The Shadow
LOW MOOR – This Friday at Casey Field, Alleghany and Covington come together on the gridiron as the Alleghany Cougars for their historic first regular season football game since the consolidation.
Their first opponent, the Waynesboro Little Giants of the Shenandoah District.
Last season was a season to remember for the Alleghany Mountaineers in their last ever year as a program. The Mounties led by then head coach and now the current AHS Cougars head coach, Will Fields, finished with a 6-5 overall record.
In what was their 410th and last ever game, the Mounties lost to the 4-seeded Galax Raiders 40-12 in a Class 2, Region C first-round playoff matchup.
Reaching the playoffs for Alleghany marked the first time that the program had made it to postseason play since the 2017 season. It was also the first time in 10 seasons that the program had a winning season.
The school program also had numerous football records broken by Garrett Via. Via set the school mark for the most rushing touchdowns in a single season with 25 and the most yards from scrimmage in a season with 1,914.
Alleghany’s rival just miles away, the Covington Cougars football program also reached the postseason.
The Cougars finished 3-8 overall, lost in the Class C, Region 1 playoffs to the 3-seeded Glenvar Highlanders 34-18.
It wasn’t an easy start to Covington’s season last year as the team dropped their first seven games. Then on Friday, October 21st, at Casey Field the Cougars shocked Parry McCluer with a 32-0 shutout victory. It was the start of three straight wins for the program as they went on to defeat both Eastern Montgomery and Craig County on the road. The three wins helped earn the team a spot in the regional playoffs.
Covington was led by Purcel Turner who razzle and dazzled on the football field and his defenders could not bring him down. Turner led the team with 20 total touchdowns and was a menace in receiving with 750 yards to along with 54 catches and eight touchdowns.
And now these two storied football programs come together and bring together a whole lot of excitement and talent.
On the defensive side of the football, the AHS Cougars will get a defensive standout in Rocklynn Phillips who was second in total tackles at Covington with 79 as he was just behind then senior Luke Conner who had 109. Phillips is joined by Andrew Cole who was third on Alleghany with 53 total tackles. Meanwhile the defense also gets a lift with Hayden Knighton, who led the area at Alleghany with three interceptions.
The offense brings in plenty of talent at all positions, including a talented quarterback depth with Eli Entsminger and Des Jordan. Entsminger finished the season completing over 50% of his passes (66-for-120), while throwing for 632 yards, and tossing four touchdowns. Jordan, meanwhile, had an incredible 1,359 yards passing to go along with 11 touchdowns in the air, and also completed over 60% of his throws (110-for-177).
With plenty of talent on both sides of the football, it is going to certainly make for a historic season for the first-year Alleghany Cougars.
The program will remain in the Three Rivers District and will play a six-game district schedule with the addition of Patrick County to the TRD. The AHS Cougars non-district games include their home-opener against Waynesboro, home against Fort Defiance, and road games against both Rockbridge County and Greenbrier East, which all happen in the first four weeks of the season.
2023 AHS Cougars Schedule
8-25 vs Waynesboro
9-1 vs Fort Defiance
9-8 at Rockbridge County
9-15 at Greenbrier East
9-22 at Radford
10-6 vs Carroll County
10-13 at Glenvar
10-20 vs Patrick County
10-27 at James River
11-3 vs Floyd County
2023 AHS Cougars Varsity Roster
#1 J’yon Smith QB/DB
#2 Xzavier Hayslett WR/DB
#3 Des Jordan QB/DB
#4 Jay Godfrey RB/DB
#5 Hunter Knighton WR/DB
#6 Hayden Knighton WR/DB
#7 Andrew Boothe TE/DE
#8 Eli Entsminger QB/DB
#10 Brycen Griffith QB/DE
#11 Greg Rice TE/DE
#14 Purcel Turner WR/DB
#16 Siemien Brown WR/DB
#18 Gavin Via RB/LB
#20 Carter Nicely RB/LB
#21 Rocklynn Phillips WR/DB
#24 Neeko Jeter RB/LB
#25 Sarge Persinger RB/DE
#26 Mason Hale K/P
#27 Hunter DePriest WR/DB
#28 Brady May RB/LB
#31 AJ Godfrey Jr. RB/DB
#32 Haiden Nicely WR/DB
#34 Daimonie Clayton WR/DB
#42 William Palella TE/DE
#44 Andrew Cole OL/LB
#50 Nathen Chapman OL/DL
#54 Caleb Walden OL/DE
#60 Ervin ChapmanOL/DL
#61 Dylan Hawse OL/DL
#63 Ethan Shue OL/DE
#64 Nate Phillips OL/DE
#65 Joseph Rogers OL/DL
#66 Mark Hunter OL/DL
#68 EJ Wright OL/DL
#70 Ethan Martin OL/LB
#71 Julius Nevils OL/DL
#75 Owen Burch OL/DL
#76 Casey Simmons OL/DL
#77 Jaheim Davis OL/DL
#84 Keaton Fisher TE/DE
#91 Matthew Clayton TE/DE
