The 7-3 varsity Hayesville Yellow Jacket football team took to the field for the final game of the regular season Friday, Nov. 9 as they hosted the Swain County Maroon Devils. Both teams entered the game with a 3-2 record in the Smoky Mountain Conference and tied for the third place. Hayesville was coming off a 35-10 win over Rosman and the Devils were riding high following a 60-0 non-conference victory over Gladiator Sports Academy. Swain set the tone early and left Hayesville with a 49-28.
Hayesville received the opening kick and set up for their first offensive possession at the 30 yard line. After a punt, Swain took over on their 34 yard line. After a short drive, the Devils found themselves in a fourth and two situation and decided to go for it, converting to reach Hayesville’s 31 yard line. Swain rode the momentum wave for a rushing touchdown with 5:38 left in the first quarter. The Yellow Jackets failed to get anything going offensively on their following possession and again had to punt the ball away. Hayesville’s defense created a fourth and three for the Devils. Swain not only converted, they took the ball all the way to the house to make their lead 14-0 with 38.5 second left in the quarter. The Jackets answered quickly with a touchdown pass from Hayden McClure to Tyler Anderson on the first play from scrimmage with 20.9 seconds left in the quarter. Kylan Bunch’s PAT hit the upright, to keep the score at 14-6 as the quarter ended.
Swain put together a drive to open the second quarter that resulted in a touchdown with 9:01 to go in the half. After a failed drive, the Jackets were again forced to punt. Swain used a long pass play to get them to the goal line on the next possession and in two plays crossed the goal line for a touchdown. The PAT made the score 28-6 with 3:44 left before the half. The Devils were threatening again when McClure snagged an interception to give Hayesville the ball with 23.5 seconds left in the quarter. The junior then took his place behind center and drilled Blake McClure for a long gain to put the Jackets in the red zone with 17 seconds left. With a little razzle dazzle Blake took a direct snap, handed off to Payton Ivester who then found Anderson in the end zone for the score. A successful 2-point conversion closed the gap to 28-14 headed into halftime.
In the third quarter, Swain wasted little time finding the end zone and increased their lead to 35-14 with 10:22 left in the quarter. On the following possession, Hayden left the game with an apparent injury following a head to head penalty on the Devils. Hayesville was unable to continue the drive and was forced to punt it away. Swain capitalized by driving down the field and into the end zone. A PAT made the score 42-14 with 3:09 left in the third. Refusing to go away, Hayesville answered with two big plays capped off with a 1-yard touchdown from Blake. Bunch nailed the PAT to make the score 42-21 with 2:18 left in the quarter. That’s the way it stayed heading into the fourth.
With 10:34 left in the game, the Devils struck once again and increased their lead to 49-21. Things then took an ugly turn as late hits and disputed penalties added to an already charged atmosphere. After a few minutes of tension, things settled down with Swain driving. Hayesville kept fighting and with 22.3 Logan Caldwell hit Avery Leatherwood for a touchdown. A successful PAT made the score 49-28. Swain was able to take a knee and run out the clock.
Following the game, Hayesville’s head coach Chad McClure said, “Swain is a good team and really controlled the clock and line of scrimmage the entire game. We couldn’t move the sticks consistently which is a testament to their stingy defense but I was proud of the effort by our team all night”
In other SMC action, Robbinsville clinched the conference title with a 17-14 win over Murphy, Andrews bested Rosman 21-0 and Cherokee had the night off.
While the regular season didn’t end the way Hayesville had hoped, good news still came to the Jackets on Saturday when the playoff brackets were released. Jacket Nation will get a chance to watch post-season football at Frank R. Long Stadium on Friday night as Albemarle comes to town.
“We get to host a home playoff game for the first time in a long time which is exciting for our program and community,” said coach McClure. As for the upcoming opponent, the head coach said, “Albemarle is very athletic and has very good team speed which should translate into a great game. I hope to see a big crowd for these boys.” Kickoff will be at 7:30 p.m.
Leaders vs Swain
Tyler Anderson: two touchdowns, 128 yards.
Blake McClure: touchdown, 104 yards.
Avery Leatherwood: touchdown.
Hayeden McClure: touchdown, 123 yards.
Seth Gillis: 14 tackles.
SMC schedule
Hayesville vs Albemarle
Swain vs Union Academy
Andrews vs Cherokee
Robbinsville (bye)
Murphy (bye)