Tonight it is the NCHSAA 6-A West Regional Championship Game from Boone, N.C. and at Watauga High School, home of the Watauga Pioneers…Northern Guilford(12-1), the Nighthawks from Guilford County who are in Boone for this very important high school game, ready to meet the homestanding Pioneers(13-0), from Watauga…
Major matchup here in this one, with Watauga being seeded #1 in the 6-A West, and Northern Guilford in as the #2 seed from the West…Winner of this game tonight gets the Jacksonville-Middle Creek winner next week for the State Championship…
Watauga has one state title to their credit and that came for the Pioneers back in 1978…Northern has four state titles, and the Nighthawks are looking for #5, in 2025….There are 28 seniors on the NG Nighthawks roster, so this is one of those peak years for this group….
NG led by QB Jaxson Kemp, RB Amare Akers, WRs CJ Morrison and Greyson Council, O-linemen like Sam Bagley, Eddie Geddie, TJ King, Chase Bell, and Arimeeh Mack all seniors…On defense the school bell rings for senior leadership again, with Northern’s Charlie Griffin, Jude Keyser, Chance Crews, Noah Smith, Hunter Crum, Ronald Barclay, Bobby Bah, Tajae Alston, and Sloan Littleton…That is 18 seniors among the starters right there…
That shows depth and that shows lots of experience…Got to avoid all sacks if possible, and that will be the job of the offensive line, and any stay-in blocking backs, and also need to put much pressure on the opposing quarterback from Watauga Cade Keller…Got to get back there and get in Keller’s face, and that will be the job of the D-line and Linebackers, plus any stunts coming all-out from the DBs…
And why so much need for the pressure on Pioneer QB Cade Keller??? Well, the Watauga Pioneer QB has thrown for 2,620 yards on the season, and that has been good for 33 TDs, and just 3 Interceptions…Keller completing 76.2% of his passes, going 157-206 for the year…Another part of Keller’s game that gets your attention are his running numbers..Keller with 636 yards rushing and 12 more TDs from his ground game…Add in his ground game to his air game, and Keller at 45 touchdowns for 2025…Got to get to Keller and shake him up any way you can…All of the pressure you can come up with, will help…
So with all those yards Keller has been producing, who are his primary receiving targets??? Top man is Evan Burroughs, with his 1,121 receiving yards, and his 16 TDs caught…Overall 69 receptions for Burroughs…Big play man is Nyle Pyeas, with 812 yards by air receiving, and he has 8 TDs…Another top target for Watauga is Bowen Mayo, and he had a key catch/reception for the Pioneers in their 31-28 win over Sun Valley last week…Burrouhs, Peays, and Bowen…
Top running back for Watauga is Everett Gryder, and he has run for 597 yards and 12 TDs…Still got to watch out all night long for Cade Keller…Got to get to Keller, and create havoc all around Keller…Griffin, Keyser, Crews, Crum, Smith, Barclay, Khan Achina and all others from Northern have to, “Get After That Man Keller”…
Got to get after those Pioneers from Boone, N.C., there at Watauga High School…
This game will be available for you on GreensboroSports Radio, with Coach Randy Norris joining us for the broadcast…Major football matchup tonight from Boone, N.C. here on GreensboroSports Radio…
Northern Guilford key numbers going into this game, and we look for game numbers tonight from NG, and expect those to be the most important numbers on this night, but for the season, it goes this way for the Nighthawks…
QB Jaxson Kemp has gone 117-205 passing for 1,876 yards, with 23 TDs/8 INT…Kemp at a 57.1 completion rate, over the 13 games for Northern in 2025…
RB Amare Akers has taken off for 1,274 rushing yards, good for 18 touchdowns…Christian Leach with 620 yards rushing and 7 NG TDs…Jaxson Kemp with 277 yards on the ground, and 6 rushing TDs…
Kemp runs a great show back there at quarterback, and if they can get Akers ground game established, Nothern can turn the ball loose to their key wideouts, CJ Morrison and Greyson Council…Morrison with 782 receiving yards and 15 TDs…Council has 707 yards and 4 receiving touchdowns…Morrison and Council one of the top receiving duos in this state…They compliment each other so well, and Kemp does a great of connecting with both Council and Morrison…
We talked about that defense above, and how key it will be to get pressure on the Watauga QB Cade Keller…That is still one of the most important parts of tonight’s list of game keys…Get to that QB, got to get to Keller, and DBs got to cover…Northern Guilford is ready, and they have an excellent kicker too, in junior Kobe Guardado…Kobe the Kicker is the man you want to see, when you need a clutch FG/field goal…His kickoffs are booming too…Kyle Shultz handles the punting duties for the NG Nighthawks and he has not had to enter the game very many times in recent weeks, and that’s a real good thing…
So that is part of the story on tonight’s game, and this really is a team of destiny, and we can talk more about that later on…Right now, the most important thing is to get the job done, and bring home that NCHSAA 6-A West Regional Football Title…
Game available on GreensboroSports Radio, with Coach Randy Norris joining us for the broadcast….
Let’s keep supporting our local teams, the Northern Guilford Nighthawks and the Grimsley Whirlies, in their quests to bring the State Football Titles back to Greensboro/Guilford County….