Abling gets Murphy going in win over Andrews

    Andrews – Murphy wide receiver Abram Abling is no stranger to putting points on the board, but usually, he’s scoring them on the hardwood for the Bulldogs’ boys basketball team.
    Playing in his first year for the Murphy football team, the junior has had his share of struggles during his transition, dropping a few passes and sometimes missing blocking assignments.
    But in Murphy’s convincing 35-7 win over the Andrews Wildcats, Abling’s hard work paid off. The Bulldogs had been opening games aggressively on offense this season, and their second possession against the Wildcats was no different.
    After Andrews held Murphy to a three-and-out to open the game, the Bulldogs stretched out the field on the next drive.
    Three plays into the drive, quarterback Kellen Rumfelt aired out a long pass to Abling, who snagged the pass and carried the ball into the end zone for his first career touchdown.
    “It felt amazing,” Abling said of pulling in his first career touchdown. “I’m definitely playing for the right team and the right coaches. I’ve never played for such a program that’s like a family. I’ve been all over playing basketball, but here at Murphy High School it’s really a family. I can’t thank these guys enough.”
    Abling finished with a game-high three catches and 83 receiving yards.
    “It’s his first year playing football,” Murphy coach David Gentry said of Abling’s rookie season. “I mean, he’s never played football before. But he’s learning, picking it up and doing good.”
    The Bulldogs once again found success on the ground against the Wildcats, rushing for 322 yards on 39 carries. Running back Devonte Murray led Murphy with 194 rushing yards and two touchdowns on just 19 carries.
    His backfield partner Justice Dorsey had two touchdowns of his own on the ground, in addition to 68 rushing yards on eight rushes.
    Having a group of running backs that can take some of the load off of Murray’s plate is something that Gentry feels opens up the offense.
    “Ray (Rathburn) had a good game last week and that really helped Devonte,” Gentry said of his dynamic running back group. “Now Justice has a good game and that really helps Devonte too. I think Justice had a really good breakout game. We needed that and he needed it too.”
    The Bulldogs’ defense was stout as ever, giving up just one touchdown and holding the Wildcats to 3-of-12 on third down conversions and under 200 total yards in the victory.
    “I think the defense did well!” Gentry exclaimed. “They kept them off the board except that one touchdown.”
    Kicker Braeden Alexander had a bounce-back game after a rough week kicking against Life Christian Academy.
    The junior, who doubles as the kicker for the football team and an integral part of the Bulldogs’ soccer team, went perfect on point-after-attempts, knocking down 5-of-5 and also booted some impressive kickoffs that stuck Andrews deep in its own territory.
    “He kicked off well, exactly where we wanted to,” Gentry said of Alexanders kicking. “He talked to me before the game and said, ‘Coach, if we get way up on these guys, my leg is hurting me
 … can we start going for two?’ And then he came out here and kicked great!”
    
No rest for the weary
    The Bulldogs have this coming Friday off, but Gentry isn’t planning on taking his foot off of the pedal.
    “No, no,” Gentry said when asked if he was going give the players easy practices during their bye week. “We’re going to get back to the fundamentals. Blocking, tackling, those little things that are gonna help you win football games, that’s what we’re gonna do.”