Asheville Cougars coming through in clutch against conference rivals

ASHEVILLE - Trapped deep inside his end zone in the fourth quarter, Asheville's Dana Campbell Jr. looked certain to be dropped for a safety.

Instead, just as his teammates had done in clutch situations all night, he found a crack in Erwin's defense.

Campbell juked left, sprinted out of trouble down the right sideline and didn't go down until after he had gained 36 yards. Moments later, his 54-yard scoring run on fourth down put the game on ice.

Owning key moments like those allowed the Cougars to overcome 155 penalty yards and multiple special teams gaffes on their way to a 33-6 win that has them sitting atop the Western Mountain 3-A Conference standings.

"Everybody on this team has that clutch factor in them," said Asheville running back Corey Clement, who finished with 61 yards on 15 carries. "So everybody wants to be that guy. But it's a team sport. So no matter who gets the ball, he's going to get the first down or the touchdown or whatever we need."

Though Asheville dropped its three nonconference games to start the season, the Cougars (2-3, 2-0) are coming through when it counts.

"We circled it on our calendars," said Campbell, who also scored on a 1-yard run in the first half. "We said, 'We're coming for the (conference).' We knew the first three games would be tough. We set it up that way so we'd be ready for games like this. We're just coming for the conference."

The Cougars were also strong defensively. They held Erwin (0-4, 0-2) to 85 yards in the first half while opening up a 26-0 lead.

They forced three turnovers, all of which led to Asheville touchdowns. Campbell's final score was set up after Erwin fumbled inside Asheville's 2-yard line.

"We had them behind the chains numerous times, had them bottled up, and felt like if they didn't convert, we'd have the ball in good field position," Warriors coach Rodney Pruett said. "We give them credit: When we had fourth downs, they made the play."

Benched a week earlier during a win against Roberson, Asheville quarterback Three Hilliard rebounded with a solid first half.

He completed 10 of his first 18 passes for 184 yards, including touchdowns of 15 and 30 to Trevon Robinson.

Campbell's 1-yard scoring run and Jordan Robinson's fumble recovery in the end zone accounted for Asheville's other first-half scores.

"It wasn't just one guy tonight," Asheville coach David Burnette said. "Three made a big play. We had a big run by Andrew Leota, big run by Campbell. Trevon Robinson had some big catches. If you want to be a good team, you can't rely on one guy."

Asheville will aim for its third straight win when it hosts Enka on Friday night. Erwin travels to North Buncombe.