Hickory – After a four-quarter fight with the top team in the East, 2A West Regional champs Murphy fell 22-0 in the championship game.
The Bulldogs’ varsity football team traveled to Hickory to face Tarboro on Saturday night, but came up short.
The two No. 1 ranked teams in 2A took the field at Moretz Stadium on the campus of Lenoir-Rhyne University. It was deadlocked through the first half, but Tarboro broke through to put points on the board in the third and fourth quarters en route to winning a shutout.
The first quarter flew by, as there were only three drives. Tarboro won the opening coin toss and deferred to the second half.
The Bulldogs got the ball to start the state championship game. The Dogs worked their way down the field, but failed to convert a fourth down and turned it over at the Tarboro 19 yard line.
Once the Vikings took over, they exclusively ran the ball. The Bulldogs’ defense stood tall and got the stop on third down, forcing the Vikings to punt.
On the punt, the Dogs were pinned deep in their own territory and started the drive on their own 4 yard line. They made it to their 25 yard line as time expired in the first quarter.
To start the second quarter, the Bulldogs went for it on fourth down, with quarterback Brady Grant running to keep the drive alive.
During the drive, the Dogs chewed a large chunk of time off the clock before ultimately turning the ball over on down with 5:24 left before halftime.
Tarboro got the ball back, but the drive was short as the Murphy defense forced a three and out.
The Dogs got the ball back with 3:05 left. Murphy worked the ball into Tarboro territory, but the drive ended when a pass was tipped and intercepted by the Vikings.
They took over on their own 30 yard line, but they couldn’t find the end zone before time expired in the first half.
For the second week in a row, the Bulldogs went to halftime with the score 0-0. For the first time since the 2022 state 1A championship on Dec. 10, 2022, against Mount Airy, Tarboro was held scoreless in the first half.
Tarboro got the ball to start the second half and on the first play, Kamerin McDowell-Moore found the end zone. The Bulldogs blocked the extra point and Tarboro led 6-0 just 17 seconds into the third quarter.
The remainder of the third quarter was scoreless, as Murphy turned the ball over on downs before the Vikings punted. Late in the third quarter, the Vikings recovered a fumble with 1:15 remaining. The third quarter ended with the Vikings having the ball on the Murphy 21 yard line.
McDowell-Moore struck again as Tarboro found the end zone early in the fourth quarter. They attempted the two-point conversion, but Murphy got the stop to keep the score at 12-0.
Both teams punted on their ensuing drives, but a lot of time was taken off the clock in the process.
Murphy got the ball back with 4:51 remaining in the game. The Dogs were held deep in their end. On an attempt to covert a fourth down, Grant was sacked in the end zone for a Tarboro safety. The safety brought the score to 14-0 with 3:55 left in the game.
Once Tarboro got the ball back, McDowell-Moore scored his third touchdown of the night on the first play of the drive. They successfully converted the two-point try and led 22-0 with 3:50 left in the game.
Murphy got the ball back and worked into Tarboro territory. The Dogs made their way down the field both on the ground and in the air. After two sacks and a delay of game penalty, the Dogs were facing 4th and 40 with just under one minute left in the game.
Grant completed a pass to Blake Davis for 21 yards, but was short of the line to gain, turning it over on down with 54 seconds left.
Tarboro took a knee twice and time expired, with the Vikings winning the state 2A championship game.
In the post-game press conference, Murphy head coach Joseph Watson said, “This is a great football team that played another really, really good football team.”
“Really proud of these kids, really proud of our seniors. We have a huge group of seniors, and these are two of my best,” Watson said as he was joined by seniors Brody Orton and Ryan Payne.
Watson said that they had opportunities, but were not able to capitalize on them. He added that Tarboro is a great football team and were worthy of the state championship.
He said his message to the team after the game is that he is proud of them.
“They’ve had a great season to get us here and they’ve played some great football,” Watson said.
“They come to work every day, and they come to play hard … I’m just proud of them, and they know it. I love them. They do whatever I ask them to do and do it as hard as they can possibly do it,” Watson said.
Orton’s message to his teammates after the game and in the coming days following the loss is “Never stop grinding. Just give it everything you got every play.”
Payne’s message to his teammates is, “I just love them, every single one of them.”