Murphy Bulldogs’ season comes to an end in Elite Eight
Robbinsville – Part of the journey is the end.
For the Murphy Bulldogs football team, that end came at the hands of the undefeated Robbinsville Black Knights on Friday night at Big Oaks Stadium.
The Dogs, who entered the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 1A Football Championship as the fourth-seeded team in the western bracket, opened up with a sluggish start against the Black Knights, who earned the top seed with an undefeated record.
Robbinsville jumped ahead 7-0 in the first quarter, while the Murphy offense struggled to gain momentum in its direction.
The Black Knights chewed through the clock on their first two possessions of the game, only allowing the Bulldogs to run three plays in the first quarter.
After Murphy held Robbinsville to a field goal on the following drive, the Dogs’ gears began turning on offense.
The offense began churning down the field as time ticked closer to halftime and the Dogs found themselves down to Robbinsville’s 21-yard line with 41.9 seconds til the break thanks to two long passes from sophomore quarterback Kellen Rumfelt to sophomore receiver Payton McCracken and senior back Justice Dorsey.
On the next play, an errant pass by Rumfelt appeared to be batted down by a Black Knight defender, but another Robbinsville player dove and attempted to corral the football before it hit the turf.
Much to the chagrin of the Murphy faithful, the referees ruled that the defender had scooped the ball before it hit the ground and gave possession back to the Black Knights.
Robbinsville allowed the clock to expire and trotted into the half with a 10-0 lead over the Bulldogs.
The Murphy offense came out fired up to open the second half, driving down the field and into the end zone on a 36-yard rushing touchdown by Dorsey to cut the lead to only three.
However, the Black Knights marched right back down the field, converting on fourth down and answering with a rushing touchdown of their own.
The Dogs’ offense stalled on the following drive, punting the ball back to Robbinsville.
A solid return by the Knights positioned them at Murphy’s 40-yard line, but the Dogs’ defense came up with the stop and got the ball back for the offense.
Starting from their own 27-yard line, Murphy was in need of a big play to cut the deficit down to three with the third quarter winding down.
Senior running back Devonte Murray broke off for what would have been a 73-yard rushing score, leaving multiple Robbinsville defenders in his wake, but the touchdown was negated by a holding penalty against the Bulldogs.
Murphy once again was forced to punt and the Black Knights chewed the clock away in the fourth, punching in a one-yard touchdown on fourth down to take a 24-7 lead with just over six minutes remaining.
The Bulldogs refused to lay down, driving back down the field for their second score of the game on an 11-yard pass from Rumfelt to Dorsey.
After nearly recovering the onside kick, the Murphy defense held the Black Knights and Robbinsville was forced to punt with 1:33 to go.
Without any timeouts and the clock against them, the Dogs attempted to make it a one-possession game, but came up short.
“We just didn’t play well,” Murphy coach David Gentry said. “Robbinsville out-played us in every facet of the game.”
Looking forward
The Bulldogs will graduate a small, yet significant group of seniors that played pivotal roles for Murphy on both sides of the ball this season.
“I think when I looked back at it, that group of seniors went 35-7 since they were sophomores,” Gentry said. “It was a good season, but not a great season. And that’s what I think we’ve built here at Murphy, in order to be great you have to win it all. If you win 10 ball games I think you’ve had a good year.”
Gentry explained that he hopes the loss will inspire the younger members of the team to work even harder during the off-season in preparation for next season.
“It’s never what happens to you that defines you,” Gentry said, pausing for a moment. “It’s what you do about what happens to you that defines you. I think what these returning kids do with what happened to them in the last game, will define them when the graduate.”
With the young core of players that had been thrust into key positions this season set to return, Gentry said he expects that Murphy will have a strong group of players leading the way next year.
“It was a good year,” Gentry said. “It wasn’t a great year, it was a good year. And as far as next year, it looks real good. A lot of experience and a lot of good young kids coming back.”
One thing is for certain, the Dogs will be back next year stronger than ever.
As for Gentry, the all-time winningest coach in North Carolina football history, the decision on whether he’ll return to the sideline for the Bulldogs next season remains up in the air and shouldn’t be expected any time soon.
“I’ll take some time off, talk to my wife, try and plan some trips and get away from it,” Gentry said of making the decision. “I don’t know, just have to take a look at it and see. I love coaching, I wouldn’t have been in it for 49 years if I didn’t love it.”