West Henderson was Ranked 37^th in North Carolina Among All Teams

By Brandon Stephens

 

(Mills River) – –  The North Carolina Mountain State Fair is located about 10 miles from Mills River (Home of the West Henderson Falcons) with all of the regular attractions including roller coasters.  Murphy (2-and-1) fans may have felt like being at the fair with a little motion sickness getting through the Bulldog roller coaster of play against West Henderson’s Falcons (2-and-1).  Going into the game, West Henderson was ranked by Maxpreps.com as the 37^th best team among all schools in North Carolina.  Murphy jumped to an early lead then melted down with a fumble late in the Second Quarter that resulted in a Falcon score.  The Bulldogs would fumble again with seconds left until the break to give West Henderson another touchdown and a commanding lead.

The Bulldog roller coaster ride had long faces and downed spirits coming out of the break.  The Murphy defense and special teams went to work on the Falcons to stop running back Zane McCraw and give the Bulldog offense more opportunities.  The best work from Murphy linemen and linebackers came shining through in the early moments of the fourth quarter.  All night Murphy worked to contain the duo of McCraw and quarterback Cade Young.  The Bulldogs were shaken a bit when Adam Cook was sidelined with a shoulder injury.  The Murphy at West Hendeson roller coaster ride gave fans a thrill in the second half.  Next man up and huge stops by Landen Lape, Janthony Gooden, Brody Orton, Charlie Graves, and Kadence Leatherwood kept the Falcons possessions short and fruitless.

 

FIRST HALF

Murphy is in control of the football game from its initial possession.  The opening kick went to the Bulldogs and drove 17 yards to the 47 and elected to punt.  The punt was mishandled by the West Henderson Falcons, which resulted in a fumble back to the Bulldogs.  Murphy set up a pass play from the 6 yard-line for quarterback Brady Grant to hit running back Cameron Clem in the end zone.  Clem carried the two-point conversion to make the initial lead Murphy 8 West Henderson 0.  West Henderson was postured to get back up the field with 13 plays and finally punted.  Murphy and West Henderson would come up with no more scores for the First Quarter.

West Henderson is moving the ball well to resume its possession in the Second Quarter.  The Bulldog defense held the Falcons tight to the Murphy 22.  Kicker Joshua Sandoval attempted a 40-yard field goal and missed.  Murphy takes over with 10:27 left to go in the Second Quarter from its own 20.  Penalized for holding, the Bulldogs marched 84 actual yards to the hand off to Cameron Clem for the second touchdown of the night.  Kicker Jerry Bui nails the point-after-touchdown (PAT) to make the score Murphy 15 West Henderson 0.  Fourteen plays later quarterback Cade Young hit #2 Zack McMinn for a 6-yard touchdown pass.  Sandoval’s PAT is no good.

The Bulldogs look positioned to move again with 21 yards of positive motion on four plays before a fumble gives the Falcons the ball.  The Falcons set up a halfback pass from Zane McCraw to Cade Young for a 14-yard touchdown pass play.  Sandoval hits the PAT.  With :48 left in the second quarter nails a 37-yard pass to Cade Young to set West Henderson for its second touchdown.  The Bulldogs carry the ball down to the West Henderson 29 before its is fumbled.  The Falcons #10 Da’Zion Murray picks up the loose ball and runs 60 yards to run out the clock and score.  Sandoval hits the PAT to make the halftime score Murphy 15 West Henderson 20.

SECOND HALF

The Falcons scored on a 49-yard pass play and a PAT on its second possession to get the Third Quarter rolling.  Murphy had work to do trailing 12 points (15-to-27).  After six plays of positive rushing, mostly by Cameron Clem, the Bulldogs cruised into Touchdown Town on a 5-yard carry by Clem.  West Henderson uses a lot of plays and melts the clock.  Murphy took a chance with a Jerry Bui on-side kick and the Bulldogs recovered.  Murphy moved the ball 32 yards to the Falcon 21 yard-line where Cameron Clem scored the team’s fourth touchdown.  Jerry Bui hit the PAT.  The Third Quarter ended with Murphy leading 28-to-27.

West Henderson’s Zane McCraw lifted the Falcons back to the lead by scoring his team’s last touchdown of the night on an 8-yard run.  Murphy wasted no time regaining the lead.  Quarterback Brady Grant hit receiver Ryan Payne for a 75-yard touchdown pass on the second play of the possession.  Murphy scored a two-point conversion to make the final score 36-to-33 with about 10 minutes remaining in the game.  Running through the remaining moments of the game, possession changed four times with both sides turning over the ball on downs.  The big moment came at 2:58 remaining when Murphy’s Kadence Leatherwood recovered a West Henderson fumble.  The Bulldogs worked its way to the Falcon 20 yard-line and downed the ball in victory formation.

 

GAME STATS

Rushing

5 Cameron Clem       25 carries 176 yards  (Longest Carry 30 yards) 3 Rushing Touchdowns

2 Will Shore                 8 carries 129 yards (Longest Carry 45 yards)

35 Cadence Leatherwood 7 Carries 43 yards (Longest Carry 21 yards)

10 Brady Grant            5 Carries 14 yards (Longest Carry 9 yards)

 

Passing/Receiving

10 Brady Grant            3 Completions 5 Attempts 2 Touchdown Passes 0           90 yards

(60% Completion)

Receiving

3 Ryan Payne                                            1 Reception    75 yards           1 Touchdown

35 Kadence Leatherwood                 1 Reception    9 yards

5 Cameron Clem                                    1 Reception    6 yards              1 Touchdown

Penalties and Turnovers

Murphy had 6 penalties for 57 yards

2 Fumbles (One fumble resulted in West Henderson return for touchdown)

1 Turnover On Downs

Stats are compiled by Team FYN Sports and may vary to other sources

 

GAME TAKE-AWAYS

Murphy played a tough football game and worked through some obvious mistakes and mishandling the ball that cost the lead in the first half.  The Bulldogs demonstrated good offensive work and defensive strength in the second half.  Pleased with the win, Murphy Head Football Coach Joseph Watson says there is work to be done for this coming week’s game with Smoky Mountain.

Quarterback Brady Grant says the Bulldogs worked through the tough moments of the game to come up with the win.

Tough smashmouth football is the theme from the defense helped polish off the game according to linebacker Brody Orton.

 

NEXT GAME

Murphy will be on the road this coming Friday night (September 13^th) to Sylva to face the Smoky Mountain High Mustangs (2-and-1).  Smoky Mountain suffered a 49-to-7 loss to the T-C Roberson Rams.  Going into the game, leading rusher Ayden Johnson was averaging 200 yards (10 yards per carry) for the Mustangs.  Smoky Mountain senior quarterback Jarek is hitting close to completing 75% of his passes.  The rush and pass with be a threat to Murphy.  More details on Smoky Mountain will come this week.  The game will kick off at Carr Hooper Stadium/Charles Babe Howell Field Friday night at 7:30 PM.  Stay in touch with Team FYN Sports for details on this and other games.