Mountain Heritage High School senior Casey Peterson signed a letter of intent last week to play football at Mars Hill College beginning this fall. In football Peterson is a 5-11, 340-pound lineman who dominated on both sides of the ball last season. He was a first-team All-Western Highlands Conference selection on both offense and defense and was voted second team All-WNC as an offensive lineman. Stacey helped lead Heritage to a 13-3 record and an appearance in the Class 2A state title contest. As a senior, Peterson graded out at 85% at his offensive guard position with 56 pancake blocks, helping the Cougars to rush for a state record 6205 yards and average over 42 points per game on the season. On defense, Casey had 19 solo tackles and 21 assisted tackles, helping the Cougars hold opponents to around just 15 ppg. “Mars Hill is getting a great football player” Heritage Head Coach Joey Robinson said. “Casey is a great kid and he was very instrumental in our run-through the state playoffs and up to championship game last year. He was a very solid performer for us last year and we are looking forward to him doing likewise at Mars Hill,” Robinson said. “It is a real honor to play college football,” Peterson said of the opportunity. “Not a lot of players get that honor and I and Taylor Fender did it this year at Mountain Heritage. I am just very proud,” said Peterson, who has a 3.4 GPA and plans to study elementary education at MHC. He hopes to be following in the footsteps of his parents Stacey and Suzy, and his brother Toby, all three school teachers. “We are very proud of Casey and very happy that he has chosen to become a teacher. It is one of the best professions a kid can get into right now and I am sure that he will make the most of the opportunity,” Stacey Peterson said of his son. Casey sat out his sophomore and junior years and did not play football at Mitchell High before deciding to transfer to Mountain Heritage. “Taylor Fender and Casey Randolph came over to my house and we talked and I decided that I would play football again,” Peterson said. “Coach Robinson accepted me that first day as a Cougar and he and the coaching staff helped me get stronger and faster. I owe them a lot and I appreciate the way that everyone accepted me into the team,” Casey said. His biggest thrill as a Cougar was the way that everyone came together as a unit throughout the playoff run last season. “It was just amazing to see players just doing their jobs, never worrying about who got the most playing time or the fact that they are not getting the ball enough. It was just a great run and something I will never forget,” Stacey said. On his trip to check out the Lion’s facilities, Casey met Mars Hill record setting running back Jonas Randolph, who rushed for over 1600 yards last season. “He just encouraged me to hang tough and not give up in the workouts we are going to be facing,” said Peterson, who is being recruited as a center/nose-guard. He will be rooming with former Mitchell High teammate, Logan Jensen, who also recently signed with the Lions. “This is a great opportunity and I just want to work hard, do well and make as many friends along the way as I can,” Casey said. The Lions are picked to finish third in the South Atlantic Conference this year.

