The Asheville defense came to play, holding the TC Roberson Rams to three yards and only one first down in the first quarter. The Cougars, meanwhile, were cooking with QB MDJ back under center. They put up 126yds of offense in the first quarter and scored the first TD of the game on a 1yd punch in by RB Howell. Everything was going Asheville's way.


A pair of costly fumbles by QB MDJ abruptly ended Asheville's next two drives in the red zone. The second fumble happened on the 1yd line as Diamond Jr. attempted to dive into the end zone for a TD.


Asheville's defense came to MDJ's aid and picked up a safety on the next play. Giving the Cougars a 9-0 lead and the ball back. Asheville drove the length of the field on just five plays and scored another TD on a 24yd pass from MDJ to TE Weisbecker.

MDJ forced his third turnover of the game with a deep ball interception with a minute left in the half. Asheville took a 16-0 lead into halftime.


A majority of the third quarter was taken up by a 10-play Asheville scoring drive that was capped by a 13yd TD run by RB Howell, his second TD of the game. MDJ delivered a perfect pitch over to Howell on the option play.



With 4:12 remaining, the Rams ended the Cougars' quest of their first shutout of the season. RB Williams got to the outside for a 3yd TD run. QB Moore then completed the two-point conversion on a pass to WR Flowers to cut the deficit to 15 points, 23-8.

TC Roberson's offense didn't touch the ball again. Asheville ran out the clock to get back in the win column after last week's loss.



MDJ Game Stats: 26/33 passing for 328yds, 1 TD, 1 INT; 53yds rushing, 2 Fumbles - Take out the turnovers and I had the best game of my high school career so far. But, that's not how this works. As a quarterback, it's my job to limit those mistakes. It didn't hurt us this week (thanks defense), but it's stuff like that which will cost us in the near future.

Player of Game: RB Howell (10 catches for 104yds, 13 carries for 52yds rushing, 2 TDs)

Summary: The first cobbled sector rears its ugly head. Massive crash! Down goes GB national champion Marcus Diamond, along with favourites Benoot and Vanmarcke.

They all manage to get back on their bikes and continue. But, Diamond definitely looks disgruntled. Not the start of the season he envisioned.


With 14kms to go, only late attackers Roosen and Van Keirsbulck have forged a gap on the chasing group of 19 favourites.


Van Aert isn't waiting for the catch and tries to jump across the gap. Wisniowski looks to follow this attack, but didn't exactly hop on Van Aert's wheel either. Many of the favourites are getting antsy.


We hit the last sector with 4.3kms to go and its Teunissen who has now escaped away from the rest of the pack. The gap is 34 seconds.


Teunissen celebrates as Pedersen sprints to second place behind him. The 33yo still has the legs, adding to his 2022 victory here in Belgium.


Crash victim Marcus Diamond quietly comes home with a solid 6th place finish after keeping his head down and catching all the right splits today.

Result: 6th - Took a face full of dirt and stones... I don't recommend. But, I recovered well and did everything right after that. Resulting in my best finish here and a good starting point for the spring season.

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After an opening three-and-out by the Trojans, the Cougars display a masterful 11-play drive that ends with a 6yd TD catch by RB Howell. QB Diamond Jr. used Howell as an effective check-down man the entire drive. Howell caught five passes for 30yds on the opening scoring drive.


Punts followed for the rest of the quarter with Asheville up 7-0.


A MDJ long bomb interception at the start of the second quarter amounted to nothing as McDowell couldn't get any offense going against Asheville. MDJ went back to ol' reliable after that, with throw after throw to RB Howell. McDowell locked up all the receivers but didn't have anybody to cover the shifty playmaker in the backfield.

After Howell's 10th (!) catch of the first half, Diamond Jr. punched in the second TD of the game on a 2yd option run play. 14-0 Cougars, leaving the McDowell supporters left to wonder what the heck was going on.

Some normality was restored when the Trojans stormed back with a five-play TD drive on its following possession. Kentucky committed five-star recruit QB Maxwell dropped in a 23yd TD dime for WR Holley.

Putting the score at 14-7 Asheville at halftime.


The Cougars opened the second half with a three-and-out. McDowell capitalized... QB Maxwell found WR Holley again for an even longer 37yd TD strike. The Trojans had woken up.

