Murphy – Strong play on both sides of the football powered the Murphy Bulldogs (6-0, 5-0 Smoky Mountain Conference) past the Cherokee Braves (2-4, 2-4) 43-21 on Friday night, continuing the Bulldogs’ undefeated run through the COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 football season.
Despite running double the number of plays that the Bulldogs ran, the Braves struggled against Murphy’s dominant defense, turning the ball over three times. The Murphy offense was efficient against Cherokee as the Bulldogs capitalized on the Braves’ turnovers, turning their opponent’s mistakes into points.
Sophomore running back Ty Laney opened the scoring for the Bulldogs, punching in a four-yard run to give Murphy an early lead in the opening quarter. Laney would once again find the end zone just a few minutes later, as the Bulldogs lead the Braves 14-0 at the end of the first.
Cherokee found its way onto the board in the opening minutes of the second quarter, but a long 47-yard touchdown run by Murphy back John Ledford, who finished with a team-high 77 rushing yards on just six attempts, continued the Bulldogs’ advantage.
Murphy would then extend its lead to three scores in the waning seconds of the first half, as senior kicker Annie Kate Dalton knocked in a 25-yard field goal with 17 seconds til the break.
Cherokee rallied coming out of the half, scoring early in the third quarter to make the count 24-10, but a pair of three-yard and seven-yard touchdowns at the end of the third and early in the fourth quarter iced the game for Murphy.
Laney finished with a season-high four rushing touchdowns and tallied 70 yards on the ground on just 10 carries. Junior Juan Allen then put the cherry on top for Murphy, returning a Cherokee punt 66-yards to the house near the midway point of the fourth quarter.
Cherokee would find the end zone once more nearing the end of the game, but Murphy would ultimately prevail 43-21 in a wire-to-wire victory.
Senior Ray Rathburn tallied 56 rushing yards on the night on just nine carries, while quarterback Kellen Rumfelt picked up 14 rushing yards on three attempts. Rumfelt also had an efficient evening through the air, throwing for 110 yards on the night and completing seven of his eight passing attempts.
Murphy junior Payton McCracken finished with a team-high three catches for 28 yards, while Cole Laney tallied 31 yards on his single catch of the night. Senior Landon Jordan and Hunter Laney came away with the pair of interceptions.
The Bulldogs now prepare for their most important game of the season in more than one aspect – this Friday’s season finale against the defending state champ Robbinsville Black Knights, who knocked Murphy out of the playoffs last season.
The winner of Friday’s showdown between the Smoky Mountain’s two undefeated teams will not only determine the winner of the conference in this COVID-19 shortened season, but will also heavily impact the seeding in this year’s N.C. High School Athletic Association’s 1A Football Championships.
The winner of Friday’s regular-season finale – which in turn will be the winner of the Smoky Mountain Conference – will be thrown into the first group of randomly assigned seeds and likely to have home-field advantage through the opening rounds of the playoffs, while the loser will be thrown into the second group and likely be forced to travel for each game this postseason.