Robbinsville – As Murphy head coach David Gentry congratulated his Bulldogs after they knocked off the Black Knights on Friday night, two sentences summed up the evening perfectly.
“Robbinsville was 24-0,” Gentry said, referring to the Black Knights’ 24-game win streak the past two seasons, including three wins against Murphy. “Now they’re 24-1.”
The players erupted. The Bulldogs went into Robbinsville and stunned the Black Knights 24-14 to advance to the N.C. High School Athletic Association state 1A championship. Murphy will face Northside-Pinetown High School of Beaufort County at noon Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh.
“Nobody picked us to win except us,” Gentry said. “This team’s got a lot of character. We’ve picked that character up the last two weeks.”
Using a rare chip on their shoulder, Murphy (9-1 overall) came out and punched the Black Knights in the mouth in the first half. After holding Robbinsville to three plays and out on the opening drive, Murphy shredded their opponent’s defense, going 66 yards in just six plays. Ty Laney finished off the drive with a 12-yard touchdown run to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead.
Following another Robbinsville three and out, Murphy scored again, Laney capping off a 51-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown run to give the Bulldogs a 14-0 lead with 1:03 remaining in the first quarter. With John Ledford out with an injury, Laney and Ray Rathburn spearheaded a dominant rushing attack, combining for 260 of Murphy’s 275 rushing yards.
As the playoffs have gone on, the Bulldogs Wing-T offense has gotten stronger every week.
“We’re definitely in the zone,” quarterback Kellen Rumfelt said. “Tonight our passes opened up our runs, and vice versa. It was just a great game all together.”
The defense matched the offense for much of the first half, holding Robbinsville to two three and outs and then a big fourth-and-one stop at the Murphy 44-yard line on the Black Knights’ next drive. Following the fourth-down stop, Annie Kate Dalton kicked a 26-yard field goal to put the Bulldogs up 17-0.
Robbinsville showed signs of life in a big way on the next drive. On the first play from scrimmage, quarterback Nate Collins hit Brock Adams on a crossing route, and the defender whiffed and Adams broke free for a 57-yard gain down to the Bulldogs’ 11-yard line. Two plays later, Lex Hooper walked in for a touchdown, and the Black Knights had some energy going into halftime.
Both teams came up short on fourth down in opposing territory, then traded punts to start the second half. After the Robbinsville punt, Murphy had short field at its own 48-yard line and – like it did all night – ran the ball down Robbinsville’s throat. Rathburn capped off the drive by taking a handoff, cutting to the right and juking a defender before stepping into the end zone for a seven-yard touchdown and 24-7 lead.
“I’ve been playing football since I was 6 years old,” Rathburn said. “I did not want this to be my last (game). With the help of my teammates and seniors, we made that happen.”
The Black Knights answered back with a hook and ladder by Collins to Wade Hamilton to Drey Keener for a 63-yard touchdown, but inexplicably let more than three minutes run off the clock while Murphy drove to its 30 yard line before turning the ball over on downs with 1:49 remaining. Robbinsville needed a miracle to get two scores, and couldn’t get one.
Even after a big win, Gentry is focused on winning one more to add to the Bulldogs’ rich football history. When informed his team would get the West Region championship trophy, he wasn’t interested.
“I don’t want that,” he said. “I want the one next week.”