Bryson City – In football The Smoky Mountain Conference is the most decorated and perhaps dominate conference in the state, it may very well be the oldest. The SMC has been fielding championship caliber teams since the NCHSAA began keeping records, way back in 1959. Records, though sketchy at times, show that the conference had dominate football teams prior to 1959. But for the purposes of proving my argument let’s stick to 1959 to present day.
While much has changed in football and the NCHSAA landscape since 1959, the biggest constant has been the SMC. From 1959 to 1967 all that was awarded by the state was Regional Championships. Travel during that time was difficult, making travel for games outside of your region next to impossible. There were four regions for classification A and AA (for our argument, these are the only two classifications we will be concerned with). While I am not sure what the cutoff is for those classifications, they are the smallest and next to smallest.
During the same time, makeup of the Smoky Mountain Conference varied somewhat. For our argument purposes the member schools of the Smoky Mountain Conference are: Andrews, Cherokee, Hayesville, Franklin, Murphy, Robbinsville, Rosman, Swain and Sylva-Webster. In the later years, Cherokee and Rosman were added, while Franklin and Sylva-Webster were dropped due to school size. Of course Sylva-Webster and Cullowhee merged to form Smoky Mountain, who was never a part of the Smoky Mountain Conference.
During some stretches, most notably the 1970s, the conference was split into 1A and 2A conferences, both of which retained the Smoky Mountain Conference label.
Let’s get to the numbers. For now let’s focus on the year’s prior to State Championships, the Regional years, which ran from 1961 to 1971 (it was 1971 for AA). There were 18 total Regional Championships including both A and AA. Of those 18 Smoky Mountain Conference schools appeared in 12 Regional Finals, winning 8 titles. Andrews dominated during that era, appearing in 5 of the 7 total A Regional Championships. The Wildcats won 4 times during that span, with Robbinsville winning a Regional Title as well.
In the AA classification the conference was represented 6 times in 11 years. Murphy made 3 appearances, winning 1 Regional Title. Sylva-Webster made 2 appearances winning Regional Titles both times. In 1964 our Maroon Devils made the regional final, falling to Appalachian 25-12.
It was when the NCHSAA began State Championships that the Smoky Mountain Conference really flexed their muscles. The decade that followed was dominated by the Smoky Mountain Conference.
Beginning in 1969 and running through 1997 the Smoky Mountain Conference had a team in the State Championship game in an amazing 27 of 29 years. Only twice during that span, in 1972 and 1975 did the conference not put a team in the A title game. This, of course, was during Robbinsville’s run as the Black Knights won 11 State A Championships to completely dominate the 1970s.
While Robbinsville laid waste to the A ranks, the conference was also showing out in the AA ranks. At that point Murphy, Franklin, Sylva-Webster and Swain made up the Smoky Mountain Conference AA. AA State Championships began in 1972, and was ushered in by, you guessed it, the Smoky Mountain Conference. Sylva-Webster took the first two State AA Championships in 1972 and 1973. Murphy joined the parade with their first title in 1974, making it 3 straight for the SMC. Franklin grabbed their first title in 1976, joined just two years later by Swain, who captured their first AA Title in 1979. Sylva-Webster closed out the decade and opened the 1980s with their final State Title in 1980.
So in 1973, 74, 76, 79 and 80 the Smoky Mountain Conference won State Championships in both A and AA.
The entire decade of the 1980s belonged to the SMC, as they placed a conference member in every A State Championship game played. Robbinsville completed a run of 5 straight State A Titles in 1983. Rosman joined the party in 1984 advancing to the title game.
Then in 1985, with reclassification, Swain and Murphy dropped to A, while Sylva-Webster and Franklin went up in classification and left the conference.
1985 also began a run of 8 straight years where the conference won State A Titles. Murphy snapped off 3 (86, 87, 91), while Swain reeled off 4 (85, 88, 89, 90) and Robbinsville ended the run with a title of their own in 1992. The Conference still had teams advance to the State Title games in 1993, 94 and 95 but did not win again until Murphy took the 1996 Title.
The sole, and longest drought of the Conference’s illustrious history was from 1998 until 2009. Only Swain advanced to and won State Titles during that span. In 2001 the NCHSAA split the A into two sections the smaller 1A and a larger 1AA. Swain notched the first State 1A Championship in 2001 and followed that up in 2004 with a second title.
Since 2010 the Conference jumped back to the Championship stage. A Conference school has appeared in every State 1A Championship game from 2010 to 2016. With Murphy winning titles in 2011, 13 and 16, while Robbinsville took a title in 2014. Meanwhile in the 1AA, Swain appeared in 2011 and 2012, winning a title in 2011.
As the legend Ric Flair is fond of saying, “To be the man, you gotta beat the man. And. I’m. The. Man!”
The Smoky Mountain Conference is the MAN when it comes to football. 35 State Championships, from ever configuration there has been. 43 times the conference had a school in the State Championship game. If you include Regional play, then it is 43 Championships and 55 appearances in Championship games. The SMC also boasts a streak of 22 straight years a conference team played for a State Championship (1976-1997).
While there has been lots of changes to high school football over the years, the Smoky Mountain Conference is still here surviving and thriving as one of the constants of high school football in the state of North Carolina.