By Gary Corsair
Staff Writer
The Hayesville junior varsity football team may finally get tested Thursday night when the Yellow Jackets square off against Murphy at 6 p.m.
"We've got a good test coming up when we go to Murphy. Conference time means that you get to play Smoky Mountain Conference football and Murphy wants to break our undefeated season. I expect a hard-nosed game," said Hayesville JV Coach Brett Graves.
Last Thursday's meeting with Andrews wasn't even an open-book quiz. Hayesville improved to 3-0 by pounding the Wildcats, 39-20.
Hayesville's third victory in as many games was not as close as the score indicates.
The Yellow Jackets were ahead 2-0 after one quarter, led 39-0 at halftime, and amassed 370 total yards against a team of seventh and eighth graders, save for two freshmen.
The lion's share of those yards were gained by running back Trey Graves, who carried seven times for 149 yards, broke off a 62-yard romp and scored 4 touchdowns.
Peyton McGaha rolled for 109 yards on just 2 carries — including a 57-yard run to the endzone — and scored twice. Backup quarterback Lance Coker picked up 64 yards on six carries, while Colton Bruggers gained 35 yards on two runs.
As impressive as the numbers were, Coach Graves sees room for improvement.
"We still have a lot of things to fix," he remarked.
Still, the coach was pleased. "Everybody got their fair share of playing time and the kids played hard when their numbers were called."
Coach Graves was especially satisfied with the performance of center Caden Robinson, who "had good blocks and good snaps." Pacey Cable was also cited for "a lot of good tackles." Brady Jones earned praise for "playing really well as linebacker."