Murphy – At some point, all good things must come to an end.
And fittingly, on Friday the 13th, the Christ School Greenies defeated the Murphy Bulldogs score of 27-7, ending Murphy’s 16-game win streak that dated back to week two of last season.
Headed into the final quarter, the Bulldogs trailed the Greenies by just one touchdown thanks to Dogs’ stout defense.
The Bulldogs’ defense was tasked with slowing down Navy Shuler – former U.S. Congressman Heath Shuler’s son – who is currently committed to Appalachian State for football.
Shuler managed to accrue 205 yards through the air and threw two touchdowns, but Murphy’s defense kept the Bulldogs in the contest.
“I was pleased with our defense’s overall performance,” Bulldogs coach David Gentry said after the game. “I really was. Our defense gave us the ball a bunch of times, shut them down and kept them out of the end zone. But there at the end a couple of players on defense just let up.”
“But at the end of the third quarter, it’s 14-7, we’re still very much in the ball game. We played, I think, defensively good enough to win the ball game if we’d had any offensive output”
Murphy, which entered the game 3-0 on the young season, started out strong offensively in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs took an early 7-0 lead, scoring on the weekly Devonte Murray highlight play, this week a 43-yard rushing touchdown that send the Murphy faithful into a frenzy.
The senior running back would finished with a team-leading 116 rushing yards on 20 carries.
However, Murray’s score on the ground ended up being the Bulldogs’ only points of the game, as the Greenies’ defense managed to bottle up the Murphy attack for the remainder of the game.
“Our offense just couldn’t move the football,” Gentry said. “We had opportunities. We just dropped the ball at the end, or didn’t run a good route, didn’t have much run-blocking or pass-blocking. If we don’t play much better on the offensive side of the ball, we’re not gonna win many more games.”
Bouncing back against Life Christian
The Bulldogs look to bounce back next week at home against Life Christian Academy (0-2).
“You just work at it,” Gentry said of the week the team has ahead of them. “Come in to work on Monday and try to get better. There might be some personnel changes that I have to make, but I doubt it. You just gave to get better and if you do, we’re gonna get better. If not, they’re gonna be turning around. It’s gonna be up to them, what they can do. It’s all about them, the same with any ball club.”