Charles has career night in win

Offensive line dominant again as senior quarterback has time to toss 6 touchdowns By MARK TOWNSEND
mtownsend@cherokeescout.com Tuesday, October 14, 2008 8:06 PM CDT Robbinsville – For the second straight week Friday, Murphy entered a game against another unbeaten team, this time with the inside track to a Smoky Mountain Conference championship on the line. And for the second straight week, the Dogs emerged victorious, riding the arm of Luke Charles to a 47-16 win over the Black Knights.

    Charles had a career night in the biggest game of the year so far, tossing six touchdowns to four different receivers. It helped that he was rarely touched in the pocket, as the six guys in front of him did a Secret Service-worthy job yet again.

    “Stats don’t always tell the tale, but we’ve scored the most points (313) in all of western North Carolina thus far,” assistant head coach Ceasar Campana said. “And of course the guys who are putting up the big numbers are having an unbelievable season, but none of this works without consistent play up front.     “[Center} Bradley Hurlburt is the anchor. Chris Lockett, Nathan Rose, Zack Robertson, Jonathan Lovingood and the two tight ends – Michael Kernea and Andrew Nichols – have kept the running game going downhill and have kept people off our quarterback. Sometimes for Luke, it’s like a 7-on-7 drill (where there’s no pass rush at all) out there.”

    Campana said the dominance of the offensive line this year is shown in how many times Charles finds himself on the ground. The Dogs (8-0, 3-0) gave up a sack in the opening game of the season at Michell, but haven’t given up another one in the seven games after that.

    “That’s almost unheard of,” Campana said. “My father, who’s a longtime head coach in Florida, has always said that the most important position on his staff is the offensive line coach. We’ve got the best there is [in Erik Laney].”

    With the line doing its job against a tough Robbinsville front, Charles was able to pick apart the secondary, quieting the capacity crowd on one side of Big Oaks Stadium. The senior hooked up with his favorite target – Georgie Kerber – three more times, giving the talented senior 15 touchdown receptions this year, just five off the school record held by former NFL great Carl Pickens. Charles finished 13-of-22 for 167 yards, while Kerber had six receptions for 80 yards.

  Charles also tossed short scoring passes to running back Patrick Canizio and tight end Andrew Nichols and hit wideout Jerran Johnson with a 32-yard strike as time expired in the first half. For Johnson, it was just a small part of what would have normally been an MVP-type night. Since returning from a knee injury, the junior has been a huge part of the Dogs overall success, contributing big plays on offense, defense and special teams. In addition to his touchdown catch, Johnson also picked off a pair of passes, one of which ended what might have been Robbinsville’s last chance to get back in the game.

    “We are trying to get Jerran in the game as much as possible,” assistant coach Joseph Watson said. “He was playing great before he hurt his knee, and since he has been back he has just continued where he left off.

    “Anytime you can put another athlete like Jerran on the field, it is going to help your offense. We try to create a one-on-one situation with him because you can’t just stick your fourth-best defensive back over there and say cover him, because he’s going to beat you.”

    The Murphy ground game did its part to keep the Robbinsville defense from cheating to cover the receivers, racking up 204 yards on 35 carries. Patrick Canizio led the way with 54 yards on 12 carries, while Rickey Edwards had 49 yards, including a 16-yard touchdown run late in the game.

    Another facet of the game that has proven to be key for the Dogs this year is limiting turnovers – the team is plus-14 in turnover ratio – and the ability to turn the other team’s mistakes into points. On Friday, two first half fumbles by the Knights and a second half interception led to 21 points and changed the momentum.

    “This probably comes with experience,” Campana said. “The veterans understand how much of this game depends on momentum swings. Our offense feels like they owe it to the defense to score immediately after we force a turnover.

    “Our defense understands the importance of squelching the other team’s momentum if we turn over the ball. There’s a sense of obligation and commitment that we haven’t had in years’ past.”

    The Dogs got the job done defensively again against another formidable ground attack led by Kurt Odom. Odom finished with 123 yards on 22 carries, but most of that came on a pair of drives in the middle of the game.

    “Defensively, it’s the same kids just stepping up and making huge plays,’ Watson said. “The just have a knack for making plays when we need it the most. Heath Curtis plays so hungry and with so much emotion and he is the leader of the defense and secondary. On one of Robbinsville’s last drives, he put on an exhibition, making plays all over the field.”

    When Robbinsville tried some trickery in the passing game – throwing a lateral to the flanker who then looked to make the pass downfield – it was Curtis’ devastating hit that caused the second pass to fly right into Johnson’s hands for the pick. The play was key because the Knights had cut the lead to 32-16 midway through the third quarter and were driving the ball effectively again.

    Campana said just like the offense, the defense has been one of the best in western North Carolina, giving up the second-fewest points.

    “We’re giving up yards, and have some things to shore up the run game, but we’re forcing turnovers and making teams go the length of the field,” he said. “We’re gang tackling and stripping the ball, and our defensive backs are not letting anyone get behind them. The fact that we’ve faced two very good offensive teams – Cherokee and Robbinsville – and held them to a combined 28 points probably tells the tale.”

    One factor that continues to help the defense is special teams play, most notably the leg of Brandon Nichols. The senior has emerged over the past couple of weeks with monstrous kickoffs, the first five Friday night all landing in the end zone. The sixth kick came down at the Robbinsville 1-yard line.

    “He’s taken a team’s best athlete (their kick returner) out of the equation,’ Campana said. “And our kick coverage team basically consists of 10 fast maniacs who take it personally when a team gets beyond the 20 [yard line]. It’s terribly hard for any team to go 80 yards every time.”

    Going 80 yards was exactly what the Knights had to do Friday night and it turned out to be too tall a task.

    After Murphy had taken a 19-0 lead midway through the second quarter, the Knights finally gave the home crowd something to cheer about with an 11-play drive that led to Odom’s first touchdown.

    Johnson’s touchdown catch took all the air out of the crowd again and extended the lead to 26-8 at the break. Kerber’s second touchdown of the game early in the third quarter made it 32-8, but the Knights refused to quit.

    Robbinsville charged back with an 11-play, 80 yard drive to cut the lead to 16 points. After forcing a punt for one of the few times on the night, the Knights took over near midfield with a little momentum on their side.

    After driving the ball inside the Murphy 40-yard line, the Knights went for the big play, leading to Johnson’s pickoff, which he returned all the way to the Robbinsville 15-yard line.

    The Dogs put the exclamation point on the passing game, literally and figuratively, on the first play from scrimmage when Charles hit Kerber for a third score. After catching the ball at the 5-yard line, Kerber put his hand in the middle of the chest of the defensive back, pushed him to the ground and walked over him into the end zone.

    For the Dogs, the next three weeks will be about maintaining focus as they take on the bottom three teams in the conference.

    “Our focus now is to continue to get better with every practice,” Campana said. “Our guys have heard all the stories about letdowns after big game weeks, but we coaches hope this team has a good barometer for this type of situation.

    “Heath Curtis and Gene Taylor are going to be as intense as ever in practice, and everybody else better follow suit. It’s easy to see why coach Gentry has been successful all these years; he’s obsessive about improvement, and definitely won’t settle for any complacency.”

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