Robbinsville JV steamrolls Yellow Jackets
Robbinsville – Any reservations about playing on a day’s rest were quickly swatted away.
The junior varsity Black Knights (3-1) struck early and often in their second game in three days March 24, pummeling the visiting Hayesville Yellow Jackets 68-0. Robbinsville is unbeaten under the Big Oaks this season.
“We outscored our opponents 100-0 this week and only gave up 97 total yards,” Robbinsville head coach Wren Millsaps said. “With that said, you can’t look past what my defensive coaches are doing this year. There is a mentality that we need to be perfect on every play, and the boys bought into it this past week.”
Alexis Panama jump-started the thumping with a 64-yard touchdown run on the first offensive snap of the game. Quinn Jumper would recover a Hayesville fumble on the next possession, before Cooper Adams scored on a 13-yard sprint on the next play. The Jackets went 3-and-out on their next drive, but the punt snagged by Zeke Silvers was promptly returned 70 yards to the house.
Another Hayesville drive went nowhere moments later and Silvers would return the punt again for a score, this time from 30 yards out. Isaac Picon capped a 36-point first quarter for the Knights with a 31-yard trample to the end zone with 35 seconds left in the stanza. Bryce Adams had two conversions runs in the first, while Paxton Waters rumbled across the goal line for another.
“In any level – against any competition – that many points in one quarter is crazy,” Millsaps said. “We were two missed assignments away from it being 40-0.”
Even with Robbinsville sending in its reserves for the remainder of the game, the offensive did little more than tap its brakes. Roman Jones pushed his way to six on a 1-yard carry late in the second, with Isaac Picon returning a third-quarter pick 21 yards for another Knights touchdown.
A fumble recovery by Ethan Webster late in the third built to an early 14-yard touchdown run in the fourth from Caden Lail. Picon put a stamp on the resounding victory with a 35-yard scoring dash with 3:15 left in the game.
Jones also had four conversion runs spread across the outing.
“What makes this win special is hearing names that Black Knight fans aren’t used to hearing, making big plays: Isaac Picon, Roman Jones, John Dominguez-Romero and Caden Lail all came up big for us,” Millsaps said.
The Black Knights will welcome Swain County for their final home game of the year today.
Kickoff at Modeal Walsh Memorial Stadium is set for 6 p.m.