Andrews defeats Swain County for 1st time since ’98
Andrews – It had been 22 years since the Andrews football team has defeated the Swain County Maroon Devils – with the last being an away victory in 1998.
But the Wildcats jumped on the Devils on Friday night, running all over Swain to the tune of 334 rushing yards and five touchdowns on the ground on their way to a 36-14 win.
“I’m happy because the boys were so happy about it ,” Andrews coach James Phillips said. “The boys played tough and gritty, like they always do. But they were really focused last week and had a different mindset coming out of the Murphy game.”
The Wildcats jumped ahead 14-0 in the first quarter thanks to a pair of rushing scores by senior Gavin Wilson and led Swain wire-to-wire in the home-opening victory.
Wilson led the Wildcats with a game-high 182 rushing yards and three rushing scores, while sophomore Isaac Weaver tallied 143 rushing yards and a pair of rushing scores.
Phillips pointed to the play of his line on both sides of the ball as the difference maker in the victory.
“It’s a testament to our offensive and defensive line,” Phillips said. “They really took some steps forward Friday night and were just dominant. I’m super proud of our lines.”
The Andrews defense was stout against Swain, holding the Maroon Devils, who scored 34 in their opener against Cherokee, to just 14 points on the night and forcing multiple turnovers.
“The kids didn’t have any mental break downs and we tackled well, were physical,” Phillips said. “On defense, that makes all the difference and we forced turnovers.”
Weaver and senior Gage Gillespie came away with interceptions in the win, while Weaver led the team with seven tackles.
The big win over Swain County is proof to Phillips that the five-year plan he foresaw when he took over the Andrews program is starting to come to fruition.
“From a program standpoint, at year five I wanted our football program to be able to expect to win every Friday night,” Phillips said. “The first step was learning to compete, then learning to win and now expecting to win.”
The Wildcats (1-1) look to continue their moment from the victory against the 1-1 Cherokee Braves, who defeated Rosman 49-28 on the road on Friday.