Murphy – With four touchdowns scored by running back Cameron Clem, the Murphy varsity football team defeated Hayesville 50-7 in their final regular-season home game Friday night.
Before the game, Murphy honored their football, cheerleading and marching bands seniors.
Bulldogs varsity football head coach Joseph Watson spoke about his group of seniors.
“This is a great group of seniors. You’ve got a bunch of kids, 16 seniors, and they’ve won a lot of football games, and they’re hoping to win a lot more,” he said.
“One of the things that’s special for them is being able to stay at home and play some more home games.
Every time we can win one, we get another, we get a chance to have another home game. So it’s important to them, and they showed that tonight.”
Also pre-game, legendary Murphy football coach and the all-time winningest head coach in North Carolina football history, David Gentry, received his ring for being inducted into the N.C. Sports Hall of Fame.
The game got underway with an excitement in the cold air for the final regular season home game.
The Dogs (7-2) got the ball first and did what they’ve done a lot of this season – score on the opening drive. Clem rushed the ball in from nine yards out and kicker Jerry Bui made the extra point to give the Dogs a 7-0 lead in the opening minutes of the game.
After Hayesville (5-4) failed to convert on third down, the Dogs got the ball back and went to work. From 18 yards out, Clem rushed in his second touchdown of the game. Bui made the extra point to give the Dogs the 14-0 lead with just over two minutes remaining.
The final 2:19 for the Dogs was a dream, but a nightmare for the Yellow Jackets.
On an onside kick, the Dogs recovered to get the ball back immediately after scoring. With 2:04 remaining, Grayson Hall caught a pass from Brady Grant and ran for a 55-yard touchdown. Clem rushed in the two-point conversion to give the Dogs a 22-0 lead.
Hayesville then got the ball back and, on the second play, Dalton Farmer intercepted a pass to setup another Bulldogs score.
With 26 seconds left in the first quarter, Hall caught another pass from Grant for an 11-yard touchdown. Bui made the extra point kick and the Dogs led 29-0.
The Dogs kept rolling in the second quarter, as the Murphy student section frivolously waved fly swatters after every Bulldog touchdown and great play.
Hayesville had to punt early in the second quarter, and Ryan Payne had a long return to setup the Dogs again. On the ground, Clem rushed it in from five yards out to extend the Dogs’ lead. After Bui made the extra point, Murphy led 36-0.
Hayesville punted again after the Bulldogs’ defense came up with the stop. Early in the drive, Brody McFaddin caught a pass for a touchdown, but it was brought back after a penalty.
On the next play, Clem rushed in his fourth touchdown of the night from 25 yards out. Clem kept it going after he rushed in the two-point conversion to give the Dogs the 44-0 lead.
As time ticked down before halftime, Hayesville worked their way downfield. On the Jackets’ longest drive of the game, they were gifted yardage after penalties against the Dogs. They ended their drive with a touchdown and made the point after with about nine seconds left.
The game went to halftime with the Dogs leading 44-7. Murphy sat some of their starters during the second half, which was played with a running clock.
It was a scoreless third quarter from both sides as Murphy cruised through and Hayesville fought against the clock. During the third quarter, Easton Manuel got Murphy’s second interception of the game.
Murphy got the ball back early in the fourth quarter, and Elijah Crawford rushed into the end zone from 18 yards out to extend the Dogs’ lead. The two-point conversion failed, so the lead was 50-7 with about 10 minutes remaining in the game.
Hayesville got the ball back, but failed to find the end zone before time expired on Murphy’s win.
“We started fast, and that’s what they wanted to do. We talked all week about starting fast and getting after them early, and they did that,” Watson said.
“Defense played outstanding again. Offense kept it rolling, too. So that’s a fun game.”
In their final regular-season game, the Bulldogs will travel to Swain County (6-3) for a Halloween night matchup. With a win, Murphy will clinch the Smoky Mountain Conference for a second straight season.
Talking about the mentality for the week preparing for Swain, Watson said, “Get better, you gotta get better. Swain’s a good football team. We know that, and they’ve won some big games too. So we gotta have a good week like we always do, get better and prepare for Swain.”