Murphy to Face Christ the King in the Second Round of the Playoffs

By Brandon Stephens

(Murphy) – – The Murphy Bulldogs (10-and-1, 6-and-0) are surviving and advancing to the second round of the 1-A state football playoffs after a commanding 62-to-six win over the Highland Tech Rams (3-and-7, 0-and-6).  The win also marks the first 10-win season for Murphy Head Football Coach Joseph Watson.  Since taking the post in 2021, Watson helped lead teams to nine-win finishes to the season.  

The game started a little slow for the Bulldogs and Rams.  Highland Tech took the ball first and didn’t produce enough positive yards.  The Bulldogs were trapped for a moment inside the five yard-line.  With 5:35 remaining in the first quarter, Murphy Sophomore running back Cameron Clem exploded for a 98 yard run to Touchdown Town to put up the first points, which started a 56-to-nothing run.  To end the quarter, Senior running back Kadence Leatherwood dashed into the end zone on an 18-yard carry.  Junior kicker Jerry Bui hit both point-after-touchdown (PAT) field goals.  

The Murphy Bulldogs struck gold five more times in the second quarter to make the halftime score 49-to-0 over Highland Tech.  Junior quarterback Brady Grant hit Sophomore wide receiver Grayson Hall for a 23-yard touchdown pass with 11:44 remaining in the quarter.  Three minutes later Clem climbs back into the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown carry and a 2-point conversion.   Two minutes later Leatherwood makes scoring a touchdown look easy with a 9-yard carry.  Bui posted the PAT.  Highland Tech was forced to punt, which ended badly.  The punt was returned 60 yards by Junior wide receiver Ryan Payne for Murphy’s sixth touchdown.  To the half, Cameron Clem juked and moved like a comet for a 59-yard run to Touchdown Town.  

The second half started with rolling clock conditions since Murphy had a 49 point lead.  The Bulldog substitutes played the second half with quarterback leadership from Freshman Peyton Baine.  Freshman running back Blake Davis and Trenton Cook carried a majority of the time.  With 7:39 remaining in the third quarter, Davis ran in Murphy’s seventh touchdown.  Scoring stopped until 2:26 remained in the fourth quarter when Highland Tech’s Jonah Jeffries carried for a lone Ram touchdown.  Finally, with fifteen seconds to go, Junior running back Way Herron brought fans to their feet as he ran like a supercharged spark plug for 80 yards to Touchdown Town. 

The game was lopsided for the Murphy Bulldogs to describe it as a hard fought game.  Cameron Clem, who finished with about 229 yards rushing, says it was a great game to exercise the team’s schemes and prepare itself for the next round of playoffs. 

The Murphy Bulldogs are proud of the win.  Brady Grant says the game is a good demonstration of Bulldog football potential. 

The tenth win of the season, a first for Coach Watson, is sweet.  Watson gave all credit to the players for good offensive and defensive performance.  The coming week it all starts over for preparation for Christ the King High School in the second round Watson says.  

Christ the King High’s Crusaders (5-and-6, 4-and-3) finished out its conference at fourth.  The Crusaders also won over the Alleghany Trojans 31-to-28.  Christ the King held a 21-to-7 lead over Alleghany at the half and gave up 21 points to the Trojans, narrowly surviving and advancing to the second round of the state play offs.  We will have more details on Christ the King this week.  Stay connected to Team FYN Sports for details on this game and others in the Smoky Mountain Conference.

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