Andrews – The Wildcats’ varsity football game played their last home game of the regular season Friday night, when they took on Cherokee.
They also hosted senior night, where they honored football, cheerleading and marching bands seniors before the game. The Wildcats’ varsity football seniors are Logan Shuler, O’Malley Salinas and Isaac Patrick.
“We’ll miss this group of seniors,” Andrews head football coach Jason Johnson said. “Like I told them all week long, I appreciate everything they’ve done for this program. I appreciate the effort they gave us, sacrificing their bodies and time for this program.
“We’re going to miss Logan Shuler, O’Malley Salinas and Isaac Patrick. … They gave us everything they had this season, and I really believe that. They committed to us, and I’m thankful for that.”
Friday night’s game got underway on a chilly night in The Valley as the Cats (1-8) hosted Cherokee (3-6).
Cherokee started the game with a 21-point opening quarter. All three touchdowns were scored on the ground as the Braves took a 21-0 lead into the second period.
In the second quarter, the Braves added to their lead with another rushing touchdown. They missed the extra point but still led 27-0. They scored another rushing touchdown to make it 33-0 after the Wildcats stopped a two-point conversion attempt.
After halftime, Cherokee scored another rushing touchdown and made the extra point to lead 40-0. Cherokee’s touchdown was the only score by either team in the third quarter.
Cherokee led 40-0 heading into the fourth quarter and added to their lead with another rushing touchdown. The Braves made the extra point and led 47-0, where the score stood at the end of the game.
Johnson said mistakes early hurt Andrews.
“We made some mistakes early and we just didn’t recover from it. We had our chances, a drive down early, to put some points on the board and we didn’t finish drives,” he said.
“We had a couple fourth-and-shorts, and we just didn’t convert to the first down to keep drives alive and it cost us. They had some big plays on us, and with a young team it’s hard to recover from those things.”
The Wildcats will wrap up their season on the road against Hayesville. The Yellow Jackets have a 5-4 overall record and are 2-3 in the Smoky Mountain Conference.
Hayesville is on a two-game losing streak after being blown out by both Swain County and Murphy. In those two games, the Jackets have 78 points scored against them, while only scoring seven points on a lone touchdown against Murphy. Their last win came against Cherokee on Oct. 3.
Johnson said the main focus against Hayesville will be to execute.
“We have to execute and make plays and hopefully we can come out of that with a win and get ready for the playoffs, see where we’re seeded there and then maybe we can make a little playoff run,” he said.
“First things first, we have to take care of Hayesville this week and prepare for them, and we’ll be fine.”