Gary Corsair • Clay County Progress E.J. Abrams, No. 58, collars Concord Christian's quarterback as teammate Kasen Chastain, No. 55, moves in to help complete the takedown.
By Gary Corsair
Sports Writer
Five Yellow Jackets ran for touchdowns as Hayesville secured its first victory with its first dominant performance Saturday.
Hayesville (1-4) pretty much ran at will in dropping a 37-16 anvil on a so-so Concord Christian (1-1) team on a soggy field in Farragut, Tenn.
“Anytime you get a win it’s a good thing. It always boosts your confidence,” Hayesville Coach Chad McClure said. “It was very important to get a win before we begin conference play.”
Now the Yellow Jackets will see if they can move the ball and light up the scoreboard against perennial powerhouse Murphy, which promises to be much tougher than Concord Christian.
“We have our work cut out for us. Murphy is a much better team,” McClure acknowledged. “They’re Murphy. They do what they do.”
That’s coach speak for “they win.” And on the rare occasion that the Bulldogs end up with an L instead of a W, the other team knows it has been in a war.
The Bulldogs bring a 4-1 record and four-game win streak — in which Murphy averaged 38 points per game — to Frank R. Long Memorial Stadium on Friday.
“We have to move the ball on them,” McClure said.
Translation: Hayesville has a chance if the Yellow Jackets control the ball and the clock, thereby limiting the amount of time Murphy is on offense. Football truism: you can’t score if the other guy hangs on to the football.
Here’s another truth: you’re not going to beat a team that repeatedly breaks long gainers.
Concord Christian suffered that reality when Hayesville’s line crashers exploded for double-digit yardage gains 10 times.
The biggest boom came on a second-quarter kickoff after Concord turned an interception into a 51-yard touchdown that cut Hayesville’s lead to 15-10.
Tre Graves dynamited Concord’s comeback hopes when he caught the ball at the eight, followed blockers to the 40, saw daylight and cut right, then shifted into overtime and jetted down the host’s sideline untouched for the final 55 yards on a spectacular 92-yard touchdown. Dawson Devane busted into the end zone for the two-point conversion that put Hayesville on top 23-10 and in control for good.
“I don’t know how he returned that kickoff for a touchdown,” McClure chuckled.
That wasn’t Graves’ only now you see him, now you don’t moment. With Concord leading 3-0 in the first quarter, Graves took a first-down handoff through at opening at right tackle and galloped 41 yards to pay dirt. It was his fourth consecutive carry; the previous three bangs ate up 27 yards. Devane barged into the end zone to give Hayesville a lead it never relinquished.
Graves dialed long distance again halfway through the second period when he intercepted a pass and boogied 33 yards down the sideline, but that romp was erased by a penalty on Hayesville for a block in the back.
Graves also had a 10-yard gain in the third quarter.
All told, Graves had quite a day — 132 yards on 16 carries (an 8.25 average), scored two touchdowns and picked off a pass and made four tackles before getting a well-deserved rest for nearly the entire fourth period.
“I thought Tre had a really good game on offense, defense and special teams,” McClure said in the greatest understatement since Custer said, “I think I see a tepee.”
Michael Mauney was also short-changed. Money Mauney blasted through the line and broke a tackle on a first-down run around right end in the second quarter, traveling 39 yards before being bumped out of bounds and a holding call nullifying his feat of fleet feet.
Turns out Mauney didn’t need all that yardage to enter the 100-yard club. He accumulated 105 yards on eight carries and caught a pass for seven yards.
Devane also super sized a run during a momentous second quarter in which Hayesville tallied 22 points. Double D thundered 14 yards on a first-and-10. He later scored a touchdown.
Quarterback Tate Roberts also racked up frequent flier miles when he rolled 49 yards for a touchdown after faking a handoff to Graves. That second-quarter romp and Raoul Prieto’s extra-point elevated Hayesville to a 15-3 advantage.
Later, Roberts scampered for 36 yards on a roll out, but the play was called back due to holding after four yards gained.
The final big-gainer belonged to Kaden Ledford, who zipped through left guard for Hayesville’s final touchdown, a 13-yard haul.
All those big gains helped Hayesville amass 279 yards on the ground (a hefty 6.5 average per carry) and 14 first downs.
“Rushing wise, we had two guys gain 100 yards, and that means the line was doing its job,” McClure stated. “We did a better job of staying ahead of the sticks. We got yards we needed on first and second down.”
If it wasn’t for two interceptions and six penalties, Hayesville would have waxed Concord like Biff did Marty McFly’s truck.
“We’ve got to be cleaner,” McClure said. “We finally scored some points and it was good to move the ball, but we have to improve our passing game (3-of-7 for 16 yards). Our quarterbacks (Roberts and Lance Coker) have to be more efficient.”
Hayesville’s defense, which knocked Concord’s starting quarterback out of the game five minutes before halftime, was quite efficient.
“On defense, Patrick Denton had a good game. He made a lot of tackles, most of them on special teams,” McClure remarked.
Denton led the way with seven tackles. Will Brown and Ben Bethel had five tackles apiece, while Graves, Ledford and Johan Webb had four tackles each. Brown and Webb recorded a sack.
Webb also earned praise for averaging 38.5 yards on two punts and first-year footballer Raoul Prieto was commended for nailing 3-of-3 point-after kicks. “Raoul made his point-after kicks and Johan did a good job punting,” McClure said.
Hayesville 8-22-7-0 = 37
Concord C. 3-7-0-6 = 6