By Gary Corsair
Sports Writer
1-A Hayesville needed to play a near-perfect game to beat 3-A Pisgah, a school with nearly three times as many students.
Unfortunately, perfection eluded the Yellow Jackets Friday night in a battle of unbeatens and the big, bad, bruising Bears prevailed, 32-7, in a game that was much closer than the score indicates.
Hayesville, 3-1, played Pisgah, 4-0, evenly most of the game, but the Yellow Jackets were gob smacked by a disastrous minute-and-a-half late in the first quarter.
Take away that those 90 seconds and the first quarter belonged to Hayesville.
Highlights of the opening 12 minutes included a sensational 51-yard punt by Seth Leek, a crushing gang tackle led by Taylor McClure that killed a quarterback keeper by Pisgah on fourth-and-1 and McClure gaining 27 yards on five carries, the fifth being a 1-yard touchdown.
When ever-ready, ever-steady Isaac Chandler split the uprights, Hayesville led 7-0.
The jubilation in the packed grandstand didn’t last long enough.
Pisgah took the ensuing kickoff and ran it back 88 yards into the end zone and kicked the extra-point to tie the game.
Four plays later, things went from bad to worse when Hayesville’s third-down pass from the 21-yardline was intercepted with :50 on the first quarter clock.
Pisgah scored on an 8-yard pass on the second play of the second act. Pisgah 13, Hayesville 7.
“I think it was by far the best team we have played. We didn’t back down, I feel like we played hard. We held them to 100 yards rushing,” Hayesville Coach Chad McClure said. “The difference was the kickoff return and then the turnover.”
The remainder of the first half saw five penalty flags thrown — two for personal fouls, the Yellow Jackets struggling to move the ball and Pisgah getting a third touchdown by completing 4-of-5 passes during a 58-yard drive. The Bears scored on a 5-yard run with just :57 on the clock, but Chandler batted away a pass to foil the two-point try, leaving the score Pisgah 19-7 at the intermission.
The second half began much like the first, with the Hayesville defense stopping Pisgah — the big play was a blitz that resulted in an incomplete pass on third-and-11 — and the Yellow Jacket O movin’ and groovin.’
Tre Graves got things started with a 27-yard kickoff return. Graves and McClure, taking turns carrying, gained 14 yards on four runs to push the rock to the 34.
Following a holding penalty, McClure followed Kendall Boyer’s block for 7 yards and Graves busted for 9 to give Hayesville a fourth-and-2 — and hope — just 28 yards away from the end zone.
The Jackets would get no closer. A false start pushed the ball back to the 27 and an incomplete pass ended the threat.
The score stood at 19-7 entering the final quarter.
“We played real good third quarter, but we didn’t get any points out of it,” McClure stated.
Then, two more big plays by Pisgah — a fumble recovery that set up a 65-yard screen pass that took Hayesville by surprise.
“We were blitzing on that screen play. We didn’t expect it,” McClure said. “It was just a good call on their part. You have to give credit to them.”
Pisgah scored again after Hayesville went three-and-out, this time on a run. The extra point resulted in the final score.
The Yellow Jackets had their second most impressive drive of the night during the final :22 when Cole Vining rambled for a 20-yard gain, Slade Crouch followed with a 12-yard romp and Vining tacked on six more yards.
McClure was the leading rusher for both teams. He gained 84 yards on 14 carries for an impressive 6.0 average. He also caught two passes and made seven tackles.
Graves had a team-high eight tackles. Dawson DeVane had six. Michael Mauney and Lane O’Dell had four tackles each.
As tough as the first loss was to swallow, McClure now has a clear picture of what his team needs to do to battle in the always-tough Smoky Mountain Conference.
“We have to be more efficient, and we have to find a way to score points,” McClure stated. “We have to get more from the passing game and we will and we need to cut down on penalties, turnovers and big plays.”
Hayesville should have an easier time at 7:30 this Friday, Sept. 15 when New Faith Christian Academy visits Frank R. Long Stadium.