Maroon Devils Are Magical At Home During Playoffs

Bryson City – To quote Dorthy from the Wizard of Oz, “There’s no place like home”.  That certainly is true for the Maroon Devil football program.  Since the “modern” era of the NCHSAA football playoffs started, back in 1972, the Maroon Devils are an astonishing 55-4 at Swain County Memorial Stadium.

I’ll let that sink in for a minute.  55-4.  That span covers 44 years of Maroon Devil history.  Granted, as noted historians might point out, Swain is actually 57-5 at home for the entire span.  Swain got a late start to the party, making the current iteration of the playoffs for the first time in 1977.  At the old field, Swain was 2-1 during 1977 and 1979.  While Swain won all 4 of their playoff games in 1979, 3 of them came on the road.  The 1979 team notched the final victory at the old field, which is now the practice field, downing East Lincoln 49-14.

At Swain County Memorial Stadium, Boyce Deitz Field, the Devils have been almost unbeatable.  I mean, that is a 93% winning percentage Swain has compiled at home.  Many often wonder, how is it Swain is poised to win it’s 90th playoff game, how do they have so many more wins than other schools? There is a certain mystic and magic about playing in Swain County Memorial Stadium, a tradition in and of itself.  Over the years, the crowd has always risen to a new level of enthusiasm during the playoffs.  On top of that each team embraces the tradition of playing in front of that crowd in that stadium.  Pretty soon you wins games you maybe are not suppose to win, and a belief of invincibility is born.  Harken back to 2011 and the West Montgomery game for further evidence of the mystic of Swain County Memorial, Boyce Deitz Field.

Currently the Devils are on a 17 game home playoff winning streak.  A win Friday would tie the all-time mark of 18 straight home playoff wins, which was snapped by their last home loss, which in turn began this current winning streak.  To sum that up properly, the Devils have won 35 of their last 36 home playoff games.

I know, all of this winning is confusing, maybe we should focus on the losses.  The one that snapped the record streak and began the current streak, came in 2005.  Swain was coming off of a State Championship year in 04, and returned starting quarterback Scotty McMahan.  McMahan was injured in the first half of the Devils first round game against South Stanly.  Swain could not mount any offense in the second half and lost 14-7 to South, snapping the 18 game home playoff winning streak.

The other three were notable for their own reasons as well.  In 2000 the Maroon Devils fell to Graham 13-10, anyone who was at that game remembers, correctly like I do, that Mark Maennle scored a touchdown after stripping a Graham runner, only to have it supposedly blown dead.  Murphy dealt the Devils one of the four losses at home.  In 1987, the Maroon Devils had pulled off the upset of the century during the regular season, only to have the Bulldogs get revenge in the playoff contest with a 47-6 win.  The first loss at Swain County Memorial came back in 1984 to the hands of Forest Hills by the score of 28-8.

Friday Swain will put their home record on the line, as they go for their 18th straight home playoff win hosting Cherryville.  The Ironmen have never played in Swain County Memorial Stadium before, something that should play a huge factor in this game.  That is, if the Maroon Devil faithful, decide to insert themselves into the equation and show out, making themselves and this team part of the lore that is Swain High Football.