Burnsville – Late in the first quarter at EL Briggs Stadium on Friday night, things weren’t looking good for the Bulldogs.
Though they forced a turnover on the Cougars’ second possession, Murphy gave it right back on an interception return for a touchdown and trailed 8-0. On the Bulldogs other two series to start the game, they went backward.
They needed anything to get going. Luckily for Murphy, Mountain Heritage muffed a punt at its own 43-yard line, giving the Bulldogs the ball in Cougars territory.
Two plays later, Kellen Rumfelt hit Cole Laney in stride for a 43-yard touchdown, and Hunter Stalcup’s two-point conversion run tied the game at 8. It was a brand new game and Murphy never looked back, besting Mountain Heritage 22-10 in the second round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1A West playoffs.
“A great football team like that, when they give you something better you take it,” Murphy senior Payton McCracken said, “because it’s not going to happen a lot. That gave us the momentum we needed to get going, and things started clicking from there.”
It wasn’t the prettiest win, but the No. 9 seed Bulldogs (8-4 overall) did enough, using an opportunistic offense and excellent defense. No. 8 Mountain Heritage (8-3) is at its best when dominating up front, and Murphy held its own in the trenches.
The Cougars finished with just 238 yards and committed five turnovers. Their 10 points were the fewest the Bulldogs have allowed in a game this season.
“Defense absolutely played their butts off,” Murphy head coach Joseph Watson said. “And they’re going to have to continue doing that.”
It was an uneven night for the offense, which committed three turnovers, but Murphy did enough to come out on top. In the ensuing drive after tying the game, the Bulldogs drove all the way to the Mountain Heritage 5-yard line before Rumfelt was picked off by Mason Robinson in the end zone on second-and-goal.
After Hunter Laney intercepted Cougars’ quarterback Gabe Silvers, Rumfelt responded. He hit Will Johnson deep down the right sideline for a 53-yard gain to set up first and goal, then found Juan Allen in the end zone for a nine-yard touchdown two plays later.
Rumfelt did the same on the Bulldogs’ scoring drive in the third quarter, using a big play to set up a short touchdown pass. He hit Payton McCracken deep, who made a few defenders miss for a 37-yard gain. Two plays later, Rumfelt found McCracken again, this time for a 9-yard touchdown and 22-8 lead.
“We knew we could throw the ball on them,” Rumfelt said. “They got sucked in a lot on our fakes, so it opened up any deep ball we wanted, pretty much.”
Murphy’s defense stood tall after that, forcing a fumble, getting a fourth-down stop and then an Allen interception to seal the win.
The Bulldogs will have to bring their “A” game again next week when they make the five-hour trek to Ramsey to take on No. 1 seed Eastern Randolph (10-0). The Wildcats moved down from 2A to 1A this year but were in the Piedmont Athletic Conference with five other 2A schools.
It didn’t matter, as Eastern Randolph won every conference game by at least 18 points and beat No. 16 Draughn (6-6), 55-20, in the second round after receiving a first-round bye. This season, the Wildcats have outscored their opponents 398-79.
“We just get on that Cherokee Boys Club bus and get rolling. We got a really good routine for away games,” Watson said. “… But we’ll go wherever, we don’t care.”