Andrews – Just three weeks after playing with the Smoky Mountain Conference championship on the line, the Andrews and Murphy football teams will meet again in the third round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1A playoffs Friday night at Hugh Hamilton Stadium.
The Wildcats won the first meeting in Murphy, 42-12, to win their first conference championship since 1983. Andrews and Murphy then entered the state playoffs as the No. 2 and No. 7 seeds in the 32-team 1A West bracket, setting up a rematch if both teams could win their first- and second-round games.
The Wildcats cruised to wins in both games, obliterating No. 31 seed Highland Tech (0-11 overall) 77-8 in the first round and overpowering No. 15 seed Mountain Island Charter (5-6) 35-0. Andrews’ defense did not allow a touchdown in either game, with the only one coming on a Highland Tech kickoff return for a touchdown on the final play of the game. Andrews is 12-0, which ties the 1964 team for the most wins in a season since 1960.
After facing little resistance against Highland Tech, Andrews’ offense wasn’t as crisp as it liked against Mountain Island Charter, but was still able to score four times. Isaac Weaver and Austin Martin both have more than 1,000 yards rushing on the season, and Donovan Bateman continues to make good decisions at quarterback.
Murphy (9-3) had no trouble taking care of No. 26 seed Albemarle (3-8) in a 49-20 first-round win before surviving a 38-34 second-round thriller against No. 10 seed East Wilkes (9-3). The game-winning touchdown came with 4:43 remaining. Cole Laney heaved a prayer to the right side of the end zone, and it tipped off a Cardinals defender and into the hands of Trenton Russell for a 21-yard touchdown.
While Laney’s play decided the game, the Bulldogs wouldn’t have been in that position without junior running back Hunter Stalcup, who has raised his game to another level after an excellent regular season. He had 217 yards and three touchdowns against Albemarle, then ran for 287 and three more touchdowns against East Wilkes. He now has more than 2,000 yards of offense and 29 touchdowns this season.
In the Oct. 29 meeting, Murphy scored on the opening drive to put Andrews behind for the first all season, then forced a three-and-out on the Wildcats’ opening drive. But an interception by Andy Tatham on the next drive was the first of six Murphy turnovers, and the Wildcats won going away. Weaver scored Andrews’ first of four touchdowns, and Martin had two long touchdown runs in the fourth quarter.
Andrews and Murphy previously met in the playoffs in 1994, 2010, 2011 and 2014, with the Bulldogs winning all four games after also taking the regular-season matchup. Murphy is also playing a SMC team in the playoffs for the fifth straight year, having met Robbinsville each of the previous four seasons. In those games, the regular-season winner won three out of the four matchups.
The Wildcats would advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2011 with a win, and it would also be the first time they would have won three games in a postseason. Meanwhile, Murphy would advance to its 13th straight Elite Eight with a win.
In anticipation of the large crowd expected Friday night, advanced tickets will be sold today, Thursday and Friday in the ticket booth at Hugh Hamilton Stadium for $8 from 12:30-2:45 p.m.