Asheville rallies, D-B suffers another one-point defeat

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — For all the question marks surrounding Dobyns-Bennett's football team, toughness hasn't been one of them. Having clearly shaken off the effects of Week 1, the Indians found themselves in position to even their record at Asheville on Friday night. But once again, victory slipped away. Asheville blocked two field goals, the second coming as time expired to beat the Indians 32-31. The Indians (0-2) are agonizingly close to a 2-0 start, you could argue two plays away from it, but have dropped their opening two games for the first time since 2018. Going forward, they'll need the same energy they brought Friday night to reverse their fortunes. "You can't question how hard we play. Just got to keep fighting," D-B coach Joey Christian said. "Bad stuff happens, you keep fighting. Show up to work the next day and you keep fighting. You go home to your family and you fight for your family. That's what you do." MOVE OVER, KAYDAN The D-B defense limited the highly touted Kaydan Whiteside to 36 yards on three receptions, but fellow junior Jams Skyes easily made up the difference. Skyes might garner some more Power Four Conference offers after his performance, eight catches for 149 yards and a touchdown. He broke wide open for a 32-yard TD reception from Tay Williams late in the first half. And after Tay Wadsworth intercepted a D-B pass near his own goal line, Asheville (2-0) embarked on a quick five-play drive which included Clement Davidson's 38-yard gallop. Henry Leisring drilled a 45-yard field goal as the first half expired for an 18-17 Cougar lead. Leisring also became the hero with 1:53 left, making the eventual winning extra point following Williams' 1-yard sneak. Williams finished 13-of-21 for 173 yards and two touchdowns, the second coming on a screen pass to Davidson for 17 yards which tied the score 25-25 in the third quarter. Skyes sparked the winning drive with his 17-yard reception on third down. TK Davis and Davidson had runs of 20 and 15 yards to move Asheville inside the 10, where Williams did the rest. "It was real big," Skyes said afterward. "This year's team is very different, we're growing up a little bit. I've still got one more year, but we've gotten way better over these past few months." CHAPPELL, STARNES RUN WILD Dobyns-Bennett failed to capitalize on a 294-173 advantage in rushing yards. Quarterback Levi Chappell and running back Emmitt Starnes led the way with 122 and 119 yards respectively, on 18 carries apiece. "We know when the clock's running , those guys are going to play their tails off. They certainly did tonight," Christian said. "We have a bunch of guys who did that. We just have to continue on. We're playing really good football teams. And it's not going to get easier for a while." Starnes got both of D-B's touchdowns in the second half, the first coming when Chappell eluded pressure and rolled left before finding him on a 29-yard deep fade. Chappell then tied a D-B record by keeping for his second 2-point conversion of the game, giving the Indians a 25-18 lead. Starnes capped an eight-play, 79-yard drive to put D-B ahead once again with 6:02 to play. He went the final 11 yards up the middle, but the extra point was low and bounced off the crossbar to leave the score at 31-25, D-B. The Indians led 9-0 just 4:20 into the game. A high punt snap resulted in a safety, and D-B drove 34 yards to score when Chappell hit Tyree Thomas down the middle from 13 yards. Davidson, who led the Cougars with 144 yards on 18 carries, closed the gap to 9-8 with his 3-yard run. After an exchange of punts, Chappell drove the Tribe 70 yards in just six plays. He found Tate Wernke for 19 yards and Cooper Lockhart for 14, before keeping himself up the middle for a 34-yard touchdown and the ensuing 2-point conversion to build a 17-8 advantage. Through the air, Chappell went 11-of-15 for 110 yards. Wernke led the receiving corps with 37 yards on three catches. D-B used 15 plays to drive 61 yards after Asheville's go-ahead touchdown. Kedrick Harris went 16 yards on fourth down to move to Asheville's 33, and the Indians reached the 19 with five seconds remaining. But Asheville blocked D-B's 36-yard field goal to win the game, the Cougars' second block of the second half. UP NEXT D-B crosses the state line again on Friday, Sept. 4, with a short trip to Gate City — its first trip to Legion Field since 1970. ASHEVILLE 32, DOBYNS-BENNETT 31 D-B&emsp;9 8 8 6 — 31 A&emsp;8 10 7 7 — 32 First quarter D-B — SAFETY (high snap kicked through end zone) 10:36 D-B — Tyree Thomas 13-pass from Levi Chappell (Lofton Fuller kick) 7:40 A — Clement Davidson 3-run (Fallou Gaye pass from Jericho Swinger) 4:35 Second quarter D-B — Chappell 34-run (Chappell run) 6:12 A — Jams Skyes 32-pass from Tay Williams (Henry Leisring kick) 2:24 A — Leisring 45-FG 0:00 Third quarter D-B — Emmitt Starnes 29-pass from Chappell (Chappell run) 7:58 A — Davidson 17-pass from Williams (Leisring kick) 5:42 Fourth quarter D-B — Starnes 11-run (kick failed) 6:02 A — Williams 1-run (Leisring kick) 1:53