Murphy, NC- North Carolina High School football fans finally got to see their teams take the field last night, an act that some thought would never happen this year.

With schedules being changed and seasons getting moved around, there was so much doubt surrounding this season that it seemed like the community was able to breath a sigh of relief as they saw the ball fly through the air on that opening kickoff.

The Bulldogs played host to the Andrews Wildcats in the opening game of both teams seasons.

After a stellar start to the game by the Wildcats, Murphy was able to buckle down in the second half, pulling away from Andrews and winning 33-6.

Game Notes:

Murphy won the toss and elected to kick and thanks to a BIG hit from their special teams unit, they were able to force a fumble and recover the ball on the opening kickoff, giving the Dogs great field position to start the game.

The Andrews Defense came up big and made a goal line stand. On offense the Wildcats drove the ball 98 yards and were able to score the first points of the game on a 22 yard pass from Donovan Bateman to Spencer Bateman.

That would be the only time that the Wildcats were able to find the endzone however, thanks to subsequent scores from Ray Rathburn, John Ledford, Ty Laney and Juan Allen.

Ray Rathburn was the bell cow for the Bulldogs, scoring 2 TD’s and rushing for 90 yards. Juan Allen was right behind Rathburn on the stat sheet, thanks to a 50 yard TD run in the fourth quarter.

The Bulldogs were never really able to get anything going through the air, which is something that Head Coach David Gentry said they will have to do going forward when I spoke with him postgame.

The Bulldogs host the Franklin Panthers in their next game on Friday March 5th. You can watch all Murphy home football games LIVE on FYNTV.com, including their bout this coming week against the Panthers.

If you want a sneak peak look into what to expect out of the Franklin Panthers next Friday, tune into FYNTV.com on Monday @ 6:00, as we will be bringing that game to you LIVE also.