Murphy – The Bulldogs remain undefeated in the Smoky Mountain Conference, scoring five first-half touchdowns to beat Andrews 35-0 on Friday night.
The Dogs (8-1) had a big first half with five rushing touchdowns by Cameron Clem en route to beating their in-county rival Wildcats (4-4). With the win, they secure the conference, and with a win next week they will take the title outright.
The first few minutes of the game were hectic. The Dogs received the opening kickoff, then fumbled a snap and the Wildcats recovered the fumble to get the ball back. On the following drive, the Cats fumbled on third down, and the Dogs recovered on the Wildcats’ 23 yard line.
Clem rushed in from the 15 yards out to give Murphy an early lead. After the Cats punted on the following drive, LaDannien Rattler picked off a pass on the opening play of Murphy’s next drive to give the Cats the ball back, but they ultimately had to punt again.
On the following drive, Clem scored his second rushing touchdown on a long run downfield. Following a successful extra point kick by Jerry Bui, the Dogs led 14-0 to close out a busy first quarter.
To start the second quarter, Clem scored his third rushing touchdown on another long run. Bui made his third extra point of the game to give the Dogs a 21-0 lead.
On the Dogs’ next drive, Clem scored his fourth rushing touchdown as he ran downfield and juked Cats defenders to get the score. After Bui’s fourth made extra point, the Dogs led 28-0.
However, that wasn’t all from Clem. As the second quarter was winding down, the Dogs worked their way down the field. When the Dogs had first and goal, Clem rushed the ball over the line as he was being tackled to give him and the Dogs their fifth score of the game. Bui’s fifth made extra point gave the Dogs a 35-0 lead.
Murphy’s offense dominated the first half. The Wildcats’ ground game was on display from Rattler, Eli Aguilar, Landon Greene and Holden Todd, but they were met by a stiff defense.
The start to the second half was also hectic, as Rattler returned the opening kick about 50 yards, but the big run was negated by penalty flags on both teams that pushed the ball back nearly 30 yards. The Cats ultimately had to punt.
On the following drive, Will Shore had a big run for the Dogs, but it was brought back after a holding call on Murphy, which also had to punt.
Neither team scored in the second half. As the fourth quarter began, the Dogs began to run out the clock and give underclassmen playing time.
“I feel like our defense played really well. Offensively though, we continue to make some mistakes. Our defense is bailing us out of some of those mistakes,” Dogs head coach Joseph Watson said of this team’s performance.
“We get opportunities offensively and defensively, and we have to capitalize on those, and the last couple ball games the defense is keeping us in it. We’re happy about that and want to continue to get better offensively, too.”
Watson said Clem has been banged up the last few games, but he showed what the future can be.
Braxton Rickett was under center for the Wildcats, completing 3-4 passes for 13 yards and also had eight carries for five yards.
Rattler led the Wildcats on the ground with 13 carries for 46 yards, while Landon Greene had 14 carries for 29 yards. In the air, Boone Parker had three receptions for 13 yards.
Friday night was busy for the Wildcats’ defense, as they combined for 26 solo tackles and 40 tackle assists. Will Roberts had seven solo tackles and five tackle assists. Eli Aguilar had five solo tackles and two tackle assists. Rickett had three solo and three tackle assists.
Holden Todd had the most tackle assists with seven. Rattler had one interception, while Rickett and Gabe Aguilar both had a fumble recovery.
“He was really, really patient and ran physical and downhill. That’s what we expect out of Cam and that’s what he expects,” Watson said.
“He wants to be really good and he wants to do things correct. Hopefully, that’s just one of many more big games you’re going to see out of him.”
Watson said the Dogs will continue their routine to prepare for next week’s game against Cherokee. The team follows the same routine no matter who their opponent is on Friday night.
Andrews head coach James Phillips said after Friday’s game that his did not play very well.
“I don’t even care about the score. It’s not an excuse, it’s just where we’re at. We’re just kind of beat up in the last couple weeks and we got kids in different spots and they’re resilient,” he said.
“You got Braxton [Rickett] trying to step in there and be quarterback this week, and he’s never done it in his whole life, against a good Murphy team. I thought he did admirably tonight. I’ve got Holden Todd trying to play right guard, and he’s been a running back for me.
“Probably the biggest bright spot tonight was LaDannien Rattler. He was a lot tougher for us tonight. That was the challenge this week for him. He’s built like that and has all kinds of God-given abilities, and I thought tonight he was a warrior tonight …
“But hats off to Murphy. They welded us pretty good, and they were the better football team tonight by a whole lot. We gotta get better for Hayesville.”
Phillips talked about some of the small wins Friday night including two players who were cleaning up their bleachers after the game during the post-game interview.
He added that they’ll come back Monday to continue to practice hard in preparation for their game against Hayesville.
Both Andrews and Murphy have home games to close out their regular season on Friday night. Both games kick off at 7:30 p.m.
Andrews will host Hayesville, a team the Cats beat 7-2 earlier in the season in a non-conference matchup. Murphy will host Cherokee with the Smoky Mountain Conference crown on the line.
If the Dogs win, they will be outright champions. If Cherokee wins, they will be co-champions with the Dogs.