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Titans host Enka in finale

Bonnie Byrd/bbevent.photoreflect.com

McDowell Titans quarterback Dakota Arrowood gets set to pass while Asheville’s Roosevelt Harvin (77) closes in during the Titans’ loss Oct. 16. McDowell hosts Enka tonight in the season finale.

By Marty Queen | The McDowell News

Published: October 29, 2009

The Enka Jets have dropped their last three games by a combined score of 119-21. They're 3-6 overall on the season, 1-3 in the Mountain Athletic Conference. The McDowell Titans shut them out 14-0 in the 2008 season opener.
Forget all that.
The Jets will be all the Titans want when they visit McDowell in the Titans' season finale tonight (7:30 kickoff), according to head coach Carson Gowan.
"They're not a bad football team," said Gowan. "No. 11 (RB/WR Akeem Ferguson) is very good. He's good enough to start for anybody. He's certainly good enough to give us fits. Our hands will be full; they're a lot better football team than they were last year."
Gowan said Ferguson is the biggest reason for that improvement. Splitting time between tailback and receiver, the speedy Ferguson has rushed for 710 yards and eight touchdowns on 101 carries, and has caught 32 passes for 370 yards and another score.
"If we miss him, he'll be gone," said Gowan, whose club has little team speed. "If they (Enka's offensive line) can get anything at all done for him, he'll give us fits."
Ferguson isn't the Jets' only weapon. Quarterback Conner Cox has had a solid season, going 96-for-196 passing for 1,218 yards, six TDs and nine interceptions.
"The quarterback throws it well," said Gowan. "They've had a lot of catchable balls that have been dropped, and that's what their coach told me. He said they're going to keep on throwing it and just learn to catch it. But they do want to throw the ball a good little bit."
Like Enka, the Titans have struggled all season. McDowell (1-9 overall, 1-4 MAC) owns only one win, a 26-6 victory over last-place North Buncombe. The last three weeks have been rough for the Titans as well. McDowell fell 43-0 to A.C. Reynolds last week. That loss came on the heels of a 47-6 loss to Asheville and a 58-35 setback at Erwin.
During the three-game skid, defense has been a major problem. Against Enka, Asheville and Reynolds — three clubs with extremely fast skill-position players — the Titans have allowed a total of 1,320 yards of offense. The play of senior linebacker Tim Velez has been a bright spot, however. Velez is third in Western North Carolina with 110 total tackles (80 solo, 60 assists). He also has seven quarterback sacks, 13 QB knockdowns and three blocked kicks.
Junior linebacker Nick Westmoreland is second on the team with 55 tackles, but may not play tonight. Westmoreland has the flu, and has not practiced this week. Gowan said Westmoreland would likely play, but would not be 100 percent.
The coach also said keeping the defense off the field would be a priority.
"Each and every week, we need to do the same thing, which is get the football and keep it as long as we can," said Gowan. "We don't have to score every time, but these three-and-outs where we have to play defense a whole bunch is not what we need to do. We don't want No. 11 to have any extra carries."
Although the Titans can't make the State 4A Playoffs, tonight's game will be the finale for the team's seniors. As a result, Gowan said emotions would run high.
"It will certainly be an emotional night for the seniors," said the second-year head coach. "They've done an awful lot of work the last two or three years, so we're going to try and do a couple of special things to give them a good send-off."
The Titans will have a special pre-game meal for the seniors, and they will be recognized in a ceremony before the game.
Senior quarterback Dakota Arrowood, who will play his final game as a Titan tonight, is 165-for-380 for 2,186 yards, 17 touchdowns and 21 interceptions in his two years as a starter. He has also rushed for 263 yards and eight more TDs.