Smoky Mountain will hit road Friday to battle Yellow Jackets

The Mustangs scored all their points in the fourth quarter this past Friday against Swain to even their record at 1-1 with a 21-14 victory. They had opened the season a week earlier with a 36-21 loss to Owen.

Hayesville got its season under way Friday with a 29-6 win at Cherryville.

"They'll run a lot of the same stuff they did last year," Coach Cameron Brooks said of the Yellow Jackets. "They run multiple sets with a lot of motion."

Hayesville utilizes a 43 and 44 package on defense.

The Jackets are coached by Neil Setzer, a 1976 Sylva-Webster graduate. He is the son of Bob Setzer, former athletic director at Western Carolina.

"It's going to be Hayesville's first home game," Brooks said. "We just beat Swain so that can be more incentive for their people to come watch."

The Mustangs have won four of the five games in the series including an exciting 45-38 victory in four overtimes last season.

Wimpey completed nine of 18 passes for 121 yards in that contest. He is expected to be joined in the backfield by Richard Engert and Dee Dee Barnard.

Dwayne Allen is one of the top players on the offensive and defensive lines.

"We'll have to play smart," Brooks said. "I don't know about the emotional thing."

He noted the Mustangs will have to guard against a letdown after playing an arch rival.

"It's just another job we've got to go to on Friday," he said.

Brooks picked up his first career win as a head coach in the Swain game. Recovering from knee surgery four days earlier, he looked on from the press box rather than being on the field so he would not be in danger of being run over on the sideline. It was the first time he had coached a game from the press box since 1986 while serving as a graduate assistant at Citadel.

"I probably was more focused up there than I am on the field," he said. "As far as the vantage point, you can't beat it."

He said coaching from the press box presented no major drawbacks.

"It felt really good to beat an opponent like Swain," Brooks said. "That's one of those 365 day jobs. It felt especially good the way everything transpired."

The Mustangs trailed 14-0 until scoring three times in just over six minutes during the fourth quarter.

"We moved the ball up and down the field," the coach said. "From 20 to 20, it's amazing. We have got to find a way when we get inside the 20. Defensively, we're going to have to play better.

We've still got kids missing their individual assignments."

Suddenly in the fourth period, the breaks began to go the Mustangs' way, and they took full advantage.

"It was a whole different group of kids out there," Brooks said. "We just put it into another gear.

We played 100 yards instead of 60. It had to be a lot of fun for the people watching. Those kids did great."

He said the comeback should give the players confidence that they are never out of a game as they go through the season.

Quarterback Justin Roper engineered the rally. He completed 12 of 19 passes for 177 yards.

"He had a very good football game," Brooks said. "He still makes some young mistakes, but he's got football savvy."

Darius Bryson had six catches for 108 yards.

"He's continuing to get better," Brooks said. "He and Michael Ritchie had some big catches. They complement each other real well."

The running game managed just 41 yards.

"We didn't block very well up front on running plays," he said. "I knew Swain would be pretty good up front."

Back to Sports: 08/31/00.