Murphy to Host the Robbinsville Black Knights

By Brandon Stephens

(Murphy) – – Despite the frigid temperature and occasional blustery wind, the Murphy Bulldogs (11-and-1, 5-0) defeated Christ the King High Crusaders (5-and-7, 4-3) 21-to-11.  Murphy used its offense and defense in the first five minutes of the game to freeze out the Crusaders with back-to-back touchdowns.  

There is the notion Murphy should have sent the ball to Touchdown Town a few more times and possibly trigger a rolling clock in the second half.  The Bulldogs went close to the Touchdown Town city limits through the second and third quarter which resulted in penalties or busted plays stifling opportunity for additional scoring.  Toward halftime, Murphy attempted and failed on a 36-yard field goal with Junior kicker Jerry Bui.  .

Christ the King (CTK) is a team with good athletes and greater capability than its five-win record indicates.  The Crusaders, assisted by some Murphy mistakes, held off the Bulldogs scoring for almost two quarters and mounted a small comeback to score a field goal and a late touchdown.  Crusader Sophomore quarterback Jamison Ehret completed 17 of 36 passes for 173 yards and a touchdown, which is the bulk of the CTK offensive yards.  The salient feature of the offense was burning up valued game clock time.  The Crusaders often kept the ball to run an average 12 plays per possession.  The only impact to Murphy is keeping the defense on the field longer and building the hope for a CTK score, which never materialized.

Murphy opened the show with a seven play drive over 2:20 to see Sophomore running back Cameron Clem charge into the end zone.  Off the returning kick off, Murphy recovered a fumble, which set up a 60-yard, 1:20, and three play return to Touchdown Town, once again with Clem on a 43-yard sprint.  Bui hit both point-after-touchdown (PAT) field goals.  

Spiraling toward halftime, CTK used 18 plays and 8:14 of game clock to move the ball 76 yards to the Murphy 7 yard line to kick a 24-yard field goal and get on the scoreboard.  Murphy led at halftime 14-to-3.  

Third quarter highlights featured more offensive work from CTK and penalties and short possessions that ended in punts from the Bulldogs.  With under a minute to go in the quarter, Murphy received the ball back in short field position at the CTK 46.  Clem carried the ball in five possessions the entire distance to score the final Murphy touchdown.  Bui nailed the PAT and built the lead to Murphy 21 CTK 3.  

Through the fourth quarter CTK once again read from the long verses in its play book to hold the ball for nearly 20 plays and close to 6:00 without scoring.  Murphy offense was unable to generate many positive yards.  With the game in hand in the final 2:00, CTK was able to score a touchdown and two-point conversion to make the final score 21-to-11.

The Murphy Bulldogs racked up 304 yards of offense, which was made up by 270 yards of rushing.  Clem rushed for 181 of those yards on 22 carries and three touchdowns.  Grant had 33 yards on 7 carries; Senior running back Will Shore had 26 yards on 3 carries; Senior running back Kadence Leatherwood carried twice for 23 yards; and Freshman running back Blake Davis picked up 7 yards on 2 carries.  Will Shore says the Bulldogs showed a good start and fought the remainder of the game.

Murphy to Host the Robbinsville Black Knights

By Brandon Stephens

(Murphy) – – Despite the frigid temperature and occasional blustery wind, the Murphy Bulldogs (11-and-1, 5-0) defeated Christ the King High Crusaders (5-and-7, 4-3) 21-to-11.  Murphy used its offense and defense in the first five minutes of the game to freeze out the Crusaders with back-to-back touchdowns.  

There is the notion Murphy should have sent the ball to Touchdown Town a few more times and possibly trigger a rolling clock in the second half.  The Bulldogs went close to the Touchdown Town city limits through the second and third quarter which resulted in penalties or busted plays stifling opportunity for additional scoring.  Toward halftime, Murphy attempted and failed on a 36-yard field goal with Junior kicker Jerry Bui.  .

Christ the King (CTK) is a team with good athletes and greater capability than its five-win record indicates.  The Crusaders, assisted by some Murphy mistakes, held off the Bulldogs scoring for almost two quarters and mounted a small comeback to score a field goal and a late touchdown.  Crusader Sophomore quarterback Jamison Ehret completed 17 of 36 passes for 173 yards and a touchdown, which is the bulk of the CTK offensive yards.  The salient feature of the offense was burning up valued game clock time.  The Crusaders often kept the ball to run an average 12 plays per possession.  The only impact to Murphy is keeping the defense on the field longer and building the hope for a CTK score, which never materialized.

Murphy opened the show with a seven play drive over 2:20 to see Sophomore running back Cameron Clem charge into the end zone.  Off the returning kick off, Murphy recovered a fumble, which set up a 60-yard, 1:20, and three play return to Touchdown Town, once again with Clem on a 43-yard sprint.  Bui hit both point-after-touchdown (PAT) field goals.  

Spiraling toward halftime, CTK used 18 plays and 8:14 of game clock to move the ball 76 yards to the Murphy 7 yard line to kick a 24-yard field goal and get on the scoreboard.  Murphy led at halftime 14-to-3.  

Third quarter highlights featured more offensive work from CTK and penalties and short possessions that ended in punts from the Bulldogs.  With under a minute to go in the quarter, Murphy received the ball back in short field position at the CTK 46.  Clem carried the ball in five possessions the entire distance to score the final Murphy touchdown.  Bui nailed the PAT and built the lead to Murphy 21 CTK 3.  

Through the fourth quarter CTK once again read from the long verses in its play book to hold the ball for nearly 20 plays and close to 6:00 without scoring.  Murphy offense was unable to generate many positive yards.  With the game in hand in the final 2:00, CTK was able to score a touchdown and two-point conversion to make the final score 21-to-11.

The Murphy Bulldogs racked up 304 yards of offense, which was made up by 270 yards of rushing.  Clem rushed for 181 of those yards on 22 carries and three touchdowns.  Grant had 33 yards on 7 carries; Senior running back Will Shore had 26 yards on 3 carries; Senior running back Kadence Leatherwood carried twice for 23 yards; and Freshman running back Blake Davis picked up 7 yards on 2 carries.  Will Shore says the Bulldogs showed a good start and fought the remainder of the game.

Brady Grant completed 2 of 3 yards for 34 yards of passing.  Grant says CTK has lots of great athletes and it was a dog fight to contain the Crusaders.

Tuck the second round win away and get back to serious business is the word Murphy Head Football Coach Joseph Watson stated after the game.  The coming week is has the obvious holiday bump with Thanksgiving on the way, which is no time to let down the Bulldogs’ guard to prepare for the Robbinsville Black Knights (7-and-6, 4-and-1).

The Robbinsville Black Knights upset the sixth seeded Bessemer City Yellow Jackets (8-and-5, 4-and-2) 19-to-0.  Going into the halftime break, Robbinsville held a 12-to-0 lead over Bessemer City.  During the final 3:00 of the game, Robbinsville punched in a final touchdown to secure the second round win.  Friday’s game will be the 74th meeting between Murphy and Robbinsville, dating back to 1960.  Murphy leads the series 46-26-1, including the 14-to-7 win at Robbinsville earlier this season.  Stay connected to Team FYN Sports for more details on this game.  

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