Murphy trounces Cherokee, prepares for unbeaten Robbinsville

  • Murphy’s Payton McCracken catches a touchdown pass during Friday’s win over Cherokee.
    Murphy’s Payton McCracken catches a touchdown pass during Friday’s win over Cherokee.

        Cherokee – Murphy’s dominant win over the Cherokee Braves on Friday was the calm before the impending storm.
        The Bulldogs (9-1) pummeled the Braves (2-9) from the opening kickoff, quickly jumping ahead by four touchdowns in the first quarter and never looking back for a 50-6 win.
        With the win over Cherokee, Murphy remained undefeated at 5-0 in the Smoky Mountain Conference with a pivotal regular-season finale against the unbeaten Robbinsville Black Knights coming up on Nov. 8.
        The showdown between two top-five N.C. class 1A teams (Robbinsville is ranked No. 2 and Murphy No. 5) will outright decide the holder of this year’s Smoky Mountain Conference Title and heavily impact both team’s seeding for the upcoming class 1A state playoffs.
        With momentum following the Bulldogs and the game being held in Murphy, the team and coaches alike are excited for the battle of the Smoky Mountain juggernauts.
        “We’re looking forward to next week but that’s going to be a tough ball game,” Murphy head coach David Gentry said of the Bulldogs’ showdown with Robbinsville. “It’s going to be a lot of people and a lot of excitement, just like the Swain game, but with more people.”
        Murphy sophomore Payton McCracken, who had two receiving touchdowns and a fumble-return for a score in the Bulldogs’ victory over Cherokee, said he and the team are excited for the impending showdown with the Knights.
        “I mean, we’re really excited,” McCracken said after the game. “Murphy-Robbinsville games are always a fun game to play. We know there’s gonna be a lot of people there and
    the atmosphere… it’ll be fun.”
        On the other side of the football, anticipation is brewing for the Black Knights, who handled the Andrews Wildcats 28-7 on Nov. 1 after dismantling the Swain Maroon Devils earlier in the week in a postponed game.
        “I think we’ll be ready,” Robbinsville running back Rylee Anderson said after the Black Knights’ win over Andrews. “It’s the biggest game I’ve ever played in, that’s for sure.”