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Smoky Mountain will battle Maroon Devils Friday night
Smoky Mountain’s football team will hit the road for the first time this season Friday when the Mustangs (1-0) travel to Swain for a 7:30 p.m. game.
“Swain is very scrappy,” Coach Dale Galloway said. “They’re a little smaller than us but not much. They have a couple of kids around 260 pounds.”
The Maroon Devils (0-1), who are coached by Rod White, use a spread offense.
“They try to spread you out,” Galloway said. “They try to keep a balance of everything.”
Quarterback Cory Hipp directs Swain’s offense.
“They use him a lot of different ways,” the coach said. “He’s one of their better runners.”
Swain utilizes a 3-5 defense.
“A key for us will be trying to find those linebackers,” Galloway said. “They can put those five linebackers on the move. We’ve got to continue to block well and hang on to the football.”
Center Dylan Crawford, who sustained a foot injury in Friday’s 30-6 season-opening win over Hendersonville, is expected to play at Swain, according to Galloway.
“It was a good start,” Galloway, who is beginning his second season as coach, said of the win over Hendersonville. “That’s the first game we’ve had like that since I’ve been here where we took control from the beginning.”
Colton Hunt completed six of eight passes for 119 yards.
“Colton threw the ball with great efficiency,” Galloway said. “Some of the work we’ve done really paid off. That made a big difference. We’ve gotten a little better at running the ball, and that helped our efficiency with our pass offense.”
Jared Jones and Dillon Dunford had three and two receptions, respectively.
“We really needed to stretch the field,” Galloway said. “In a wishbone offense, you’re looking to run then have a big play down field.”
SM was up 28-0 at intermission after scoring three touchdowns in the final 3:45 of the half.
“Once the game was over, the ball wasn’t going back in the air,” the coach said. “I felt it was over at halftime.”
One of the few down sides from a Mustang perspective was 88 yards in penalties.
“We’re going to make mistakes, and a lot of it was just little things,” Galloway said.
“The offensive line did a great job,” he said. “We were able to run the ball, and our pass protection was so much better. Jake Brooks had a great night on the offensive line, and T.J. McKay and Ryan Moore are always solid.”
In his first varsity game, Matt Dougherty was four of four on extra points. He recovered from a poor first punt to average nearly 30 yards.
“I think our kicking game is going to be alright,” Galloway said. “He was real nervous on his first punt, but he’s as consistent as the day is long.”
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