Murphy Battles Andrews to Hard Fought 27-to-20 Win

Stalcup and Rose lead their teams to the End Zone

 

By Brandon Stephens

 

(Andrews) – – The streaks are over for Murphy (6-3, 2-2) and continue for Andrews (4-5, 0-4).  Murphy ended the two-game losing streak with a win and the three-game losing streak to Andrews, which dated back to 2021.  Andrews nearly made the streak move to game number four playing a tough game to the Bulldogs, instead drops to 0-4 in conference play with the loss to Murphy.

The Bulldogs defeat the Wildcats 27-20 in a very physical game that displays great rushing efforts by the star running backs Hunter Stalcup and Dalton Rose who led their respective teams through a tough game.  The Bulldogs Hunter Stalcup easily crossed the 1,000-rushing mark with one of his first carries, which was an 80-yard touchdown rush.  Stalcup rushed for around 200 yards and averaged 12 yards per carry for Murphy.  Andrews relied more on Holden Todd in the opening moments of the game, but later went to big-man Dalton Rose to make plays happen.  Rose racked up approximately 125 yards averaging 6 yards per carry to push the Wildcats through the night.  Some costly fumbles and turnovers hurt both teams trying to pull the momentum and the lead from each other after the break through the Third Quarter.  The Wildcats and Bulldogs demonstrated they are tough and well-coached football teams.

 

The Game

Despite wet and cold conditions, the game rolled with Andrews opening with a solid ground game for 12 plays that took the Wildcats to the Murphy 27 yard-line to attempt a 44-yard field goal from Ty Clark that went wide left.  Murphy took over at its 20 yard-line where Hunter Stalcup took the initial hand-off and never looked back for an 80-yard touchdown run for 1 play in 13 seconds.  Will Joyner parked the Point After Touchdown (PAT) field goal to put the Bulldogs ahead.  The Wildcats and Bulldogs traded the next two possessions which ended in punting situations.  Andrews took its third possession with more passion from the Wildcat 43 yard-line to go 10 plays for 5:47 crossing into the Second Quarter.  This set up a 1-yard touchdown run from Samuel Preston and a PAT from Clark to make the score Murphy 7 Andrews 7.

Murphy is set to bring the lead and momentum back to the Bulldogs.  With 7:13 left in the Second Quarter, Hunter “Rhinestone Cowboy” Stalcup made a 1-yard touchdown run.  Will Joyner nailed the PAT.  Andrews uses several run plays with Everett Tatham and Dalton Rose to go 12 plays 62 yards for a touchdown.  Murphy blocks Clark’s PAT.  With time rolling down, Murphy is able to scramble to the Andrews 26 yard-line where Quarterback Brady Grant launches a pass to Ryan Payne who goes directly to Touchdown Town for the final score of the halt.  Halftime Murphy 20 Andrews 13.

The third Quarter is plagued with turnovers, broken passes, and penalties that hold both the Wildcats and Bulldogs offensive efforts to a halt.  Andrews begins with a series of good Dalton Rose carries but, that comes to an end after Kadence Leatherwood breaks up a pass from Wildcat Quarterback Everett Tatham.  The incomplete pass gives the ball back to Murphy in a turnover on downs.  Three plays later the Wildcats got the ball back after Murphy Quarterback Brady Grant tries to his Zach Skogen and Andrews lands an interception.  Six players later Andrews lobs the ball back to Murphy after failing to get a first down and has another turnover on downs to the Bulldogs.  One more possession goes to the Bulldogs and Wildcats which end in punts and completes the Third Quarter.

Murphy is postured with the lead and the ball to start the Fourth Quarter.  Three flags kill the Murphy momentum and Will Joyner punts to Andrews giving the Wildcats short-filed position and what looks like a good position to score.  Andrews gets near mid-field and fumbles to Murphy putting the Bulldogs on their own 47.  Murphy  used about 6 plays 47 yards in 5:00 to focus on the end zone for an 8-yard Hunter Stalcup. carry to Touchdown Town.  Andrews is trailing by two touchdowns and works its next possession on passing to open a rushing scheme to get Dalton Rose back into the end zone for a final score.  The Wildcats burn 8 plays for 65 yards in 2:47 to score.  For the final two minutes Murphy exercises the clock to run out the final moments of the game and take the win.  Final score Murphy 27 Andrews 20.

Post-Game

Each week the opponents are searching for number 28 for Murphy, which is probably where the ball is going.  This ballgame was no different for the Rhinestone Cowboy – Stalcup.  The preparation for the final regular season game with Cherokee will need focus and a good week of practice according to Stalcup.

Murphy Quarterback Brady Grant worked diligently to guide the team through the Wildcat gauntlet.  A couple of times he was sacked and picked off; but he was able to find Sophomore Wide Receiver Ryan Payne to build success in scoring.

The Murphy Bulldogs are working to find the momentum and stride needed to make the game solid, but the pressure from Andrews made that goal difficult to achieve. Murphy Head Football Coach Joseph Watson says this game was tough and will be with the Cherokee Braves.

Next Games

The next games are not the last for Murphy or Andrews.  State football play-offs are two weeks away, with the brackets, RPI formulas, and standings ready to calculate the final-final scores and tell us where the six Smoky Mountain Conference teams will play and who those opponents will be.  Murphy will travel to Cherokee (5-4, 1-3) this coming week to face the Braves.  Cherokee has been suffering from injuries which sidelined some of its starting players and brought new players to its game, like Sophomore Quarterback Jack-Jack Teesateskie to help lead the team while Michael Driver healed.  Cherokee lost to Swain County 45-to-7 in a game that ended when the power went out in Bryson City’s Memorial Stadium on Friday night.  Andrews will face the Hayesville Yellow Jackets (5-3, 1-2).  Hayesville played a tough and close game with Robbinsville, losing to the Black Knights 26-to-20.  This game might be one of the best contests to see, knowing how tough the Wildcats and Yellow Jackets have played their opponents.  Stay connected to Team FYN Sports for details on these and other games this week.  Check out Inside the SMC Thursday night at 8PM through the Team FYN Sports Facebook page, hosted by Jake West and Brandon Stephens.

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