Franklin, Ga. – The Murphy varsity football team hit the road across state lines to take on Heard County.
For the second week in a row, the Bulldogs (1-1) were on the road. In the second week, they fell 42-10 to the Heard County Braves (3-0).
Murphy received the opening kickoff but couldn’t capitalize on their opening drive. Heard County got the ball and worked their way down the field on multiple big plays. They then found the end zone on a 19-yard pass and made the extra point to take a 7-0 lead with 7:29 left in the first quarter.
The Dogs got the ball back and worked their way down the field courtesy of a huge catch by Anthony Catuto. After failing to convert a third down, Jerry Bui attempted a 41-yard field goal but missed.
The Braves got the ball and after offsetting penalties on the first play of the drive, the first quarter ended.
They then worked their way down to the Murphy nine-yard line, then rushed it in for a touchdown. After making the extra point, Heard County led 14-0 with 10:41 left in the first half.
On each team’s next drive, they had to punt.
Murphy got the ball back and worked their way down the field. Ryan Payne had a big catch to move the Dogs into the red zone. After failing to convert on third down, Bui stepped up and put a 26-yard field goal through the uprights to make it 14-3 with 2:03 left in the first half.
Heard County had to punt on their next drive, giving the ball back to Murphy with just over a minute left. The Dogs got a first down, but time expired sending the game to halftime with Heard County leading 14-3.
The Braves got the ball to start the second half and worked their way down the field rushing the ball. As they were running the clock, they rushed in a touchdown and made the extra point to take a 21-3 lead with 5:53 left in the third quarter.
Murphy started the next drive on their 21-yard line. On a third and long, Brady Grant made a big throw to get the first down. On the next set of plays, Grant was sacked on third down, leading to Murphy punting on fourth.
Heard County started on their 46-yard line, then moved into Murphy territory on the first play. The third quarter ended with the ball on Murphy’s 29-yard line.
They then found the end zone on a pass and made the extra point to extend their lead to 28-3 with 8:49 left in the third quarter.
Murphy then returned the ensuing kickoff to their 37-yard line. On the drive, they failed to convert a fourth down and turned the ball over to the Braves. The Braves took over on their 42-yard line. After numerous penalties, they punted on fourth and 27.
Murphy got the ball back and made their way down the field on big plays. Grant then connected with Payne for a 56-yard touchdown. Bui then made the extra point to make it 28-10 with 2:15 left in the game.
On the next drive, Heard County’s quarterback broke free and found the end zone, but it came back after a penalty. From the 27-yard line, they broke free again for a 73-yard touchdown. They made the extra point to extend their lead to 35-10 with 1:01 left.
Murphy returned the ensuing kickoff to their 32-yard line. The Dogs then fumbled the ball and Heard County returned it for a touchdown 21 seconds after their last one. They made the extra point to make their lead 42-10.
Murphy got the ball back, but all they could do was watch the clock expire as Heard County won the game 42-10 for Murphy’s first loss of the season.
After the game, Dogs head coach Joseph Watson said that there were positive takeaways despite the loss to Heard County.
“I feel like our kids played decent. I think they played with great effort and continued to play hard and didn’t quit and did a lot of good things. Obviously, if you make too many mistakes against a team of that quality, it’s not going to turn out well for you. I was proud of our kids’ effort, proud of the way they continued to fight and play hard. I think there’s some really good things that we’ll see in the film,” Watson said.
He said it’ll be great to return for their home opener against East Surry. To prepare for the next game, they will keep with their usual weekly routine.
“It’ll be great to be at home. We’ve been on the road for three weeks now, basically. It’s one of our few home games and I know the kids are going to be excited about that and excited about coming off the hill finally for the first time. This week we’ll just do what we always do. We’ll watch the film and evaluate the things we need to work on and what we need to do to stop East Surry. It’ll be the same routine we always do,” Watson said.
Watson said several players stood out to him against Heard County.
“There were a lot of good things. Once again, I feel like Brody Orton played well. Blake Davis has had two really good games in a row and that’s come by the offensive line doing a really good job,” Watson said.
“Brady Grant also played well. Second week in a row he did a great job of taking care of the football, managing the game. Ryan Payne is going to be a problem for everybody and he always plays hard and he had a good game as well.”
Up next
The Bulldogs will play their home opener at 7:30 p.m. Friday against East Surry (3A, 0-2).
East Surry opened the season with a loss at home to Statesville (6A). They then lost to Starmount (2A) on the road Friday night.
The Dogs last faced East Surry in the third round of the 1A playoffs on Nov. 24, 2017. The Dogs defeated East Surry 49-27. Then they lost to Mount Airy 49-35 in the next round. Coming into the 2017 playoffs, Murphy was the No. 6 seed and East Surry was seeded No. 7.