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Smoky Mountain will play Murphy at home on Friday
Smoky Mountain’s football team will try to go 4-0 for the first time since 1998 when Murphy visits Carr Hooper Stadium/Babe Howell Field for a 7:30 p.m. game Friday.
“Murphy is a very young but extremely athletic,” Coach Dale Galloway said. “They’ve played teams that are very good. Murphy is going to do a handful of things and do them well. I expect it to be another hard-fought ball game. They’re not a weak team by any means.”
Smoky Mountain’s C.J. Franks gained 76 yards and scored a touchdown in Friday’s 24-21 win at Hayesville. – Photo by Mark Haskett
The Bulldogs are off to a 1-2 start. They defeated Marion County (Tenn.) 48-27 while losing 50-6 to Franklin and 49-13 to Chattahoochee (Ga.).
Coach David Gentry’s team uses a wing T offense directed by quarterback Luke Charles.
“He’s young and athletic,” Galloway said of Charles. “He can throw the ball well. He’s a younger version of the Shivley kid from Hayesville.”
Galloway has also been impressed by fullback Eli Sutton’s hard running.
The Bulldogs utilize a 4-3 defense.
“They have some big kids on defense in the range of 6-2, 270,” Galloway said.
“We’ve just got to keep our feet grounded and continue and try to get better every week,” he said. “You have to play like you’ve got tons to prove but also believe in what you’re doing and do it well.”
The status of running back Dillon Dunford (sprained knee) and lineman Chris Roberts (ribs) was not known early this week.
Murphy has won seven of the previous nine games in the series. The teams had not played from 1996 until last year when the Bulldogs won 40-16. SM’s last win over Murphy came in 1990.
The Mustangs went 3-0 Friday with a 24-21 win at Hayesville.
“I felt fortunate to get out of it with a win,” Galloway said. “Hayesville played real well. We had talked to our guys about not taking them lightly, but I think they may have done that a little bit.”
Hayesville was the only team SM defeated last season, and Galloway had warned his players about not being overconfident.
“If we did not know the importance of defense and special teams before Friday night, we do now,” the coach said. “We had a 43-yard field goal and an interception returned for a touchdown. Without those plays, we may not win.”
He noted Grant Schallock had another good game with his punting and place kicking. The kicker added to his usual exploits by making a pair of tackles on kickoff returns, Galloway pointed out.
The Mustangs found themselves behind for the first time this year when they trailed 7-0 early and 14-10 at intermission.
“I thought they responded well,” Galloway said of the team being behind. “It’s tough to win on the road against Smoky Mountain Conference teams.”
SM bounced back to take a 24-14 lead in the third quarter.
“I was disappointed we didn’t put it away when we were up by 10,” the coach said. “If we could have kept a couple of drives going, it would have made a difference.”
The Mustangs were hampered by penalties for the second straight week.
“The timing of our penalties was terrible,” Galloway said. “We gave them opportunities with our penalties.”
Major penalties immediately preceded two of Hayesville’s three touchdowns.
The team compiled 261 yards of offense with all of them coming on the ground.
“There were times everybody on our offensive line did some things well,” Galloway said. “There were some short yardage plays that we wouldn’t have converted in the first two weeks that we did Friday.”
He singled out C.J. Franks for his hard running. Franks carried 14 times for 76 yards and a TD.
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