Sylva – Bad news for all of the doubters out there, the Maroon Devils are back. Friday Swain notched an impressive win over a very good Smoky Mountain football team by the score of 21-9. Most of Swain’s players went both ways, as a matter of fact a few played the whole game, while Smoky used a platoon system on offense and defense to keep their players fresh. It didn’t matter as the Devils turned in a tremendous defensive effort and were able to do enough on offense to put points on the board.
All in all it was a masterful job of coaching by Coach Blankenship and his staff. From substitutions to keep players fresh, to a solid game plan the Devils coaching staff was on point all night. Offensive Coordinator Scotty McMahan found creative ways to get his skilled people involved, while Defensive Coordinator Eric Stephenson and his troops keep the high flying Mustang offense in check all night.
As a matter of fact the Maroon Devil defense made, what amounted to, two goal line stands in the second half. Swain thwarted two scoring chances by the Mustangs by holding them on downs, including one midway through the fourth quarter that saw the Mustangs drive to the Swain 4 yards line, but the Devils held on downs taking over on their own 7 yard line.
Following the goal line stand the Devils took over, but were unable to move the ball, and eventually faced a 4th and 10 from their 7 yard line. Again Coach Blankenship struck gold by deciding to take a safety in order to move the ball to the 20 yard line before kicking to Smoky. The ensuing kickoff gave Smoky the ball on their side of the 50 with just at two and a half minutes left in the game.
The Maroon Devils picked up their first score of the game near the end of what had been a 1st quarter full of strong defense by both teams. Swain’s Donnavin Groenewold full on a Smoky fumble to give the Devils the first big break of the game. The fumble recovery set up the Devils with great field position deep in Mustang territory. Josh Collins would scamper 9 yards, diving for the endzone pilon to score. Gavin Lanning would knock home the extra point and give the Devils a 7-0 lead with 1:25 left in the first quarter.
In the 2nd quarter it would be Collins again finding the endzone. This time Collins would score off of a heads up play by quarterback Gabe Lillard. Running the option Lillard was stopped, but before he went down he alertly tossed the ball to Collins who then skirted around the defense for a 25 yard touchdown run. Again Lanning tacked on the extra point putting the Devils on top 14-0 with 10:15 remaining in the 2nd quarter.
Smoky scored their lone touchdown on their next possession. The Mustangs went 59 yards on 7 plays finding the endzone on a 14 yard Isaiah McNeely run. Smoky tacked on the extra point to cut the Devils lead to 14-7.
With 4:25 remaining in the 3rd quarter the Devils would once again take advantage of a Mustang mistake. From their own 29 yard line the snap from center sailed over the Mustang quarterback’s head and roll into the endzone where an alert Nathan Bogdanowicz fell on it for the Devils final score of the night. Lanning made his 3rd extra point of the night, giving Swain a 21-7 lead.
The Maroon Devils finished with 146 yards of total offense, they had 90 rushing yards and 56 through the air. Carson Taylor finished with a team high 52 yards on 9 carries, while Josh Collins finished with 40 yards on 6 carries. Lillard was 6 of 13 through the air. Donnavin Groenewold had 3 catches for 26 yards, while Bogdanowicz, Cooper Hyatt and Cameron Blankenship each had a catch.
Swain’s defense held Smoky to 169 yards of total offense and forced 7 fumbles, recovering 3, one of which went for a touchdown. Carson Taylor was in on 11 tackles including 3 for a loss, Josh Collins and Lucas Sutton each had 8 tackles. Swain also had 3 sacks, Connor Driver, Nathan Bogdanowicz while Lucas Sutton and Ashton Ball combined for one.