Murphy – Smoky Mountain Conference games kicked off on Labor Day with almost all of the teams in action.
Murphy took on Tri-County Early College on Sept. 1, while Andrews played Hayesville. Murphy and Hayesville earned wins in each team’s first conference games.
Local teams were scheduled to be back in conference action on Sept. 3, but the weather had other plans as the rain rolled in.
Bulldogs vs. Jaguars
Murphy (2-2-1) and Tri-County Early College (0-3) met on the pitch for the first time this season, and the Bulldogs walked away with a 7-0 win.
Jerry Bui found the back on the net for the first goal of the match only 35 seconds into the match. Tyler Payne crossed the ball into the middle, and Bui buried it in the goal to give Murphy an early 1-0 lead.
With 22:12 left in the first half, it was Payne’s turn to score, as he drilled one in from the top of the box to make it 2-0. Payne then had a free kick from about 20 yards out, scoring his second goal of the match with 17:36 left.
To make it 4-0, Elijah Twiggs put in a header on a throw-in by his brother Abram Twiggs.
The two teams battled from the remaining 10:40 after Murphy’s fourth goal to go to halftime at 4-0. Murphy controlled the first half by maintaining possession and getting steal to create scoring chances.
To start the second half, Payne scored his hat-trick goal less than 30 seconds into the second half. With 32:58 left, Twiggs scored his second goal of the match off of a corner kick to give Murphy a 6-0 lead.
Murphy’s Nathan Johnson found the back of the net after a free kick was placed over Tri-County’s backline to give the Dogs a 7-0 lead with 32:21 left in the second half.
Jaguars’ goalkeeper Julian Arvizu made multiple big saves in the second half to keep the score at 7-0.
Murphy goalkeeper Cale Harger exchanged his keeper kit for Murphy’s black and yellow as he came in as a striker with just over five minutes remaining in the match.
Murphy forward and former Tri-County student-athlete Andrew White played his first game against his former team when the two teams met for the first time this season on Sept. 1.
Wildcats vs. Yellow Jackets
In each team’s first game of the season, Hayesville (1-1) got the win over Andrews (0-2).
In a back and forth match on Sept. 1, Hayesville notched a second-half goal to win their first game of the season.
It was Andrews’ first match as a just-boys team and not a co-ed squad, as it has been in past seasons.
Rainy day
On Sept. 3, Tri-County was scheduled to face Andrews for both team’s second conference game of the season.
Also scheduled for Sept. 3, the Dogs were going to travel to face Swain County Maroon Devils (1-4).
Both postponed games were due to wet field conditions. The games will have to be rescheduled because they are Smoky Mountain Conference matchups.
Up next
Murphy will host Madison (3A) at 6 p.m. today. Andrews will travel to Swain County and Tri-County will travel to Highlands today; both games kick off at 6 p.m.
On Monday, Murphy will host Highlands at 6 p.m., while Tri-County will travel to Summit Charter at 5:30 p.m.