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Smoky Mountain, Swain to meet Friday in Bryson City
Two football teams trying to bounce back from season-opening losses will meet Friday when Smoky Mountain travels to Bryson City to face Swain in a 7:30 p.m. game.
The Mustangs opened the year last Thursday with a 21-0 loss to Hendersonville at Western Carolina. The Maroon Devils dropped a 38-14 decision Friday at Morristown (Tenn.) West.
“In some ways, they’re very typical Swain,” SM Coach Tim Hawkins said. “They’re real big and physical. They play with that confidence most Swain teams play with, but they have their question marks with kids playing for the first time too.”
The Devils will be led by Scotty McMahan, who quarterbacked them to the state title for small 1-A schools last season.
“Their quarterback is a difference maker,” Hawkins said. “He’s a solid decision maker. He runs and throws the ball well. He’s physical enough to make people pay when they try to tackle him.”
Casey Shuler is a physical fullback for Coach Rod White’s team.
“It takes more than one to put him on the ground, “ Hawkins said.
The coach had also been impressed with Ian McCauley, who plays on the offensive and defensive lines.
“We’re going to try to use our quickness to our advantage,” Hawkins said. “We’ve got to stay in it early and make it a four-quarter game.”
Swain operates from I and split back formations on offense and uses a 3-5 defense.
The Devils won last year’s game 35-0 narrowing SM’s edge in the series to 9-7-1.
Looking back at last week’s loss to Hendersonville, Hawkins said, “We just didn’t play well like I thought we were capable of playing. We didn’t handle Hendersonville’s speed well on their offensive side or their defensive side.”
Dating back to last year, the Mustangs have not scored in three straight games and 13 straight quarters. Hawkins thinks those streaks will soon be coming to an end.
“Coming off of our scrimmage, we thought we would make some big plays,” he said. “We just never were able to pop one. That was disappointing because it wouldn’t have taken a lot of points to put us in the game. We’re going to have to be more consistent.”
He noted some scoring opportunities presented themselves. The best chance ended with a fumble at the Bearcat 16.
“I don’t think we’re far off,” he said. “We’ve just got to find a way to make plays. We’re just a little bit of execution away from scoring some points.”
The Mustangs were called for four personal foul penalties.
“We had one on our sideline that was flagrant,” the coach said. “On the other three, the officials were trying to gain control. There had been some talking going on.”
Kickoff was delayed 30 minutes due to heavy rain. That helped keep the crowd down for the first high school game played in the state this season.
“I don’t feel we dealt with the delay real well,” Hawkins said. “That goes along with being young. A veteran team keeps focus. Our team started wondering if they were going to play and things they had no control over. Of course, Hendersonville also had to deal with that.”
Cory Siler and T.J. Bradley both “showed glimpses of running the ball well,” Hawkins said.
“We just didn’t have the ball enough,” he added. That comes down to not converting on third down and not stopping them on third down.
The Bearcats reeled off 24 first downs to just six for SM.
Sophomores Jake Brooks (center) and Ryan Moore (right guard) both played well in their first starts, Hawkins said.
C.J. Franks was singled out for his defensive play. He had five solo tackles, five assists, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.
The Mustangs came out of the game in good shape injury-wise, Hawkins said.
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