Wildcats snag third conference win for first time since 2011-12 season with 40-20 win over the Yellow Jackets on Friday
Hayesville – It’s been nearly a decade since the Andrews Wildcats finished a season with three or more wins in the Smoky Mountain Conference – or at least it had been, until the Wildcats pummeled the Yellow Jackets on Friday night in Hayesville to the tune of 40-20 to claim their third conference win of the COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 football season.
“These seniors have set pretty high goals for this team in terms of wins and competing for a conference championship and those goals are still out there,” Andrews coach James Phillips said. “Every week they’re working towards those and trying to check them off the list. I’m really proud of that.”
The Wildcats last finished with three or more conference wins in the 2011-12 season in which they finished 3-3 in Smoky Mountain play, but with key games against Robbinsville and Rosman remaining, Andrews isn’t quite done yet..
Sophomore back Isaac Weaver led the way for the Wildcats, finishing with a game-high 207 rushing yards on 22 carries and a pair of scores on the ground, while senior back Gavin Wilson finished with 189 yards rushing on 23 and scored a trio of touchdowns on the ground in addition to catching a score.
“Our offensive line play was really good on Friday night overall,” Phillips said. “From tackle to tight end, we blocked pretty well. The backs ran hard and had tremendous vision. We just ran a lot of our base stuff and it was one of those nights where the base things we run were working well for us.”
The Wildcats defense keyed in on Hayesville throughout the game, sacking Yellow Jackets quarterback Logan Caldwell five times in the victory and forcing four turnovers, including three interceptions and a fumble.
“We knew defensively if we were going to be successful in the game, we were going to have to contain those two (Caldwell and Hayesville running back Blake McClure) and we had five sacks and forced three interceptions,” Phillips said. “Defensively it was by far the best game we’ve played, Friday night kind of reminded me of the Swain game as far as our defense goes. It was just one of those nights where the kids didn’t miss many assignments defensively and we tackled pretty well.”
Sophomore Drew Martin led the Wildcats’ defense with 12 tackles in the victory and also snagged an interception.
The Wildcats mix of veteran leaders and young core has been a winning combination for Andrews both on and off of the field, which Phillips has been appreciative of this season.
“We’ve got a mix of seniors right there but then this young group of sophomores has had success and are talented. Trying to get them seasoned and experienced at the varsity level takes time and they’re doing that quickly, it’s been amazing,” Phillips said.
“The young kids have definitely contributed to our success but I’m also proud of our seniors who have stuck with the program and set high goals for us this season.”
Coming off of the win against Hayesville, Andrews now has a bye week in the COVID-19 shortened season, which Phillips hopes will help the Wildcats heading into their last two games.
“We’ve got a lot of hard work ahead of us this off week, just trying to get better at the fundamentals and getting in some hard workouts to prepare for Robbinsville next Friday,” Phillips said. “We’ve got a bye week not because I one hundred percent wanted one, but our bye week was so late in the season I just wasn’t able to find anybody close to play. “So then I resolved myself to the fact that we can turn this into a positive. Five weeks into the season in the SMC is kind of like playing in the SEC, it’s physical and you get beat on and beat up, bumps and bruises, so for me I’m glad we’ve got a bye week this week to heal up and work out some of the kinks that we continue to have and get better.”