Andrews – A distinctive buzz lingered over Friday night’s Smoky Mountain Conference matchup between Andrews and Robbinsville.
With the Wildcats sitting solely in third place in the conference standings, an Andrews win could have disrupted the playoff forecast, as the Black Knights would have been in a must-win situation this Friday at Murphy to force a three-way tie.
Instead, Robbinsville took care of business. Resoundingly.
A pair of touchdowns in an 8-second span of the first quarter firmly placed the momentum in the Knights corner, as Robbinsville went on to shut out the Wildcats 35-0 at Hugh Hamilton Stadium.
Andrews (3-2, 3-2) forced a three-and-out on Robbinsville’s opening drive, but Nathan Collins picked off a pass on the Wildcats’ second play from scrimmage. The Knights took their time on the ensuing possession, finally scoring on a 4-yard run from Lex Hooper.
Robbinsville (6-0, 5-0) caught everyone off-guard on the kickoff that followed, as Cody Cline trickled an onside kick that Cuttler Adams scooped up for the Knights. A quick 37-yard pass from Collins to Hooper on the next snap put 6 more points on the board for Robbinsville.
Scoring seized until the second quarter, with Hooper pushing across the goal line on a 1-yard carry at the 9:54 mark. On the next drive, Adams would fall on an Andrews fumble and give the Knights the ball once more.
Though Isaac Weaver would drop Collins for a loss on the first Robbinsville play that followed the fumble, the Black Knights would not be deterred, capping off a 3:20 possession with a 20-yard touchdown reception by Hooper.
Robbinsville continually forced Andrews to punt, only allowing seven first downs throughout the evening. The Knights struck once more early in the fourth, on a 3-yard scoring carry by Ty Harrell. Isaac Wiggins recovered an Andrews fumble on the ensuing kickoff to put a stamp the victory.
Cline went a perfect 5-for-5 on extra points during the game to fill out Friday’s scoreline.