Photo by Kendra Coker Peyton McGaha and the JV team wore a pink paint band for breast cancer awareness. They will be wearing green bands in October in honor of traumatic brain injury awareness.
By Gary Corsair
Staff Writer
The Hayesville JV football Yellow Jackets came within a half minute of knocking off Swain County last Thursday before ending up on the short end of another character-builder, 26-20, in triple overtime.
“We came right out and scored on our opening drive, then we stopped them and scored again to go up 14-0,” Hayesville Coach Brett Graves said. “Our kids got a little relaxed and you can’t do that against good teams. With :33 left, they tied us up 14-14.”
Both teams scored in the first overtime, then held each other scoreless in the second. The game slipped away in the third quarter when Hayesville fumbled the ball away on the first play and Swain scored on fourth-down.
“It was back and forth, a roller-coaster of emotions,” Coach Graves said.
The loss was especially hard to accept because Hayesville led 14-8 in regulation when the Yellow Jackets attempted what would have been a game-sealing field goal. The attempt failed, Swain took over with 4:00 left and the Maroon Devils marched 80 yards to score the game-tying touchdown.
Swain could have clinched the come-from-behind win then and there, but the Hayesville defense stopped a two-point conversion try and forced overtime.
The defense was led by Caden Dalrymple, who made 10 tackles and Will Brown who had several tackles and 2 sacks.
Tre Graves sparked the offense with 113 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, while Peyton McGaha contributed 83 yards and 2 touchdowns on 14 carries. He also picked off a Swain pass.
Wide receiver Braden Thompson also earned praised from his coach for “blocking on the edge really well.”
Ben Bethel also starred. “Bethel had one of the hardest jobs covering a fast wide receiver and he shut him down all night,” Coach Graves said.
The heartbreaking loss comes a week after Hayesville came up short in a 36-34 slug-fest with Murphy.
With Cherokee visiting Frank R. Long Memorial Stadium on Thursday, the Yellow Jackets, 3-2, are more than ready to put someone away convincingly.
“The kids are upset but we’ve been talking about bouncing back and finding our character,” Coach Graves said.