Now let’s get back out to Summerfield, the site of Friday night’s Round Two meeting between the Northern Guilford Nighthawks and the Asheville Cougars…In a bit of a shocker, Asheville got on the scoreboard first in this ballgame, with the Cougars striking by air, on a 60-yard TD pass from Tay Williams to Jams Skyes…The PAT Kick by Henry Leisring was Good, and the score was:Asheville 7, Northern Guilford 0, with 9:07 left to play in the First Quarter, at the Johnny Roscoe Stadium, and if you looked up, there he was, Coach Roscoe at the game on Friday night…

Northern Guilford is known as a quick-strike unit, and the ‘Hawks came back and tied this game up, as Amare Akers ran the ball in from 3 yards away, and with the Kobe Guardado PAT Kick being perfect, the new score rolls as:
Northern Guilford 7, Asheville 7…NG score came with 7:08 left to play in the First Quarter…

The ‘Hawks took their first lead of the game when C.J. Morrison grabbed an 8-yard TD pass from Jaxson Kemp and with Kobe Guardado showing no signs of failure, his PAT Kick was Good, and now Northern leads Asheville, 14-7…

Asheville will not quit, and the Cougars make this a one-point game when their running back, freshman TK Davis takes a pass from his quarterback, Tay Williams, and runs along the left sideline for a total of 67 yards and with his TD run, the score is now, 14-13 Northern and Asheville has their PAT Kick blocked, and this is still a one-point game late in the First Quarter…Northern 14, Asheville 13

But, as fate would have it, Asheville would never score again in this ballgame…Northern got moving again, with Amare Akers scoring on an 8-yard run for the touchdown, and with the next Guardado PAT Kick, Northern goes up, 21-13, with 2:13 left in the Second Quarter…Again our score has become:Northern Guilford 21, Asheville 13

Our Halftime Score was, Northern 21, Asheville 13

Now in the Third Quarter of our contest, Northern settles for a nice 39-yard Field Goal from Kobe the Kicker, and with 8:44 to go in the period, our score moves on to:Northern Guilford 24, Asheville 13

On the next Nighthawks scoring play, you might not believe how the ‘Hawks scored, you almost had to be there to see and believe it…The #0 for NG, and this kid is good one, showed us just how good he can be, when Chance Crews took the handoff pitch from the Asheville QB Tay Williams and he took that handoff from his NG linebacker spot, and Crews was just “Spot-On” as he raced in and took that handoff pitch from the oppposing QB, and raced back 45 yards for the NG TD…His/Crews’ timing on taking/stealing that handoff was PERFECT…It looked like the play was drawn up to have Crews get the ball, but he just took it away, and he took off and got that HUGE Defensive score/Touchdown…Kobe Guardado with the PAT Kick makes the new total, Northern Guilford 31, Asheville 13…..WOW, that was some kind of Defensive Scoring Play by Chance Crews…

Somewhere along this time of the game, and maybe a bit earlier, Amare Akers got hurt and had to leave the game, and he did not return…Loked like it could have been an ankle or a knee problem/injury…Akers got hurt on a left-side run, where he was headed for a touchdown, but he got hit and coughed it up, and fumbled the football…Northern had two other very much makable scores taken off the scoreboard due to fumbles or penalties…NG was able to move the football most all of the night/evening…

Two more scores out there for Northern, and Christian Leach has come into the ballgame for Amare Akers, and Leach can be a featured running back…He was racking up some key/important yards, and he runs in a Touchdown, on his 3-yard carry to paydirt, and that score came with 1:28 to go in the Third Quarter, and after a penalty on the Asheville Cougars, NG decides to go ahead and go for Two, on the conversion, and Leach runs that score in too…Leach on the touchdown run, and Leach on the Two-Point Conversion Run…New Score as the ‘Hawks are on the move…
Northern Guilford 39, Asheville 13

One more score on the night for the NG Nighthawks, with backup RB Cannon Herndon getting his chance, and Herndon will burn them with his 3-yard run for the ‘Hawks last TD score of the night…One more boot for Das Boot, as young Kobe Guardado puts it through One More Time, and with Kobe the Kicker’s final PAT Kick splitting the uprights, Northern Guilford leads Asheville, 46-13…That final NG score came with 7:43 left in the contest, that was the time left, in the Fourth Quarter…

FINAL SCORE:Northern Guilford 46, Asheville 13

Players of the Game with Coach Randy Norris Sr. giving us the call for these young men….
POG on Offense goes to NG QB Jaxson Kemp, and to RB Christian Leach…
POG on Defense goes to NG LB Chance Crews and to DL Charlie Griffin…

Northern won the playoff football game, but they lost RB Amare Akers to injury and not sure about his status for next week, at home vs. Kings Mountain…Northern Guilford also lost WR C.J. Morrison, who was ejected/disqualified, and was out for the remainder of the Asheville game, and not sure if he will have to sit out the Kings Mountain game due the diciplinary ejection…Sometimes there is fine line between Ejection and Disqualification, and they often are interpreted and enforced different ways….We shall see…Christian Leach running strong in the absence of Amare Akers on Friday night, but NG needs the drive of Akers in their quest for a State Title…The measure of Morrison remains to be seen, and it may have to go to the NCHSAA offices before his declared season future is determined…

Northern Guilford Nighthawks driving hard and they need to keep driving the same exact way next week, with their same approach and determination….

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