Andrews – If the first half of Thursday night’s game raised any questions about the Wildcats having a second-straight midseason slump, those concerns were likely squashed after halftime.
Andrews shook off a sluggish start by outscoring Hayesville 36-0 in the second half, cruising to a 50-7 win at Hugh Hamilton Stadium. The Wildcats remained undefeated, improving to 6-0 overall for the first time since 1964.
The victory not only served as homecoming and the Smoky Mountain Conference opener for Andrews, it was also a rare Thursday night contest scheduled to get ahead of the possibility of storm remnants from Hurricane Ian.
Running back Austin Martin did the bulk of the scoring damage, rushing for 112 yards on 16 carries and punching in the Wildcats’ first four touchdowns. The senior said team leaders addressed the first-half sloppiness during halftime.
“There was some leadership step up,” Martin said. “A few players got onto each other. It happens, it’s football and we came out and stepped up.”
Head coach James Phillips said his team looked rusty coming off of its bye week, but he agreed that the players largely addressed the issue on their own at halftime.
“Our kids were kind of half-cocked, it seemed like, and our execution was sloppy, coverage stuff and our tackling,” Phillips said. “We didn’t have to say much at halftime as coaches – I mean, the kids knew. The captains asked me going up there if they could have about five minutes with the team by themselves, and they took care of it.”
The Wildcats tallied 486 total yards of offense, including 398 yards on the ground, while holding the Yellow Jackets (4-2, 0-1) to just 159 total yards. Like Martin, Isaac Weaver also topped the century mark with 101 rushing yards and a touchdown on 10 carries, while Eli Aguilar barely fell short with 97 yards on 14 carries.
Weaver played the game with a cast on his right hand after suffering a broken bone earlier in the season.
“He just got that club yesterday,” Phillips said. “He’s a fierce competitor.”
Andrews lost three games in a row last season after a 5-0 start, but the team avoided a similar roadblock Thursday. The Wildcats scored the final 43 points of the game after allowing the Yellow Jackets to tie the score, 7-7 early in the second quarter. Andrews reclaimed the lead, 14-7, with just over three minutes to go before halftime on Martin’s second touchdown run.
Martin gave the Wildcats some needed breathing room early in the third quarter when he bounced right for a 17-yard touchdown, capping an eight play, 75-yard drive that made the score 21-7.
“It’s great blocking, that’s all,” Martin said. “Give all the props to the linemen, I wouldn’t be here running the ball if it wasn’t for them.”
Barely two minutes later, Hayesville muffed a punt attempt on the snap and the punter kicked it out the back of the end zone for a safety to avoid a defensive touchdown that increased the Wildcats’ lead to 23-7. Andrews began the ensuing series with great position at Hayesville’s 34-yard line following the free kick.
Martin finished that drive with his final score on a 12-yard touchdown run that put the Wildcats comfortably ahead, 30-7, with 5:55 remaining in the period.
Andrews tried an unsuccessful onside attempt on the ensuing kickoff, but it didn’t matter. The Yellow Jackets fumbled the ball back to the Wildcats on their first play of the drive, which eventually led to a short touchdown run by quarterback Donovan Bateman with 3:53 left in the third quarter.
Weaver later added a two-yard touchdown run, and Samuel Preston capped off the scoring with a 49-yard scamper to the end zone with 7:12 to play. Andrews will host Swain County (3-3, 0-1) this Friday night.
“Last year we got too confident, we thought we were going to go up against Swain and just beat them because we were 5-0 already,” Martin said. “If we play like the first half, we won’t be Swain. If we play like the second half, it’ll be a ball game.”