Owen falters in 40-0 loss to Hendersonville
Warhorses remain on track despite slipping to 4-4 with second straight loss
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
October 11, 2025
A formidable two-week stretch ended, Oct. 10, as Owen fell, 40-0, to Hendersonville.
While the loss marked the second time in two weeks the 4-4 Warhorses allowed 40 points, the program remains on track to return to the postseason for the first time since 2021.
Owen hosted its annual youth night, in which players and cheerleaders from the Warhorse Youth Football League and Owen Middle School joined their high school counterparts on the field, before facing the 5-1 Bearcats. Hendersonville, which remains tied with Mountain Heritage for the top spot int he Western Highlands Conference with a 3-0 mark, came into the contest averaging over 43 points per game this season.
Led by junior quarterback JaRon Ward and running back Jordan Buford, the Bearcats secured a 7-0 lead to cap their first possession.
The Owen offense responded with a nearly six-minute drive into Hendersonville territory, setting up a field goal attempt by senior Hayden Burpeau that sailed right of the uprights. An aggressive Warhorse defense, punctuated by a Bear Dasher sack on fourth down, forced a turnover on downs near midfield on the ensuing drive.
Hendersonville extended the lead on its first possession of the second quarter, before breaking up a fake punt attempt by Owen and capitalizing to create a 21-0 advantage at the half. The Bearcats scored three more touchdowns to secure their third straight victory.
The loss to a potent Hendersonville offense demonstrated a sharp contrast to the one suffered, Oct. 3, against Mitchell, according to Owen head coach John Faircloth, who called the back-to-back games against two of the conference’s top teams a “ big challenge.”
“We went into the game against Mitchell at 4-2, so there was a lot of optimism, but we didn’t play well at all. That was probably the worst game we’ve played so far this season, as far as coaching, execution and effort,” Faircloth said. “I challenged everybody in the program, including myself, to remember we’re still building, and we’re still a long way from where we want to be. So, we hit the reset button.”
The Warhorses were focused on playing their own brand of football coming into the game against Hendersonville, he added.
“I was proud of how we played against them,” he said. “We played hard, we played our game and we executed. Now, we dropped three interceptions and took a bad angle on a tackle, but if we did those four things, that changes everything.”
The Owen offense, which recorded 137 yards on 45 carries, led by 66 on 16 from junior Stephen Anderson, controlled the clock through much of the first half, but the athleticism of the Bearcats proved to be overwhelming.
“They’re so athletic that if you make a mistake you’re going to pay, and that will probably be with a touchdown,” Faircloth said. “On our end, the learning piece is still there, but we had holes to run the ball through and open receivers, so we were seeing things working out there. We’re at a point where instead of having eight people do the right thing on a play, we have to get all 11 on the same page.”
In season two under their head coach, the Warhorses, whose season was interrupted last year by Tropical Storm Helene, are in the midst of their best campaign since 2021. That success, which included consecutive conference victories to close out the month of September, is an indication that players and coaches are continuing to understand the Owen system.
“We hit every goal we set before the season two weeks ago, and we had to come up with new goals through a meeting with our players leadership committee,” Faircloth said. “I’m 99.5% sure we’re in the playoffs, we won three games early, so we needed to raise the bar. That’s part of the building process, and we decided we really wanted to host a playoff game.”
The team could move closer to that goal with a victory on Senior Night, beginning at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 17, when it hosts 4-4 Madison. The matchup between the WHC teams will offer a “playoff-ish” atmosphere with real postseason implications, according to the Owen coach.
“We’re trending in the right direction, but that has left us hungry. The cool thing about having Madison on that schedule is that nothing else matters, not records, futures, pasts or anything else,” Faircloth said. “It’s a great opportunity to just focus in on one game, the same as you do in the playoffs. It’s a big game for both parties.”
The contest between a pair of programs with identical records and victories over Avery County and Polk County also provides a chance for the Warhorses to continue strengthening their identify as a team, according to the coach.
“My objective is, when people watch us play or talk about the games at the breakfast shop on Saturday morning, everybody knows what we’re going to do. We’ll have eight-minute drives and a defense that capitalizes on mistakes,” he said. “We have to play our brand of football, play with emotion but not emotional, and I think it will come down to who settles in first. We’re going to spend all week keeping our kids relaxed, and have them ready to go out there and play our style of football.”
Photos of Owen Youth Night can be viewed in the gallery at the top of the page.