Asheville – Cherokee County was all over this year’s Asheville Citizen-Times All-Western North Carolina football selections. Andrews head coach James Phillips was named coach of the year, while eight athletes were selected All-WNC.
For Andrews, Drew Martin and Isaac Weaver were selected to the first team, Dalton Rose was selected to the second team and Cole Anderson and Austin Martin were selected to the third team. For Murphy, Hunter Stalcup and Mason Thrasher were selected to the second team, while Cameron Grooms was selected to the third team.
In his seventh year at the helm, Phillips led the Wildcats to one of their best seasons ever, finishing 13-1 while winning their first Smoky Mountain Conference Championship since 1983 and making their deepest playoff run since 2011. He was previously named SMC Coach of the Year.
Weaver was the Wildcats’ best playmaker this fall, finishing with 1,494 rushing yards and 394 receiving yards on offense, 11 interceptions and 34 total touchdowns. He’s also been named SMC Back of the Year, and then All-State by the NC Sportswriters Team at NCPreps.
Drew Martin helped power an Andrews rushing attack that averaged nearly 300 yards per game, and finished with a team-high 69 tackles. He’s been SMC Lineman of the Year each of the past two seasons.
Rose was another key cog on Andrews’ line, playing right guard on offense and defensive end on defense. He was named to the second team for his play on the offensive line, but also finished with 55 tackles and nine sacks on defense.
Despite only being a junior, he’s a two-time All-SMC selection. Anderson was named to the third team for his play as a defensive back, where he recorded 23 tackles and five interceptions. He also had a team-high 551 receiving yards and six touchdowns.
Austin Martin was a force at both fullback and linebacker, finishing with 1,450 yards and 20 touchdowns on offense while recording 59 tackles on defense.
Stalcup was Murphy’s engine on offense, with 2,204 rushing yards, 315 receiving yards and 31 touchdowns. He had the most rushing yards in the conference and trailed only Mount Airy’s Tyler Mason for the most in 1A, despite playing in three fewer games than Mason. He was also an honorable mention All-State selection.
Thrasher was selected for his work on the defensive line, where he wreaked havoc on opposing offense. He finished the season with 73 tackles, a team-high 24 tackles for loss and four sacks.
Grooms was named to the third team as a wide receiver, where he finished with a conference-best 610 receiving yards and six touchdowns. All eight athletes were also named All-SMC this year.