Asheville, on the verge on punting the ball back again, converted on a key three down deep in their own territory with 46yd pass from MDJ to WR Nguyen. Three plays later, MDJ scrambled out of the pocket for a 11yd TD run, his second of the game.


The Cougars regained the lead, 21-14.


Up seven points with under two minutes to play, Asheville lined up on 4th-and-1 to try and win the game. A first down would do just that with McDowell out of timeouts. MDJ got under center and stared directly at three defensive linemen crowding the middle of the field.


MDJ looked over to the sideline. Head coach Greg Nelson just shrugged. Diamond looked back at the wall of defenders in front of him and is now calling an audible at the line... Diamond Jr. is changing the play.

Set. Hut.


MDJ is going to pass! Nelson, pacing the sideline, has thrown his hands on top of his head in disbelief. Diamond Jr. is looking and looking, but nobody is getting open...


And now he is going to run for his life. Green grass in front of him!


Everyone converges on the sideline as MDJ is pushed out of bounds. It's going to be a 5yd gain for a first down! Asheville is going to win.

The Cougars pull off the upset, 21-14!



MDJ Game Stats: 25/32 passing for 233yds, 1 TD, 1 INT; 39yds rushing on 13 carries, 2 TDs - As much as it pained coach Nelson that I changed his fourth down play call from a run by RB Howell to a pass that turned into a QB scramble, he had no choice but to congratulate me after the game. Afterall, it won us the game. I'm so thankful it did, because I don't think I'd be starting next week if I didn't get that first down.

Also, shoutout to my man Alex Howell. He just knows how to get open.

Player of Game: RB Howell (18 catches for 110yds, 1 TD; 8 carries for 31yds rushing)

A swarm of 42 men wearing wetsuits rushed into the waiting waters. The one-loop 1.9km (1.2 mile) swim starts and returns to Hobie Beach.


Five front-runners quickly create a gap to the rest. It takes roughly 10 minutes before we get a group of stragglers struggling at the back.


Leading up the rear of the race is professional cyclist and former footballer Marcus Diamond. This certainly isn't his discipline of choice, and probably isn't too happy he has to race with the elites today in his Ironman 70.3 debut.

Meanwhile, last year's winner Manfred Lambrechts is the first athlete out of the water with an impressive time of 25 minutes and 43 seconds.

Diamond is last out, at 41 minutes and 23 seconds.


A rolling 56-mile bike course mostly along the coast has stretch the field wide open. The short, punchy climbs eat away at your legs. The rapid downhill sections don't give you nearly enough time to recover.

At the 23-mile marker, a new leader emerges: Jatau Berhanu Afolayan. The relatively unknown 21yo is having his coming out party today. He was fifth coming out of the water and is absolutely flying.

Lambrechts rides comfortably in 2nd (15 seconds back), followed by:

Bukar Idowu (+1'15")
Issouf Ayodele (+2'30")
Chukwuemeka Ihejirika (+4'00")

The Top 5 have a sizeable gap on the rest of the competitors.


As the leaders have made their way back to the transition area and are now out on the run, here comes the fastest man on the bike today rocketing down the final hill. It's a stunning ride by former Tour de France green jersey winner, Diamond.

He averages 26mph by completing the bike course in 2h10'17". Timing data provided by Sportstats has Diamond in 9th place, +11'09". Meaning he passed 33 people on the bike course! Insane! What a ride!

That might be a new Ironman 70.3 record if we kept track of that data.

But, there is no more time to admire this feat, as Diamond has slipped off his cleats and tied up his running shoes. Only a half marathon left.


For the first four miles, Berhanu Afolayan looked untouchable. Each stride looked powerful. Then, he hit the sharpest incline on the run course and struggled to keep moving forward. Lambrechts saw this as his opportunity and raced back into the lead.


Once at the front of the pack again, there was no looking back. The miles melted away and nobody was allowed to catch up. The defending champion was on a mission to repeat his performance from a season ago.


Lambrechts tore the course up, hitting the finish line at 3h40'50".

Second place Berhanu Afolayan jogged across the line over two minutes later, with Ayodele narrowly beating Idowu for the final podium spot. All smiles after a great day of racing.

Result: 14th (+15'21") - ... ... ... Too tired to even think, let alone talk.