HENDERSONVILLE — Hendersonville football coach Kirron Ward still wasn't satisfied with his offense's performance despite putting up over 30 points for the second straight week in a 33-7 win against West Henderson (1-1). The win gives the Bearcats (2-0) two straight wins over their rivals.
"It wasn't high enough," Ward said. "I'll take it, but we probably left three or four touchdowns out there. I know it was wet and raining, but our goal is 50 every week."
The high expectations for the Hendersonville offense are justified. It returned JaRon Ward, one of Western North Carolina's top quarterbacks and Kirron's son, along with an extremely talented skill-position group that includes running back Jordan Buford and wide receivers Jaylon Wynn and Ace
Smith.
Ward completed 16 of 30 passes for 246 yards and two touchdowns while running for another. Buford ran for 89 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. Wynn caught four passes for 116 yards and a touchdown. Smith had four catches for 74 yards.
That collection of talent at the skill positions is a major reason Hendersonville entered the season as the favorite to win the Western Highlands Conference.
"We got a lot of weapons," Wynn said. "I think anybody can have a game. I feel like nobody can stop us."
JaRon Ward added, "I can get the ball to them, and they make plays. Everybody on the team is a playmaker."
Kirron Ward agreed. He said he's had talented skill-position groups before, but he believes he's never had one this deep.
"I could let him call the offense, and we would be just fine," Kirron Ward said of JaRon. "He's a student of the game. He watches a lot of film."
Kirron Ward expects the offense to score 50 points because of the hard work the Bearcats put in this summer. He said they held workouts four times a week this summer to improve their already strong chemistry.
"They're all three-, four-year starters," JaRon Ward said. "They all know the offense, so all I have to do is throw the ball and then they catch it."
That focus carried over to the regular season. Kirron Ward said his seniors called him on Saturday to come watch film with them.
"We're on a mission to win state," Wynn said. "We gotta do everything in our power that we can to win state."
Zachary Huber is a high school sports reporter for the Hendersonville Times-News. Email him at zhuber@gannett.com or follow him on X @zacharyahuber.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: How skill-position players helped Hendersonville football roll past West Henderson
