Robbinsville – It wasn’t pretty, but the Black Knights persevered through a sloppy fourth quarter to prevail over Hayesville on Friday, 26-20.
Scoreless throughout the final 12 minutes, Robbinsville (8-1, 4-0) afforded the visitors two separate fumble recoveries in the segment: Dawson Devane scooped up a loose ball moments after Hayesville (5-4, 1-3) had trimmed its deficit to 26-20; the Jackets went 3-and-out, but were gifted another chance just two plays later when Will Brown came out of a scrum with the ball at the 19-yard line.
The Black Knights’ coaching staff called a timeout, provided some instantaneous motivation and in response, Hayesville soon failed to convert on fourth down – right where it had started the drive.
Cuttler Adams needed just five plays to deliver the opening shot for Robbinsville, breaking loose on a 67-yard touchdown run. The Jackets later pieced together a lengthy possession that spilled into the second, but concluded on a 24-yard scoring pass from Tate Roberts to Taylor McClure. Isaac Chandler hit the PAT moments later to give Hayesville its only advantage of the night.
A 37-yard completion from Donovan Carpenter to Darion Ledbetter went on to reinvigorate the Black Knights, who soon celebrated Adams’ second touchdown dash – this one from six yards out. He then took a direct snap to etch two more into the score column, which proved critical during the final minute of the first half.
Chandler was soon up to bat for a field goal, splitting the uprights with 15 seconds remaining to cut Robbinsville’s lead down to 14-10. Hayesville then recovered a bungled kickoff return and Chandler again proved clutch at the 2-second mark, nailing a 36-yarder that sent the Knights into the locker room with a 14-13 lead.
Carpenter floated a pass to Chase Calhoun early in the third, with the senior dashing upfield for a 60-yard touchdown. Robbinsville again forced a 3-and-out, which gave way to Adams soon punching another hat trick into the record books on a 45-yard trample to the end zone with 6:08 left in the third, which went on to be the final production from the Black Knights’ offense in the game.
Adams ended the night with 182 rushing yards on 15 carries, which drew him within 224 of Rylee Anderson’s all-time school and Smoky Mountain Conference record. Adams now has 5,940; Anderson totaled 6,164 between 2016-19.
The victory sets up a prime matchup to end the regular season, as Robbinsville hosts a familiar divisional foe Friday, Oct. 27: Swain County (9-0, 4-0), with the conference title up for grabs. The game will be live-streamed on grahamstarsports.com.
Look for more coverage in the Oct. 26 edition of The Graham Star.
Smoky Mountain Conference Round-Up
-Murphy 27, Andrews 20;
-Robbinsville 26, Hayesville 20;
-Swain County 45, Cherokee 7.