Bryson City – The Maroon Devils started strong Friday in their first round matchup with Starmount. Swain opened the game with a 73 yard 11 play drive, and never looked back building an eventual 28-0 nothing halftime lead, before taking a 41-20 win. Each time Starmount scored to cut the lead, the Maroon Devils answered with a long and time consuming touchdown drive. For the game the Devils had 3 scoring drives that were 11, 13, and 13 plays long.
Senior Derek Fortner took control for a shorthanded backfield. Fortner finished with 146 yards on 25 carries and 4 touchdowns. Junior Dylan Smith finished with 58 yards on 15 carries. Fortner scored on runs o f 1, 3, 6, and 2 yards.
The Maroon Devil passing game was effective, with sophomore Brodie Bowman hitting senior Jordan Cody for 5 of his 6 completions. Cody finished with 5 catches for 122 yards and 2 touchdowns. Cody scored the Devils first touchdown on a 20 yard pass from Bowman, and then followed that up with the second score of the game on a 44 yard strike. Cody would finish with 202 yards of total offense, including his punt and kick returns.
On the defensive side, the Devils got 9 tackles each from defensive linemen Johnny Woodard and Issiah Bradley. Ice Littlejohn finished with 7 tackles.
Swain advances to face #1 seed East Wilkes on Friday.