Murphy – It was a long season for the Bulldogs’ varsity football team – as the players, coaches and Bulldogs fans hoped.
The season started with a win over Franklin at Western Carolina University and ended with a trip to the state 2A championship.
Before the season started, Murphy head coach Joseph Watson said he hoped to be playing football in December – and they did exactly that.
The Dogs played two games in December, starting with winning the West Regional championship by defeating Starmount on Dec. 5. They then took on Tarboro in the state championship on Dec. 13, when they lost despite holding the Vikings scoreless in the first half.
Murphy ended the season with a 12-3 record, including a 10-game winning streak that started in September over Cherokee in the opening Smoky Mountain Conference game and lasted until the state championship.
The Bulldogs traveled to Heard County, Ga., where they lost to a team that would eventually fall in the semi-finals of their playoffs. They returned home to beat East Surry before traveling to Asheville to face A.C. Reynolds, the Dogs’ last loss for a while.
They kicked off conference play by defeating Cherokee, then returned home to celebrate homecoming with a win. Murphy then defeated Robbinsville in its closest SMC game of the season before going back on the road to face in-county rivals Andrews.
After defeating Andrews, the Bulldogs celebrated senior night with a win over Hayesville. To wrap up the regular season, they beat Swain County to claim back-to-back conference championships.
After receiving the No. 1 seed in the West for the 2A playoffs, Murphy had a first-round bye. The Dogs then defeated Albemarle, Community School of Davidson and Corvian Community to claim the 2A West Regional championship.
For the state championship, they hit the road to Hickory, where Murphy played Tarboro at Lenoir-Rhyne University. The Dogs fell 22-0 as their season came to an end.
From the coach
Bulldogs head coach Joseph Watson spoke with the Cherokee Scout on Thursday about the state championship game.
“Obviously, I felt like we played pretty well, the entire game actually…First half, feel like our kids played really well. And I think we did a good job of controlling the ball, controlling time of possession. I’ll have to look back and what our think down conversion was, but I think it was pretty good.
“I felt like we were doing some things offensively that were successful and defense was doing an outstanding job of shutting down their run game, but like we talked about, at any time in the game or any point on the field, that they have the ability to get out and you can’t do much about it defensively,” he said.
“We had some opportunities, we were down with a chance to put some points up and weren’t able to do that in the first half and that hurt us and coming out in the second half and them scoring right away kind of putting us back in a hole …
”But overall, our kids played hard like they usually do and I expect them to do that and I’m just really proud of their effort and what they did in the state game, but ultimately Tarboro made more plays than we did and Kamerin McDowell-Moore was a huge factor in that offensively and defensively … so he was the difference.”
Award winners
At the state title game, Brody Orton was awarded the Sportsmanship Award prior to the game.
“What else can you say about Brody? He’s the guy,” Watson said. “He’s alway’s first in line, he’s always the first person to do the right thing all the time. Sportsmanship-wise, he is a competitor when you get on the field and he understands exactly what he needs to do when the game starts. He’s just a great kid for our school. He’s a great kid and he has a great family, that’s where it comes from.”
After the game, Camden Breazeale was named the 2A West Defensive MVP.
“Camden has gotten so much better this year and he has been great,” Watson said. “But he just changed and turned it up a different notch this year, and the playoffs, especially.
“He had one of the best motors that we’ve ever seen at Murphy High School, and just continued to run and continue to compete and continue to fight, and another one of those kids that does everything we ask them to do.
“When he sees those teams that are spread teams and gun all the tie, he’s ready to go. In the Corvian game, I think he had like nine quarterback pressures, which is unheard of, and a couple of sacks … He’s the ultimate ‘go ball’ guy that we have.”
Also after the game, Cameron Clem was named the 2A West Offensive MVP.
“We’re glad we have him another year and he does a lot of stuff for us obviously offensively. A lot of things run through him on offense and he had a good night Saturday and I know he is happy,” Watson said.
“He gives, like we said, a lot of the credit to his offensive line and Tarboro made it hard on him. But he continued to play hard and continue to fight and continue to run, and that’s just the kind of kid Cameron is. He’s just up for it, and he wants whatever they got for him. Just proud of him and proud of his efforts.”
Leaning on seniors
Watson also reflected on the season as a whole.
“We leaned on our seniors a lot and what’s what you have to do. You have that many seniors who are that good and play that many football games, and those kids have had great careers at Murphy High School and done a lot of great things at Murphy High School and kind of got us to where we are.
“We like to schedule that non-conference … a tough one to kind of set you up to play these tough games. I think the Heard [County, Ga.] game and A.C. Reynolds game were very comparable to what we saw at the state championship. So we were at least used to that a little bit or seeing some of that, but the kids continue to get better each week and that’s all we can ask of them and I felt like they did that,” he said.
“And it was a great conference schedule and a great conference season, ended up being back-to-back conference champions, which is really hard to do in this league. There’s not many of those numbers on the board.
“Then being able to put up two numbers on the scoreboard is a great accomplishment and the Starmount game will be one of those games we’ll remember for a long time, it’s just a special day and a special game and it’s a special group of kids and I’m really appreciative of all they’ve done and all their effort.”
Talking about the group of seniors they had this season, Watson highlighted Brody Orton and Ryan Payne.
“Brody and Ryan have been with us since they were freshmen. Brody is a kid that didn’t start one game as a freshman, but these kids have played a lot of football, a lot of meaningful games for and had a lot of experience and that’s something that’s really hard to replace, but we’re gonna try,” he said.
“But we’re just thankful for what they have done for us and have set the example for those younger kids and what to do and how to be successful and how to be leaders and how to be great young men. So, it’s up to us to make sure they remember that and that they do the things that they did to be successful to help them be successful as well.”
Talking about the young players who Bulldog fans will see next season, Watson highlighted Cameron Clem, Blake Davis, Michael Brown, Anthony Catuto, Grayson Hall, Aayden Williams and Dontae Barber.
Statistics
Murphy gained 5,459 yard of offense this season, with more than 1,000 passing yards and 4,000 rushing yards.
Leading the pass game was senior quarterback Brady Grant. Grant threw for 1,225 yards on 82 competitions, with 12 touchdowns and a completion rate of just over 65%.
Leading the team on the ground was junior running back Cameron Clem, who rushed for 1,810 yards in 13 games. He found the end zone 31 times this season and averaged just over 139 yards per game.
Michael Brown and Brody McFaddin found the end zone six times each, while Blake Davis scored five touchdowns for the Dogs. Grant also had 95 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Four Bulldog receivers had more than 100 yards this season, led by senior Ryan Payne with 496 yards. Grayson Hall had 259 yards, Anthony Catuto had 166 yards and Davis had 143 yards.
Hall led the team in receiving touchdowns with four, while Payne and Catuto had three. Davis also had two receiving scores.
Murphy’s leading tackler on defense was senior Brody Orton with 137 tackles, 26 for a loss.
Camden Breazeale and Landen Lape also had more than 100 tackles, with Breazeale leading the team in tackles for loss with 28.
Breazeale and Jude Pinkerton led the team in quarterback hurries with 33 each. Breazeale also led the team in sacks with eight this season.
Aayden Williams led the team in interceptions with five, while Ryan Payne and Grayson Hall and four each.
Pinkerton forced five fumbles this season and Lape and Catuto led the team in fumble recoveries with three each.
Payne and Dontae Barber led the team with 14 pass breakups each, while Williams had 13.