Andrews – Andrews head football coach James Phillips told his team the 21-14 loss to Cherokee should hurt, and for good reason.
The Wildcats were driving inside the Braves’ five-yard line with under two minutes to go in fourth quarter before fumbling the ball away. Then in overtime, Michael Driver’s one-yard quarterback sneak gave Cherokee a 21-14 lead.
A holding penalty on second down backed Andrews up to the 22-yard line, and Graham Burch made a nice catch for a 13-yard gain to give the Wildcats a decent chance. Dalton Rose picked up five yards on third down, but quarterback Everett Tatham only picked up one on fourth down.
Just minutes earlier, the glee that was building on the Wildcats’ sideline transferred to the Braves’ sideline as they picked up their first Smoky Mountain Conference win of the season.
“I mean ultimately we made too many mistakes,” Phillips said. “We fumbled down there to win the ball game, holding we had the penalty there in overtime, had to try to fight and had a shot at it from the 4.
“And hats off to Cherokee. We didn’t give it to them or anything, they fought their guts out and earned it.”
The loss hurt more because of the gritty effort Andrews (4-3 overall, 0-2 Smoky Mountain Conference) showed in the second half. The Braves (5-2, 1-1) out-gained the Wildcats 220-100 in the first half, with Driver completing 8-for-10 passes for 138 yards, including a 34-yard touchdown to Elijah Lineberry that put Cherokee on top 7-0 with 8:28 left in the second quarter.
A 35-yard run by Tatham on a third-and-1 down to the Braves 22-yard line later in the quarter finally gave Andrews a spark, and two plays later Rose’s five-yard touchdown run cut the Cherokee lead to 7-6 with 3:51 to go in the quarter. But the Braves answered back by going 71 yards in just 2:42 with Driver’s one-yard touchdown run and Nathaniel Littlejohn’s extra point extending the lead to 14-6.
Driver would finish with 179 passing yards and a touchdown and added two more touchdowns on the ground.
“I felt like we were a little not urgent enough maybe in the first half, not violent enough,” Phillips said. “We weren’t good enough up front and challenged everybody in there who had a part in it to be better and do better. And for the most part in the second half we did, but ultimately we had too many mistakes.”
The offense still struggled in the third quarter, but the defense forced a three-and-out on one Cherokee drive and an interception by Samuel Preston. Andrews went 71 yards after the interception, with a 12-yard catch and run by Rose on third-and-9 sparking the offense.
The Wildcats’ offense continued to move the ball, thanks to some tough runs by Preston and Eli Aguilar as well as some Cherokee penalties. Tatham’s 12-yard touchdown run along with Rose’s two-point conversion run tied the game at 14 with 10:48 to go in the fourth quarter.
Tatham’s return was a definite lift for Andrews, giving them some versatility in the running game and the option to open things up in the passing game compared to previous three games with an injury. Though he completed just three of 10 passes, Tatham ran for 67 yards, leading a balanced rushing attack with Rose (111 yards) and Aguilar (62).
It’s the type of return that could help the Wildcats build momentum as they enter the last three games of the regular season, but it didn’t feel that way when the game ended. It doesn’t get any easier when the Wildcats travel to Robbinsville on Friday night, though Phillips won’t let his team throw in the towel.
He wants his teams to be tough and not quit, which is what this year’s team has done since the start of the season.
“I’m confident in the character of our team that we’ll bounce back and get right to work,” Phillips said. “That’s the character and commitment of this team.”