Cuttler Adams Delivers Plays that are Dynomite!

By Brandon Stephens

(Murphy) – – Now people that is a good football game, a common expression you hear as the Murphy (5-2, 1-1) and Robbinsville (6-1, 2-0) game is coming to a close or ended Friday night at Bob Hendrix Stadium/David Gentry Field.  Maybe if Jimmie Walker from Good Times was watching this game he would say it was “Dynomite!.”  The 26-to-21 win for the Black Knights over the Bulldogs held its explosive plays, close score, dramatic calls, and some miscues and fumbles had the cow bells ringing and some rants from the fans.  As predicted the primary running backs, Robbinsville’s Cuttler Adams, and Murphy’s Hunter Stalcup, made the touchdowns and lit up the score board.  Stalcup rushed for 98 yards on three touchdowns and Adams for 128 yards on four touchdowns.  Those numbers do not account for the passing and rushing in the middle of scoring both players made for their respective teams.  Based on those seven plays, that made for an exceptional football game.

Robbinsville is wise to “ride the horse” or “feed the pig” until the horse can’t go anymore, or the pig can’t eat.  Cuttler Adams did the work right out of the gate to carry the Black Knights down to touchdown town.  After a couple of power rushes, Robbinsville Quarterback Donovan Carpenter loaded the gun and hit Cuttler for a pass that sent the Black Knights from mid-field down near the red zone.  The Black Knights melted about 4:00 of play clock on about 9 plays to go roughly 60 yards to set up the first touchdown of the night.  Adams hopped into the end zone from one yard out.  Robbinsville tried to run a two-point conversion that was stopped by the Bulldogs.  With 7:52 to go in the First Quarter Robbinsville led Murphy 6-to-0.  Murphy worked to begin its offense and had difficulty moving the ball and ended up punting its first few possessions.

The night is painted with explosive plays and primarily the team with the TNT is Robbinsville.  Carrying the ball over from the end of the First Quarter, the Black Knights open the first play with a 53-yard Cuttler Adams touchdown run.  Robbinsville would try its hand at a two-point conversion again to see it stopped by the Bulldogs.  Now determined to build momentum and not let the game get out of hand, Murphy works its way to the end zone door to set the stage for 2-yard Hunter Stalcup rush for six points.  The Bulldogs launch a good defensive stand against Robbinsville that lands the ball back in their hands in relative short-field position.  While it looks like Murphy will have to battle the powerful Black Knight defense, Hunter Rhinestone Cowboy Stalcup decides to make the offensive threat short and rush 58 yards to touchdown town.  Will Joyner parks his second Point After Touchdown (PAT) field goal to give Murphy the 14-to-12 lead.  Fans think it may be a Bulldog lead at the half and Cuttler Adams takes that thought away.  Robbinsville works its way inside the red zone once again to set up Cuttler for his third touchdown on an 8-yard rush and is stopped again on a two-point conversion attempt.  The halftime score, boom, is Robbinsville 18 Murphy 14.

Take a breath, get out of the rain, swallow a coke and hotdog at the break to get ready for a drama filled second half.  Murphy gets the ball to start the second half and marches to the Robbinsville 38-yard line.  With 8:09 left in the quarter Hunter Stalcup makes a 38-yard rush for the final Murphy score.  The score was set up on a Robbinsville fumble.  Will Joyner banges the goal post and the ball falls in for the PAT.  Murphy leads 21-to-18.  A goal for the Black Knights is to melt down the clock and score again.  Burning almost four minutes, Cuttler Adams goes on his longest rushing touchdown of the night with 4:22 remaining to score the last touchdown to give the Black Knights the final 26-to-21.

The Robbinsville Black Knights now lead the series looking back of the last decade of these two teams playing, 10-8.  Of those games, this game was one of the most exciting.  What is yet to be described is the Fourth Quarter.  The final stanza of this game culminated a cluster of turnovers, for most teams that would have resulted in a loss.  Five turnovers were realized by the Black Knights either by two interceptions to Murphy’s Will Joyner; a turnover on downs when Robbinsville couldn’t convert on fourth down; and two fumbles by this point in the game.  It gave the Bulldogs ample opportunity to cash in and take control of the game.  One resulted in a score and another gave Murphy new life.  The clock was running down to less than :90 left in the game and about 70 yards to go to the end zone.  Murphy almost took the ball to Robbinsville territory on a Brady Grant pass to Zach Skogen and the ball fell out of his hands.  Other passes overshot receivers like Ryan Payne.  In the red zone with roughly five seconds to go, Grant aired out pass to Hunter Stalcup that would have won the game, but was deflected by the Black Knights.  The final score, Robbinsville 26 Murphy 21.

It’s the rival Murphy v Robbinsville game.  That was enough to give both opponents the DYNOMITE to muscle their way through the game.  Robbinsville had a few more blasts and withstood a few more plays that did go its way.  Senior Running Back Cuttler Adams describes how the game powered the Black Knights and what is going to be needed this coming week to get ready for Andrews.

It’s a little more difficult for the Bulldogs to look at the final score knowing victory is in reach at varying points of the game, especially at the end of the game.  Head Coach Joseph Watson mentions there is some tough play and good effort the Bulldogs made to stay in the game; take the lead; and never give up.

Murphy has played its last home game for the regular season and will travel to Swain County to face the undefeated Maroon Devils (7-0, 2-0).  Swain County played a close game with Hayesville defeating the Yellow Jackets in Hayesville 21-to-13.  The Maroon Devils have relied on the good work of Josh Collins who has piled up more than 1,000 yards rushing and over a dozen touchdowns.  The Maroon Devils defense has been led by Nse Uffort. Robbinsville will host the Andrews Wildcats at Big Oaks Stadum Friday.  The Wildcats are led by Dalton Rose who has tallied nearly 800 yards rushing and a dozen touchdowns.  The defense is also led with Tyler West.  Andrews suffered a 21-to-14 overtime loss to Cherokee Friday night.  Stay in touch with Team FYN Sports for more details on these and other Smoky Mountain Conference games coming up this week.

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