Murphy – You have heard the old saying about elections, “Vote early and often.”
The Bulldogs changed that saying to, “Score early and often,” which is what they did Friday, building a 58-6 lead in the first half before letting reserves finish the second half as Murphy beat Greenville 65-20 in their homecoming game at David Gentry Field.
It took the Bulldogs (4-1) just five plays to score their first touchdown of the night. After holding the Hurricanes (2-4) to three plays and a ;punt, Cameron Clem ran in the first touchdown of the night at the 8:16 mark of the first quarter from eight yards out. The drive was highlighted by a 26-yard pass from Brady Grant to Grayson Hall. Jerry Bui added the extra point to put the Dogs up 7-0.
It took Murphy only one minute and 26 seconds to score their next touchdown. After holding the Canes again, the Dogs scored in two plays.
Grant connected with Hall for a 34-yard pass down to Kenyon Nichols, and on the next play Will Shore ran it in from 29 yards out. Murphy converted the swinging gate play for the two-point conversion, and the Dogs were up 15-0 at the 6:32 mark of the first quarter.
Clem scored his second touchdown of the night on a 16-yard scamper three minutes later. Again, the Canes failed to cover the winging gate, and Murphy added another two-point conversion to make the score 25-0.
The Canes would score their only touchdown in the first quarter as quarterback Cade Baldwin connected with Daniel Rowland for a 75-yard touchdown strike. The extra point failed, making the score 25-6.
Grant answered that score with a passing touchdown on Murphy’s next possession. On the second play of the drive, he found Nichols across the middle of the field for a 73-yard touchdown strike. Bui’s point after attempt was no good, so Murphy held a 30-6 lead at the end of first quarter.
Greenville would score on their next drive. Kohl Weisbecker got the corner and raced 69 yards for the Canes’ second touchdown of the game. After a two-point conversion failed, the score read 30-12.
Ryan Payne took the ensuing kickoff at the 10 yard line and almost broke it before he was knocked out of bounds at the Canes’ 31. Two plays later, Grant found Jonah Hedden for a 21-yard touchdown strike. Bui added the extra point, and Murphy led 37-12 at the 10:11 mark of the second quarter.
Murphy took only two plays on their next possession, with both highlighting Shore. First, he ran 21 yards to move the Dogs to the 49 yard line. On the next play, Grant found Shore all alone racing down the sideline for a 51-yard touchdown strike. Bui added the extra point to put the Dogs up 44-12 at the 5:27 mark of the second quarter.
Murphy’s defense set up the offense for their next possession. Camden Breazeale sacked the quarterback on a fourth-down play for a 21-yard loss to set the Dogs up at the Canes’ 42 yard line. Two plays later, Jonah Hedden scampered 22 yards for the Bulldogs’ next score. Bui added the point after to put the Dogs up 51-12 with less than three minutes to go in the half.
Greenville had to punt on their next possession. Payne, who had already almost broke a kickoff return for a touchdown, would hit pay-dirt on this punt. He picked the punt up at the 35 yard line and weaved through Cane tacklers 65 yards for a score. Bui’s extra point was good, and Murphy led 58-12 at halftime.
There was a running clock in the second half. Murphy’s only score came with 3:48, when McFadden ran it in from 1 yard out. Bui’s extra point was good, and the Dogs led 65-12.
Greenville would score one more time in the waning seconds of the third quarter, when Weisbecker scored his second touchdown of the night with a 80-yard touchdown run. The two-point conversion was good, and the score read 65-20, which is where it ended.
The scores and yards were spread around for the Bulldogs. Clem led all rushers for with 79 yards and two 5-7 for 204 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions.
The Bulldogs will take next week off before traveling to Hayesville on Oct. 4 for their first Smoky Mountain Conference game of the season. Kick off is set for 7:30 p.m.