Murphy – With a dominant first-half performance, the Murphy varsity football team defeated Albemarle to advance to the third round of the state 2A playoffs Friday night.
It was a dog-eat-dog night as the winner advanced and the loser’s season ended as the Murphy Bulldogs took on the Albemarle Bulldogs. In their first meeting since the 2022 playoffs in 1A, the now 2A Bulldogs teams faced off, with Murphy being victorious yet again.
Murphy was led by Blake Davis and Anthony Catuto, who both had multiple touchdowns in the first half. It only took Murphy 16 seconds to get on the board with the first score of the game.
Murphy kicked off to Albemarle, who dropped the ball and only made it to their 3 yard line. On their first play on offense, they fumbled and Murphy recovered. Murphy carried the ball three yards for a fumble recovery touchdown to open the game.
They added two more points when Cameron Clem rushed in the conversion for Murphy to take an 8-0 lead.
For the second kickoff return in a row, Albemarle dropped the ball, but then made it out to their 17-yard line. Those Dogs eventually had to punt to give Murphy the ball back.
On Murphy’s drive, quarterback Brady Grant found Blake Davis for the offense’s first touchdown of the night. Kicker Jerry Bui put the extra point through the uprights, and the Dogs led 15-0 with nine minutes remaining in the first quarter.
After Albemarle punted again, Murphy’s offense went back to work. They made their way down the field on the ground with the drive culminating in Davis’ second touchdown of the night. Bui made the extra point, and Murphy took a 22-0 lead with 5:23 remaining in the opening period.
Late in the first quarter, Grant found Catuto for his first touchdown of the night. Bui made the extra point to give Murphy a 29-0 lead with 1:13 left in the quarter.
Albemarle punted to start the second quarter. They got the ball back three plays later, as Murphy fumbled and Albemarle returned it to get on the board. They made the extra point to close the gap to 29-7 with 7:16 remaining in the second period.
On the next drive, Murphy got on the board again as Catuto caught a deep ball from Grant for his second score of the night. After Bui made the extra point, the Dogs led 36-7 with 5:02 left until halftime.
Murphy got the ball back after Albemarle punted. They added to their lead, but this time it was running back Cameron Clem’s turn to help extend Murphy’s lead. After breaking multiple tackles, Clem made a long rush to the end zone. Bui made the extra point, and Murphy led 43-7 with 2:44 left in the second period.
Albemarle punted, but got the ball back with their second turnover of the game. After the interception, they started in Murphy territory with 1:24 left. They ran down the clock and set up for a field goal. The kick missed left, and Murphy’s 36-point lead remained intact heading to the half.
Murphy got the ball to start the running clock second half. From 16 yards out, Clem got his second touchdown of the night on the ground. After Bui put the extra point kick through the uprights, the Bulldogs led 50-7 with about eight minutes remaining in the quarter.
On the next drive, Albemarle rushed it in for their second touchdown of the night to make the score 50-14.
Murphy started the fourth quarter with the ball as the clock ticked toward punching their ticket to the third round. On Murphy’s drive, multiple second-string players came in to take over for the starters.
From the 11 yard line, Adrian Nguyen rushed it in for Murphy’s last touchdown of the night. Bui stayed perfect on extra points as Murphy took a 57-14 lead with about 5:30 left in the game.
Murphy head coach Joseph Watson praised the backup players in the fourth quarter.
“That’s your future. Those guys, they work hard in practice, too, and they deserve a good opportunity to play. I’m just proud of them playing hard when they got in there. It’s fun to watch them,” he said.
On Albemarle’s last drive, the penalty-stricken Bulldogs got heated as they knew their season was only minutes from ending. A verbal scrap led to flags and an ejection.
The penalties resulted in Murphy kicking the ball off from Albemarle’s 30 yard line. Bui booted it through the uprights for a touchback.
Albemarle was only able to run one pass play and plays on the ground before time expired for Murphy to win 57-14 to advance to the third round of the playoffs.
“The scoreboard doesn’t indicate how we played. I don’t feel like we were that sharp coming in the first half. Having a week off in the playoffs is one of those things we talked about,” Watson said.
He added that the Dogs were a little bit rusty, but once they settled in they played well. They will clean up their offense play as they prepare for the next game.
Murphy’s defense has been playing great, and Watson said they will need to keep playing well, but they will enjoy their win over Albemarle. He added that he is proud of the team, and they will continue to play hard and keep fighting.
Defensive end Camden Breazeale said defense played well and trust is key.
“I trust my guys, trust my backers and I truck my secondary,” he said.
Breazeale said his message to his fellow defenders will be to practice hard.
“It was a good game, but I wanted a complete shutout. I didn’t want any touchdowns. I told them we have to be ready to come to work this week,” he said.
The victorious No. 1 seed Bulldogs in the third round will face the No. 9 seeded Community School of Davidson (7-4), which defeated Swain County 65-13 on Friday night to spoil a rematch between Murphy and the Maroon Devils.