It looks like the Mountain Heritage varsity football team will simply need to reload instead of rebuild after loosing 14 seniors off a team that won 13 games, the Western Regional championship and competed for the state class 2A title last year. Although it is a little bit too early to book your trip to this year’s title game, Cougar head coach Joey Robinson likes what he sees so far. “We had a really good first week and we are further along in implementing our systems that we were this time last year, and that is always a good thing,” Robinson said on Friday. “Some of the new guys need to pick things up a little quicker, but overall things are looking good,” last year’s 2A state Coach of the Year added. Around 34 players reported for first day workouts with 15 seniors and 19 juniors making up the varsity roster this season. Of those players 17 saw action with the varsity last year, with 5 starters back on defense and 6 starters back on the offensive side of the football. On offense Coach Robinson and his staff will have to replace some outstanding talent from a year ago, including the quarterback, top running back and two key linemen. “We lost four starters off offense that were all key players,” Coach Robinson said. “But we think that we have the kids to step in and take up the slack.” The Cougars may have to have a little different look on offense this year to be successful. “We have a lot of really skilled players and we are going to spread the ball around and put the football in the hands of our play makers,” Robinson said. “We may have to throw the ball more than we did last year but we are confident that we will be pretty balanced overall offensively.” After all of the success they achieved last year, the Cougars know that they will have a bull’s-eye on their jerseys as they take on some of Western North Carolina’s best football teams this season. “We have addressed that fact as a team and we told them that it is a good thing. It shows the respect that we have earned from other teams in the area and it lets our kids know that they need to be confident when they take the football field this year---and they are confident,” Robinson said. Robinson said that it is good to have other teams chasing Mountain Heritage instead of Heritage chasing them, which was the situation for a long time at the Yancey County school. “We know that we can’t play on what we did last year,” Robinson said. “This is a different team but they are very talented and they believe that they can win.” With a non-conference schedule that includes road trips to highly regarded Erwin and Robbinsville, and home contest with much improved North Buncombe and Rosman squads, the Cougars should be battle tested when they open up Western Highlands Conference play September 24 when Hendersonville comes to E.L. Briggs Stadium. The Cougars open the season August 20 at home against North Buncombe and Coach Robinson expects the place to be rocking. “Getting to open up at home in front of our great fans will be very good for our young team,” Coach Robinson said. “This should be the biggest home opener in school history,” Robinson said, adding that the people of Yancey County have waited a long time to get excited about their football team and he hopes that they will support their kids at home and on the road. The Cougars expect a big crowd to follow them to Canton for the team’s only preseason scrimmage game. Heritage will take on Pisgah August 13 and you can bet that the Bear fans will be out in force to support their team after being surprised by Mountain Heritage in last season’s match-up. “We have a very good relationship with the people at Pisgah and I am sure that they will remember what happened down there last year,” Coach Robinson said. Returning players for the Cougars this season are Drew Letterman (senior wide receiver/defensive back-11 catches for 368-yards and 6 TD’s last year), Matthew Kardulis (senior runningback/DB-856 yards rushing and 9 TD’s-5 interceptions-32 tackles), Xander Silvers (senior RB/LB-68 tackles), Nick Ray (senior RB/LB-166 yards rushing and 69 yards receiving, 34 tackles), Shawn Lyons (senior WR/DB-18 tackles), Trenton Burleson (senior RB/LB-43 tackles-2 sacks), Kyle Carleson (senior OL/DL-24 tackles-1 sack), Eric Letterman (senior OL/DL-19 tackles 14 pancake blocks), Derek Hoilman (senior OL/DL-13 tackles), Matt Hall (senior OL/DL- 6 pancake blocks), Dalton Woody (senior TE/LB-29 yard receiving-18 tackles), Tyson Tomberlin (senior QB/DB), Eli Buckner (junior RB/DB-238 yards rushing-76 yard receiving), Austin Rice (junior RB/LB broke school record with 171 tackles last year-preseason All-State linebacker Ncpreps.com).

The hills and valleys surrounding E.L.Briggs Stadium echoed with the sounds of new life last week as the Cougar Touchdown Club welcomed around 130 young men to the annual Little Cougar Football Camp at Mountain Heritage High School. The mantra for the Cougars this season “We Are Heritage” was they rallying cry for the K-2 through 8th grade athletes who attended the camp which kicks off the fall football season in Yancey County.

On the opening night of camp, Head Coach Joey Robinson told the gathering of future Cougars that he wants them to understand who they are a part of the tradition that is Heritage football “Each and everyone of you have the potential to be our next All-State football player,” Robinson said, pointing to the recent accomplishments of Zack Howell, Jesse Ballew, Taylor Fender and Casey Randolph. “I am excited to see who steps up and works towards that goal and carries on the tradition.” he said. “The excitement surround football in Yancey County has never been stronger,” Heritage Head JV Coach Ronnie Randolph said after watching the future Cougars go through their paces during the four day camp that climaxed with a pizza campout on Friday night. “This camp gives us a good way to establish a relationship with the players and their parents as well,” Randolph said. “It also gives the young kids and introduction into the basics of the game and allows them to become familiar with some of the middle school and high school players that they will be watching perform on the football field this season. It helps bond our players in all age groups,” he added.


A typical day at camp kept the athletes busy and on their toes. After stretching and then rotating through a series of agility and skill building stations set up around the football field, the group
split into age divisions for several hours of flag football games. “Flag football is a great way for the kids to learn how to play in space and it teaches them how to take different angles in trying to run down a running back or in blocking. They learn a lot of stuff and some of the games were quite competitive,” Randolph said. Coach Robinson and his staff at Mountain Heritage have been able to establish a program that has become use to winning, expects to win every time they take the field. That attitude now runs from top to bottom in the Yancey County system. “We expect to have very competitive teams again this year,” Randolph said. “Our youth league teams have been very successful over the past several years and Cane River and East Yancey have made a habit of playing for the Tri-County Bowl title, so we see our program remaining strong in the future. This camp plays a big part in that,” he said.