In a battle of offensive powerhouses it was the Maroon Devil defense that stole the show. Swain limited the high powered Hendersonville offense to a field goal in three plus quarters of play as the Devils posted a 55-24 win to advance to the NCHSAA 1AA Western Finals for the second straight year.
The Maroon Devils got the first score of the game courtesy of their defense. After backing the Bearcats up to their own 1 yard line, the Devils picked off a 3rd down pass. Matthew Maennle batted the ball into the waiting arms of Sean Webb. Webb raced 24 yards to the endzone, finishing the run with a dive over a Bearcat into the endzone.
Swain’s offense used 2 Hayden Neadeau fumble recoveries to set up two more scoring opportunities.
Raymius Smith threw two touchdowns, one each to Greg Tisho and Matthew Maennle, and added a rushing touchdown for good measure. Garrett Lane, who finished with a game high 147 yards on 22 carries, scored twice and led the Devils ground game, which finished with over 300 yards rushing.
The Bearcats added 21 points in the 4th quarter against the Devils second team defense, to make the final score.
Corbin Panther had 14 tackles to lead the Maroon Devil defense, which held 2000 yard rusher DeSean Jackson to only 63 yards on 22 carries. The Bearcats finished with 118 yards rushing as a team.