CANTON — Smoky Mountain football’s Ayden Johnson took the first-down handoff from quarterback Jarek Jones with his team leading Pisgah late in the second quarter.
The 5-foot-11, 205-pound running back ran right and through a pair of arm tackles at the line of scrimmage. Then, Johnson broke through leg tackle attempts from safety Matthew Mehaffey and cornerback Mason Putnam. He then juked Mehaffey and broke free from the grasps of two more tacklers before being brought down 37 yards later.
His monster run set up a 16-yard touchdown on a jet sweep by wide receiver Malachi McNeely four plays later, giving Smoky Mountain a two-touchdown advantage. The No. 17 Mustangs never relinquished their lead on the way to a 27-14 win vs. No. 16 Pisgah (8-3) in the first round of the NCHSAA 3A playoffs Friday at Pisgah Memorial Stadium.
Smoky Mountain (8-3) advances to the second round, where it’ll face No. 1 Erwin (9-1) next Friday.
“He’s been doing those things the past few weeks, probably right before the hurricane came,” coach JT Postell said about Johnson. “We’ve tweaked a few things offensively with him, and he’s become such an effective runner for us.”
Effective, indeed. Johnson scored Smoky Mountain’s first touchdown when he broke loose for a 56-yard touchdown. The senior finished with 158 rushing yards and a touchdown on 20 attempts. He now has 1,902 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns this season.
“I was running as hard as possible because I knew this could be my last game,” Johnson said. “And I didn’t want it to be that.”
Jones rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown on 19 attempts and completed a 38-yard touchdown pass to Jayce Stillwell. The Mustangs offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage.
“Our blockers do an amazing job, and you just got to give it up to them,” Johnson said. “Jarek (Jones) does an amazing job, just got to give credit to everybody else.”
HOME SWEET HOME: Mountain Heritage football returns home for playoffs two months after Helene ravaged Yancey County
Pisgah knew what Smoky Mountain was trying to accomplish offensively. It defeated the Mustangs 31-21 on Sept. 20. But the Bears couldn’t stop it this Friday.
“There’s nothing flashy or fancy about us at all, and that’s OK,” Postell said. “We’re gonna hang our hat on trying to run the football and play sound defense. And if we can do those things, that’ll give us an opportunity to be successful.”
Zachary Huber is a high school sports reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times and Hendersonville Times-News. Email him at zhuber@gannett.com or follow him on X @zacharyahuber.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: NCHSAA football playoffs: Smoky Mountain runs through Pisgah
