Bryson City – For the Maroon Devils this past Friday’s game against Cherokee was a tale of two halves, well a tale of one quarter to be more accurate. Cherokee broke open a close game with a 25 point 3rd quarter that sent them to a 45-7 win over Swain. Going into the game the Maroon Devils were well aware of the Braves big strike capability, but were unable to stop them. Cherokee scored on a 97-yard kickoff return, an 89 yard and 86 yard passes.
Swain took the opening kickoff and went on a 9 play 74 yard drive, that used up 4:35 seconds. This was the kind of drive the Maroon Devils needed to keep the Braves potent offense off the field. Brodie Bowman plunged over from the 1-yard line. Following the Holden Petty point after the Maroon Devils had a 7-0 lead with 7:25 remaining in the 1st quarter.
On the Braves opening possession the Maroon Devils got another break. After moving the ball to the Braves 46 yard line, Ice Littlejohn picked off a Cherokee pass to give the Devils the ball back.
Swain managed to drive the ball to the Cherokee 19, but the drive stalled out and Swain turned it over on downs.
From here the momentum moved to the Braves ledger. Cherokee went 83 yards on 15 plays to find paydirt. Tye Mintz hit his brother Cade Mintz, who showed good reaction by pulling the ball out of the air after Swain tipped it at the line of scrimmage. The strike covered 14-yards. The extra point was no good, leaving the Devils with a 7-6 advantage midway through the 2nd quarter.
Swain had another promising drive on their next possesion. The Devils moved the ball effectively until they fumbled. Alertly Will Paul recovered it for the Devils, but not before they lost 5-yards, setting up a 3rd and 12 from the Braves 38-yard line. Following an incomplete pass the Devils punted.
Cherokee used a long pass from Tye Mintz to Cade Mintz, that covered 43-yards, to move to the Swain 15-yard line. A few plays later, Tye Mintz scrambled 15-yards for the Braves go ahead touchdown. The two point conversion was good to give Cherokee a 14-7 lead with 52 seconds left before halftime.
The decisive 3rd quarter proved to be a blur of a Cherokee highlight film. The Braves opened the 2nd half with Cade Mintz taking the kickoff 97 for a touchdown. Then after pinning the Braves on their own 11, Mintz hit Blake Smith on an 89-yard touchdown pass. One series later it was Mintz to Mintz again, this time for an 86-yard touchdown. When the dust settled the Braves had built a 39-7 lead and essentially never looked back.
Brodie Bowman finished with 97 yards on the ground with 18 carries. Through the air he was 5 of 15 for 130 yards. Brier Younce was on the receiving end of 3 of those Bowman passes, for 103 yards.
The Maroon Devils will host Andrews this week for homecoming.