Murphy – After two months of workouts and 7-on-7 scrimmages, the football season gets underway for real with official practice for fall sports in just five days.
That includes Murphy football, which has a lot to replace after graduating 16 seniors from a 9-4 team last fall. There’s talent to replace all over the field, though on the offensive end senior Hunter Stalcup provides a great building block after rushing for more than 2,000 yards last year.
Juniors like Kadence Leatherwood and Brayden Killian are primed to step into bigger roles as well, and got a taste of them last year after the Bulldogs lost two key seniors due to injuries. Other players will have to grow up quickly, as Murphy’s non-conference schedule features four teams that made their respective playoffs last year before an always tough Smoky Mountain Conference schedule.
The Bulldogs will scrimmage Copper Basin, Tenn., at David Gentry Field on Aug. 11 before opening the season at Franklin the next week. Murphy has played the Panthers every year since at least 1952, including a 24-7 win for Franklin last year.
Franklin went on to finish 6-5 last year, falling to West Rowan in the first round of the 3A state playoffs. The Panthers will have to replace 17 seniors from last year, including Murphy terrorizer Ty Handley, who is headed to Western Carolina. But they do return good pieces up front, which is where Franklin dominated last year to wear down Murphy.
The next week is the first of six straight home games for the Bulldogs, as they host Commerce, Ga. Last year, the Bulldogs made the 91-mile trek to Commerce to outlast the Tigers for a 15-14 win.
Commerce finished 6-5 before ending its season in the first round of the Georgia High School Association Class A Division 1 playoffs. Commerce graduated 20 seniors, though still returns all three parts of its triple-option offense in quarterback John Paul Allen with running backs Jayden McDaniels and Ty’Sean Wiggins.
Following a bye week, Murphy welcomes a familiar foe back to Bulldog Country, Smoky Mountain. The Jackson County high school merged Cullowhee and Sylva-Webster in 1988, the latter of which was once part of the Smoky Mountain Conference.
Murphy won 16 of the 18 matchups between the two schools, the last a 28-0 Bulldogs win in 2014. Though Smoky Mountain graduated 19 seniors from a 7-5 team last year, they return the core of their offense in seniors Jed West (quarterback), Isaiah McNeely (running back) and East Carolina commit Da’Mare Williams (wide receiver).
After clashing with the Mustangs, Murphy will battle with Fannin County, Ga., for the second straight year. The trip to Blue Ridge last year is one the Bulldogs try to forget. An avalanche of mistakes led to a 56-7 halftime deficit and a 56-30 loss.
The Rebels finished last year 7-5 and lost in the second round of the Georgia AA playoffs. They return a few key players like quarterback Elijah Weaver, but graduated 15 seniors.
Murphy will wrap up non-conference play the next week against New Faith Christian Academy. It will be the Titans’ second trip to Cherokee County this fall, as they travel to Andrews on Sept 1. New Faith Christian was a last-minute add to the Bulldogs schedule last year, and Murphy cruised to a 42-0 win.
With conference home and road games flipped this year and the first game of last year dropped to the end of the season, the Bulldogs conference schedule is tougher than usual. It starts with home games against Hayesville and Robbinsville, then ends with three straight road games at Swain County, Andrews and Cherokee.
Murphy has won 17 straight games against the Yellow Jackets, with last year’s 21-14 win in Clay County the closest game between the two teams since Hayesville’s 38-37 win in 2006. The first 16 of Murphy’s 17-game win streak over the Yellow Jackets came by an average of 42.3 points per game.
The Bulldogs thrashed Robbinsville 48-16 to get revenge for the Black Knights two wins, including one in the fourth round of the state playoffs, the previous season. However, Murphy has not beaten Robbinsville in back-to-back years since 2017-18.
The next week, the Bulldogs will be on the road for the first time in 57 days when they travel to Swain County. Murphy has won five straight in one of the western North Carolina’s best rivalries, including a 20-14 win last year.
The trip to Andrews will be a chance for the Bulldogs to exorcise some recent demons. The Wildcats beat Murphy in 2021 for the first time in 40 years, then won both matchups between the two teams last year. The first was for the conference championship, while the second was in the third round of the state playoffs. However, Andrews is having to replace a historic senior class.
A trip to Cherokee will close out the regular season, as the Bulldogs look to make it 17 wins in a row against the Braves. Cherokee looks to be headed for a rebuilding year under new head coach Tim Hawkins.