Andrews – Wildcats head coach James Phillips has coached long enough to know nothing he said after his team’s loss to Draughn on Friday night would make the pain go away. But one thing he wanted to make clear to his team was he wouldn’t use the words, “I’m sorry.”
Looking at the season as whole, he didn’t see anything to be sorry about. The Wildcats dominated their previous 13 games en route to their first Smoky Mountain Conference championship since 1983, with the entire town behind them all the way. After some time, the players and coaches of the 2022 Andrews Wildcats will be able to reflect on all they accomplished this fall.
However, that wasn’t going to happen just minutes after the final buzzer. Not after the perfect season was shattered. Andrews never found its footing in the fourth round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1A playoffs, staying a step behind Draughn all night in a 42-21 loss.
“It felt like it was a game of momentum at times,” Phillips said. “And we were always behind trying to get momentum on our side.”
Andrews and Draughn, who are both the Wildcats, were trying to extend their dream seasons. Draughn dropped from 2A to 1A as the final school under the 1A cutoff during the state’s realignment two years ago and, like Andrews, returned almost all of its production from a team that lost in the second round of the state playoffs. They won the Western Highlands Conference for the program’s first conference championship, and had just two playoff wins entering this postseason.
They had more size and strength than Andrews up front. They used that to pave the way for junior running back Nigel Dula, who finished with 167 yards on 26 carries and three touchdowns; and junior quarterback Elijah Tillery, who completed 12 of 17 passes for 177 yards and two touchdowns.
That allowed Draughn to keep Andrews’ defense off balance all night, while the Andrews offense didn’t do enough to consistently string drives together. Austin Martin had a strong night with 170 total yards and two touchdowns, but Donovan Bateman and Isaac Weaver were banged up by the end of the night. Weaver lacked his typical burst of speed, while Bateman struggled to move out of the pocket and hit open receivers in obvious passing situations in the second half.
Entering this game, Andrews trailed for just 6:08 all season. It never led in this game.
“They were big up front and they did a good job kind of covering us up,” Phillips said. “Quarterback did a really good job getting rid of the ball, and we couldn’t get pressure consistently. …
“I thought our kids fought hard. I thought we tried to play through some injuries. Isaac got dinged up early, Dalton Rose was dinged up in his knees and we just kept fighting. We weren’t 100 percent. But hats off, Draughn had a lot to do that.”
Initially, the game looked like it could come down to whoever had the ball last. Draughn drove 60 yards to start the game, with Connor Pinkerton catching a screen pass from Tillery for an 8-yard touchdown. Andrews answered back, as Bateman found Martin on a pass up the left sideline for a 70-yard touchdown. Draughn went 65 yards in just six plays on the ensuing drive, with Dula’s 5-yard touchdown run putting them on top 14-7.
After both teams punted, Andrews marched down the field thanks to a healthy dose of Martin and some timely completions to Weaver. Martin’s 3-yard touchdown run tied the game at 14 with 3:47 left in the second quarter. Andrews had Draughn in desperation mode on its next drive with a fourth and 8 at Andrews’ 36 yard line, but Tillery evaded pressure from Rose and found an open Zach Pinkerton a few yards from the end zone. Weaver tried to make a desperation tackle, but Pinkerton juked him easily for a touchdown with 26.6 seconds left in the second quarter.
Pinkerton was called for unsportsmanlike conduct after the play, which led to Rudy Mendoza missing the extra point to put Draughn’s halftime lead at 20-14. That missed kick threatened to be a factor until 6-foot-4 inch, 306-pound Will Seagle picked off a tipped pass by Bateman on Andrews’ first drive of the second half and dragged an Andrews player all the way to the 11-yard line.
Two plays later, Dula had a 3-yard touchdown run. A two-point toss from Tillery to Elijah Pritchard put the Draughn lead at 28-14.
Andrews put together a 13-play drive that ended with a 6-yard touchdown run by Weaver, trimming the lead to 28-21 with 3:46 to go in the third quarter. But Andrews’ defense couldn’t get Draughn off the field, with a 23-yard completion to Pinkerton and a 22-yard run by Dula, helping set up first and goal.
Andrews’ defense forced a fourth and goal from their 8-yard line. On that play, Tillery scrambled to his right and dove for the goal line. He was hit low at the same time and, as his body helicoptered toward the sideline, the ball broke the plane for a spectacular touchdown run to make the Draughn lead two scores again.
From there, Andrews went away from its typical run-heavy approach, turning the ball over on downs twice in Draughn territory. Dula’s 39-yard score with 2:45 remaining all but ended Andrews’ season.
“We just never could get off the field defensively,” Phillips said.
From there, the emotions set in. Martin and Weaver had to be helped up and into the handshake line. Tears streamed down players, cheerleaders and parents’ faces well after the final buzzer.
Only one team can truly be happy at the end of a season, and it wouldn’t be Andrews. It marked a disappointing end to a season in which they set a new standard for Wildcats football that won’t be forgotten in the Valley anytime soon.
“Football’s a special game,” Phillips said. “And there’s very special things that happen occasionally and are very rare. This was one of those seasons. What this community, the thousands of people, and the outpouring and the support, that’s a testament to this team and those seniors.”