Sylva – Two things were clear when Murphy showed up at Smoky Mountain on Thursday night: They had another tough opponent, and Jonah Hedden and Camden Breazeale were back.
The Bulldogs (3-1) gave up an early touchdown to the Mustangs (2-2) to give them a 6-0 lead, but Murphy stormed back to score 22 points before the Mustangs would see the end zone again late in the fourth, and the Dogs held on for a 22-14 win.
Things did not start well for the Dogs. On the play, Mustangs quarterback Jarek Jones raced 73 yards for a touchdown. After Murphy blocked the ensuing extra point, Smoky Mountain led 6-0.
Murphy went three and out on its first possession and had to punt. The Mustangs drove inside the Dogs’ 10 yard line, and it looked as if were about to score.
An errant snap put the Mustangs back on their 22 yard line, and they had to make it to the 3 for a first down. Murphy got the stop on fourth down to take over on their own 7 yard line.
A Brady Grant pass to Ryan Payne moved the ball out to the 28. Payne caught another pass to keep the drive going on a third-down play.
Cameron Clem took over from there and moved to Dogs down to the 31 yard line. On the next play, Clem took the handoff and raced 30 yards before being stopped just short of the goal line.
Clem punched it in on the very next play for the score. After the Dogs’ extra point, they led 7-6. They would never trail again.
It looked as if the Mustangs would drive down the field and tie the score up, but Murphy got a fourth down stop inside its 10 yard line. The Dogs would run out the clock in the first half on their next possession.
Murphy and Smoky exchanged possessions to start the third period, with Murphy gaining the field advantage after Clem rambled off a 14-yard run to give the Dogs a first and goal at the 6 yard-line. Two plays later Brady Grant faked the handoff to Clem and ran a perfect naked bootleg play to score Murphy’s third touchdown. Clem added two more points as he converted on Murphy’s two-point conversion attempt to give the Dogs a 15-6 lead over the Mustangs.
Smoky Mountain was moving the ball well, then Camden Breazeale separated the ball from Smoky running back Ayden Johnson. Kenyon Nichols fell on the loose ball to put the Bulldogs in business.
On Murphy’s second play from scrimmage Jonah Hedden busted through middle for a 32-yard scamper to the Mustang’s 23 yard line. Two plays later, Hedden popped another 11-yard run for Murphy’s third touchdown of the night. Jerry Bui’s extra point put the Dogs up 22-6 with six minutes left in game.
Smoky Mountain would take their next possession and drive it downfield. Jarek Johnson culminated it with an 18-yard touchdown run for the Mustangs. Ayden Williams added a two-point conversion to pull the Mustangs to within eight points. Smoky attempted an onside kick, but the Dogs recovered it.
Murphy did give the Mustangs one more chance, as they were unable to pick up a first down to run out the clock on their next possession. Will Shore helped the Dogs’ defense with a perfect punt that rolled dead on the Mustangs’ 9 yard line with less than a minute to go in the game. Murphy held the Mustangs to run out the clock.
Clem led the Dogs in rushing with 139 yards on 24 carries. Hedden ran for 63 yards on seven carries. Grant completed five of 10 passes with no interceptions.
“Having Jonah and Camden back on the field brought a spark to the team,” head coach Joseph Watson said. “They were definitely missed, and it was great to see them out there making an impact. We were much better at protecting the ball, while the defense kept up their strong trend of forcing turnovers.”
Murphy returns home this week for homecoming and will face the Greenville Hurricanes, a private school organization from Greenville, S.C. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
Following that game, the Dogs will hit the road for their first Smoky Mountain Conference game of the season at Hayesville on Friday, Oct. 4. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.