Murphy Spoils Hayesville's Senior Night, 42-12

By Travis Dockery

Sportswriter

HAYESVILLE, N.C. — Murphy scored 42 unanswered points after an early Hayesville touchdown and rolled past the Yellow Jackets 42-12 on Senior Night, Friday, Oct. 23, at Frank R. Long Memorial Stadium.

The Yellow Jackets struck first when Kabe Shaheen scored on a 1-yard run, though the extra-point try was blocked, leaving Hayesville up 6-0. It was all Bulldogs from there.

Cameron Clem scored on touchdown runs of 1, 27 and 4 yards to lead Murphy. Anthony Catuto added a 12-yard touchdown run, Blake Davis scored on a 6-yard run, and Peyton Bane connected with Grayson Hall on a 24-yard touchdown pass. Murphy led 21-6 at halftime and pushed the margin to 42-6 after three quarters.

Hayesville quarterback Lance Coker finished 5 of 20 passing for 69 yards with three interceptions. Caden McClure led the Yellow Jackets on the ground with 45 yards on seven carries, and Crow Collins added a 40-yard reception.

Luke Buckner scored Hayesville's final touchdown on a 4-yard run with 39 seconds remaining, and the kick failed.

The win kept Murphy (7-2 overall) alone atop the Smoky Mountain Conference at 5-0, a game ahead of Robbinsville and Cherokee, both 4-1 in league play. Hayesville fell to 1-7 overall and 0-5 in the conference with its fifth straight loss, sitting sixth in the seven-team league.

Hayesville closes out its season on Friday, Oct. 30, at Andrews in a matchup of the conference's two winless teams in league play. The Wildcats are 0-8 overall and 0-5 in the conference. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

Smoky Mountain Conference standings

(conference record, overall record)

Murphy — 5-0, 7-2

Robbinsville — 4-1, 4-5

Cherokee — 4-1, 6-3

Rosman — 3-3, 5-5

Swain County — 2-3, 2-7

Hayesville — 0-5, 1-7

Andrews — 0-5, 0-8