Bakersville – Andrews football had passed their first two road tests of the year at the Hickory Hawks and North Buncombe, but Friday night was a step-up competition against the defending 1A West Regional champions.
The Wildcats, though, were up to the challenge, taking Mitchell’s best punch before pulling away in the second half for a 44-27 win.
“The way we’re playing on the road this year has got to do with more of the leadership on our team,” head coach James Phillips said. “They’ve been tremendous.”
Both teams pride themselves on playing physical, smash-mouth football, but Andrews (4-0 overall) won that battle easily. The Wildcats ran for 354 yards, compared to the Mountaineers 64. Mitchell (2-0) star quarterback Ty Turbyfill has been limited some this year by injuries, but Mitchell still has two good running backs in Gage Young and Chad Giarusso
Turbyfill completed 13 of 19 passes for 166 yards, but was also intercepted twice by Isaac Weaver. The Wildcats’ senior star was all over the field, scoring three touchdowns, one of which came on a 76-yard punt return with 9:46 remaining in the first quarter.
“It obviously makes my job easier,” Phillips said of having Weaver on his team. “All I have to do is try to not mess him up. He’s been electric this year.”
Weaver would add another touchdown in the first quarter, catching a Donovan Bateman pass for a 13-yard score and a 14-0 lead, but the Mountaineers had an answer. Turbyfill found Dalton Hollifield for a 27-yard touchdown to cut the lead in half with 11:15 to go in the second quarter, then hit Giarusso for a 20-yard touchdown to tie the game.
The Wildcats would take the lead again on a 17-yard touchdown run by Bateman, but it only lasted five seconds. Young returned the ensuing kickoff 72 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 21 with 3:39 left in the second quarter.
A big play like that, along with two fumbles and some breakdowns in pass coverage, are things Phillips knows his team has to clean up when trying to build off this win.
“We can’t give up big special teams touchdowns on kickoff, we can’t fumble multiple times in a big game like that,” Phillips said. “There’s certainly a lot to clean up.”
A 34-yard field goal by Ty Clark in the final minute of the first half gave Andrews a 24-21 halftime lead before the Wildcats wore down Mitchell in the second half. A 41-yard run by Weaver on the opening drive put the ball at the Mountaineers 2-yard line, and Austin Martin scored on the next play to extend the lead to 31-21.
After forcing a Mitchell punt, Martin ripped off a 60-yard run on the next drive, which Weaver capped off with a 3-yard touchdown run and a 37-21 lead with 4:41 to go in the third. Martin added a 6-yard touchdown run with 1:07 left in the fourth quarter for the exclamation point.
The win brought Phillips’ two offseason keys into focus. He put a premium on upgrading Andrews’ line, and the Wildcats had their way on both sides of the ball. He also focused on conditioning, and Andrews finished strong in its first game where the starters played in the fourth quarter.
“Every good football team is well-conditioned,” Phillips said. “We do some things at practice and during the week … that we think is good for us and puts our kids in the physical condition (best) that they can (be).
“And so far, it’s worked for us.”