Rogersville, Tenn – Everyone got in on the fun for Murphy football Friday night.
The Bulldogs scored two touchdowns through the air. Five on the ground. And got two from the defense. Murphy took full advantage of its three-hour bus ride to Cherokee High School in Rogersville, Tenn., bouncing back after a disappointing loss against Rabun County with a 63-23 win over the Chiefs.
“I’m pleased with their effort,” Murphy head coach Joseph Watson said. “I’m pleased with the way they played. They played hard.”
Watson didn’t quite know what to expect from Cherokee coming in. Cherokee has more than twice the enrollment of Murphy High School and hadn’t played in two weeks due to COVID-19. The Chiefs were 1-1 before pausing their season and had to forfeit their last two games.
Watson expected Cherokee (1-4 overall) would be fired up to hit somebody else, but Murphy (2-2) was the aggressor from the first play from scrimmage. Cole Laney recovered a fumble, giving the Bulldogs the ball at the Chiefs 45-yard line. Four plays later on fourth-and-4, Ty Laney sprinted 38 yards up the middle of the field for a touchdown. Murphy finished with 591 total yards, averaging 13.7 yards per play.
Cherokee put together a nine-play, 40-yard drive on the next series that came up empty when Nicholas Sumpter missed a 41-yard field goal try. Murphy took advantage. Two plays later, Juan Allen made an excellent catch on a Kellen Rumfelt pass for a 42-yard gain. Two plays after that, Rumfelt hit Payton McCracken over the middle for a 20-yard touchdown.
Sumpter would hit a 40-yard field goal on Cherokee’s next drive to cut the lead to 14-3, though it was only a momentary delay in Murphy’s offensive onslaught. The Bulldogs next drive took just three plays, ending with a 55-yard touchdown run from senior Chandler Wood. Wood ran for three touchdowns in the game, giving the Murphy another option in a deep backfield that already includes Laney, Allen and sophomore Hunter Stalcup.
“Chandler’s finally getting healthy. Getting a little bit of confidence in him,” Watson said. “We had some injuries to a tight end (Briggs Cornwell) and receiver (Hunter Laney), and we were counting on some extra backs this week and they did a good job.”
A 30-yard touchdown catch by Preston McNally cut the Bulldogs lead to 22-10, only for Murphy to add two more touchdowns before the end of the half. Rumfelt scored on a 2-yard quarterback keeper that was set up by a 64-yard run from Allen two plays earlier with five minutes to go in the first half.
With 1:02 remaining, Wood rushed Chiefs quarterback Micah Jones from his blindside, and sacked him. Jones lost the football and it was picked by lineman Kyle Willard, who did the rest of the work for a 20-yard touchdown. The play sent Murphy’s sideline into pandemonium. Cameroon Grooms added another defensive touchdown on a fumble return in the fourth quarter.
“It was awesome,” Rumfelt said of the two defensive touchdowns. “People overlook them just because they’re not scoring every play or getting the ball every play, but those guys are working just as hard as everybody else.”
Cherokee never threatened again, and Wood’s third touchdown of the night put the game into running clock mode for the final nine minutes.
The Bulldogs will see a familiar face next week when they travel to Georgia to play Union County. Former defensive coordinator Thomas Nelson is on the Panthers’ coaching staff in the same position and as an associate head coach.
“We love coach Nelson,” Watson said. “We know he’s over there and the kids want to play good because he’s over there watching them play.”