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Mustangs rally by Jackets for third straight victory
Trailing 14-10 at halftime, Smoky Mountain rallied for a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter Friday to remain undefeated with a 24-21 victory at Hayesville.
C.J. Franks carried 14 times for 76 yards and a TD to propel the Mustangs (3-0) on the ground. Zack Watson added 67 yards in 10 carries.
Barrett Woody paced the Yellow Jackets with 98 yards in 14 carries, but 74 of those came on one play as SM held him in check the rest of the night.
Smoky Mountain’s Josh Jones applies pressure to Hayesville quarterback Jonathan Shivley forcing an interception that Sam Allison returned 51 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter of Friday’s 24-21 win. – Photo by Mark Haskett
Hayesville quarterback Jonathan Shivley completed eight of 18 passes for 155 yards. Blake Mosteller had all but one of the receptions totaling 139 yards.
SM took the lead for good by driving 73 yards in eight plays to start the second half. The highlight was a Franks burst up the middle for 36 yards to the 1. He scored on the next play. Grant Schallock, who was three of three on extra points, gave the Mustangs a 17-14 advantage with 5:54 to play in the third stanza.
Three plays after the kickoff, Shively found himself under pressure from Josh Jones forcing his pass to be under thrown. Sam Allison intercepted the ball and returned it 51 yards to paydirt upping the margin to 24-14 with 7:41 left in the third quarter.
After an exchange of punts, the Jackets drove to the SM 21 where Woody was stopped on fourth-and-inches.
The Mustangs were forced to punt, but Cory Cox fumbled the kick with Watson recovering at the Hayesville 42 starting a sequence of three turnovers in a matter of minutes.
The Jackets regained possession a few plays later as Randy Nichols recovered Colton Hunt’s fumble at the 41.
Hunt redeemed himself on the next play when he picked off a Cox pass on a reverse at the SM 33.
Hayesville made things interesting late in the game thanks in part to a pass interference penalty on a fake punt that resulted in a first down at the Jacket 44. Shively then unloaded a 46-yard pass to Mosteller for a first-and-goal at the 10. Following a penalty, the duo hooked up again for a 15-yard TD pass. Allan Stegner kicked his third extra point cutting the gap to 24-21 with 2:34 on the clock.
Rather than try an onside kick, Hayesville kicked the ball deep. The Mustangs picked up one first down and were able to run out the clock.
The Jackets struck quickly when Woody started to his right on the game’s third play, then cut to his left and raced 74 yards to the end zone. With 10:29 to play in the opening period, SM found itself behind for the first time this year 7-0.
Hayesville forced a punt, but Jones sacked Shivley a few plays later for a 12-yard loss to the 8. A third-down quick kick by Shivley gave SM excellent field position at the Jacket 34. Dillon Dunford had a 17-yard run then scored from 11 yards out on the fifth play of the drive for a 7-7 tie with 4:49 remaining in the first quarter.
Runs of 15 yards by Watson and 16 yards by Dayne Bowers helped the Mustangs move from their 33 to the Hayesville 26 following a punt. When the drive stalled, Schallock booted a 43-yard field goal putting his team up 10-7 with 10:32 to play in the half.
Hayesville appeared to have taken the lead on its next possession, but offsetting holding penalties nullified a touchdown and the Jackets had to punt.
Another punt later in the half resulted in a big break for Hayesville as Jared Deitz muffed the kick and Robert Rogers recovered at midfield. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty aided the Jackets before Shively’s 27-yard TD pass to Mosteller for a 14-10 Hayesville lead at the 2:55 mark.
SM Hayes.
13 First Downs 12
53-261 Rushes-Yds. 28-134
0-3-0 Passing 8-19-2
0 Passing Yds. 155
5-40.2 Punts-Avg. 5-32.8
3-2 Fumbles-Lost 1-1
10-94 Penalties-Yds. 6-30
SM 7 3 14 0 24
Hayes. 7 7 0 7 21
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