Murphy – Then Bulldogs’ varsity football team had an open week after wrapping up their four-game non-conference slate. Afterward, the Bulldogs are set for six weeks of Smoky Mountain Conference games.
They will kick off their conference games at 7:30 p.m. Friday on the road at Cherokee. The Braves are coming off of a 40-6 victory over Rosman in their conference play opener and will play their second straight home game when they host the Dogs.
In non-conference games, the Braves went 1-3 with losses to Tuscola, Choctaw Central and Enka, and their lone winning coming against North Buncombe. In Murphy’s non-conference games, the Dogs went 2-2, with wins over Franklin and East Surry, as well as losses to Heard County, Ga., and A.C. Reynolds.
Murphy is the only team that was not in action Friday, but the other six conference teams faced off. Cherokee defeated Rosman 40-6, Robbinsville beat Hayesville 29-10 and Swain County defeated Andrews 55-0.
In the Dogs’ second SMC game, they will return home to face Rosman on Oct. 3, when they will also celebrate homecoming. The last time the Dogs faced Rosman was on March 26, 2021, when the Dogs won 50-0.
Murphy will then be at home again to face Robbinsville, which played their closest conference game last season. A year ago, they defeated Robbinsville on the road 14-7.
Following their game with Robbinsville, the Dogs will travel to the Andrews Valley to face the Wildcats in their annual in-county matchup. Then they will play their final regular season home game against Hayesville before ending the regular season on the road at Swain County.
All games are set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. on the Bulldogs’ quest to repeat as conference champions.
Murphy head coach Joseph Watson said that some of his takeaways from the season so far are, “We’ve played hard in every single game. We’re not going to show up and not play hard. Our kids, that’s what they do and what they like to do.
“In the two games that we’ve lost, we have made way too many mistakes. Turnovers and penalties have cost us in the two games we haven’t won. Of course, it’s two really good opponents that I felt like we could compete with …
“But our effort is there. We’re going to continue to get better, we’re going to continue working on not making too many mistakes and errors.”
Watson said the open week came at a good time as his squad prepares for Cherokee on Friday.
“It has been a very needed open week for us after four really tough ball games, with three of them on the road, so our kids are pretty worn down but they’re a pretty resilient bunch,” he said.
“Hopefully, we’re in for 12 or 14 weeks in a row that we’re still playing football. We have to get our bodies right and work on some things that we need to work on.”
Watson said they’re going to take conference play one game at a time because anyone can beat you on any given Friday night.
The Dogs will look to start SMC play with a win.