Murphy – The Murphy varsity football team returned to Bulldog Country for its home opener against 3A East Surry, coming off the hill to win 42-6.
Prior to the game, new Bulldogs announcer Joe Thorley told the crowd he is grateful for the position and thanked the Carroll family. He concluded his statement by saying, “J.R., we love you.”
Longtime Bulldogs announcer J.R. Carroll passed away in January after announcing Murphy football games for just over 40 years. The press box at Murphy High School is named in his honor.
Friday’s game was also youth night, where kids were welcomed on the field by players before the game. At halftime, the youth cheerleaders got to perform with the varsity cheerleaders.
“It feels good when our kids have been wanting to be at home. Especially getting to come off that hill, and we have not so many chances this year, so we’ll take advantage of it anything we can,” Bulldogs head coach Joseph Watson said. “Kids were excited about that, and excited to come and play an opponent that we hadn’t seen before, and I’m proud of their effort.”
The Dogs (2-1) gave their fans something to cheer about from the get-go.
They marched down the field on the opening drive, and Cameron Clem rushed the ball in for the touchdown. Jerry Bui made the extra point to give the Dogs a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.
East Surry (0-3) got the ball and couldn’t convert on third down. On the punt, Camden Breazeale got a hand on the ball and blocked it. Murphy recovered the ball just 17 yards from the end zone.
The Dogs took advantage of the good field position, as Brody McFaddin rushed the ball in for the score. After Bui made the extra point, the Dogs led 14-0 less than seven minutes into the game.
The Dogs had the ball to start the second quarter and, only 33 seconds in, Clem rushed it in for his second touchdown of the night. Instead of the extra point, they went for the two-point conversion, and Clem found the end zone again to give the Dogs a 22-0 lead.
East Surry again couldn’t get any offense going on its next drive but went for it anyway on fourth down. Breazeale came up big again with a sack to give the ball back to the Bulldogs.
On the ensuing drive, the Dogs couldn’t get their offense going and turned it over on downs. East Surry then marched all the way down to Murphy’s 1 yard line before fumbling and watching Murphy recover.
The Dogs then worked their way down the field. Brady Grant found wide receiver Ryan Payne, who broke free from the East Surry defense and found the end zone for the touchdown. Bui missed the extra point, but the Dogs led 28-0 with 1:13 left in the first half.
On their last drive of the half, East Surry was going deep looking for the end zone. On a deep ball, Payne intercepted the pass as time expired.
East Surry received the kick to start the second half and couldn’t make anything of it as the Dogs stopped them on fourth down.
Once the Dogs got the ball, they worked their way down to the red zone. They put the ball in the hands of Clem again and he made his way to the end zone, but fumbled on the 1 yard line.
As the ball fell into the end zone, Blake Davis jumped on it for a Bulldogs touchdown. Bui put the extra point through the uprights, and the Dogs led 35-0 with 8:43 left in the third quarter.
After East Surry again couldn’t get its offense going and turned it over on downs, the Dogs hit the ground running. They put the ball in the hands of Michael Brown, who found the end zone for six points. Bui made the extra point and Murphy led 42-0 with 31 seconds left in the third quarter.
East Surry ran one play before the third quarter ended. Once they switched sides, East Surry’s offense had a glimpse of hope as they found the end zone on the ground. On the extra point, the ball hit off the left upright and missed.
The Dogs led 42-6 until time expired, securing the win in their home opener.
Watson said his whole team played well.
“I feel like everybody played with great tempo … offensively, defense and special teams, all three were really good, and I think our defense played their butts off and held them to no points until late in the game … It was a whole team effort,” he said.
To prepare for Friday’s game against A.C. Reynolds, Watson said they will have to put on their “big boy pants.”
“I think we’ll have a challenge for us in one of the best programs in western North Carolina … we gotta figure out what we gotta do, and we’ll have to put together good game plan,” Watson said.
The last time the Dogs faced East Surry was in the third round of the 2017 state 1A playoffs, when the Dogs won 49-27. The Dogs went on to fall to Mount Airy in the next round.
Up next
The Bulldogs will once again be on the road Friday night as they head to Asheville to take on A.C. Reynolds (6A, 1-2).
The Rockets of A.C. Reynolds started their season with a loss to Brevard. They then won their next game against Maiden. On Friday night, they also had their home opener, where they lost to Jay. M Robinson High School.
At press time, A.C. Reynolds is ranked No. 10 in 6A and No. 47 in the state, according to MaxPreps. Murphy is ranked No. 2 in 2A and No. 86 in the state.