Black Knights sweep Cracker Bowl slate
Sylva – Nail technicians across the region had to be swamped Monday morning.
Robbinsville’s Termites, Mites and Midgets scored a combined 26 points in three of the Smokey Mountain Youth Conference’s Cracker Bowl Championship games Saturday, providing the Knights’ respective audiences with nailbiters in each outing.
But the Black Knights’ defense took care of the rest and the end result was a 6-0 triumph for the Robbinsville Termites, an 8-6 win for the Robbinsville Mites and a 12-6 victory for the Robbinsville Midgets.
Games were held this year at Smoky Mountain High School. It was the first Cracker Bowl championships to be contested since 2019. The 2020 youth season was canceled due to COVID-19, while the 2021 slate did not feature a title game.
Termites
Robbinsville (7-2) had quite the formidable opponent standing in the way of a championship: the undefeated Franklin Panthers.
One of the Knights’ two losses during the regular season came at the hands of Franklin (8-1): a Sept. 10 road game that slipped away from Robbinsville in the second half of an eventual 20-12 defeat.
“We were beating them 12-0 at halftime and I don’t know what happened in the second half; it went to overtime and they beat us,” Termites head coach Jonathan Allison said. “These kids worked hard all year; we lose to Franklin, then we turn around and lose to Murphy.
“A two-loss team, so a lot of people had counted us out. This is bittersweet.”
At the ripe age of 9, quarterback Kyson Carpenter heaved two passes in the game. One was complete – but it was the one that counted.
The showdown looked destined for overtime, but a late Kamden Chance fumble recovery injected new blood into Robbinsville’s offensive attack. As the clock dipped under the 2:30 mark of the fourth quarter, Carpenter launched a missile downfield to the outstretched hands of Lawton Gibby.
The end result? A 31-yard touchdown.
Soon enough, Franklin was tasked with converting fourth down and with the season on the line, all Rocco Williams needed to do was reel in a pass.
Instead, Daylon Anderson and Carpenter interrupted the transaction and forced the turnover, sealing the win for Robbinsville.
The Black Knights’ Termites shut out their opponents in five of their wins this season. The only points surrendered in a win came in the Oct. 15 regular-season finale, a 16-8 win over Swain County.
Overall, Robbinsville outscored the opposition 180-34.
Mites
The regular season did not end the way on the Robbinsville Mites’ terms. Swain County knocked off the then-unbeaten Black Knights 32-18 on Oct. 15, so Robbinsville strutted onto the field Saturday with a chip on its shoulder.
After Zavian Wachacha snagged a fumble recovery shortly before halftime, Robbinsville (8-1) cashed in – to the tune of a 65-yard breakaway touchdown from Conner Hyde. Kreed Williams then punched in what evolved into the insurance for the Knights and Robbinsville led 8-0 at the break, thanks to a first-half ending sack by Canon Menard.
With 3:33 left to go, Swain County (7-2) tried to push the Knights’ luck with a 5-yard touchdown run from Sloan Queen.
Wisely, the Devils handed the ball to big fullback Hunter Herrin, but a pile of Robbinsville tacklers wrestled Herrin to the ground shy of the goal line.
It was Swain’s last gasp.
“We got down when we got beat by Swain two weeks ago, but I told them, ‘Boys, you hung right there with them. They’re a bigger, older team, but you can play with them,’” Mites head coach Andy Blevins said. “We practiced really hard for two weeks and we changed our defense up a little bit, keyed in on some plays and motions that they do. These boys came out, and put their heart and soul into it, and played a perfect ballgame.”
Robbinsville’s Mites outpaced the competition 262-114 this season, a run of dominance that included two shutouts.
Midgets
It was the perfect way to end a perfect season.
But much like the two games that preceded the nightcap Saturday proved, it was not going to be easy.
Robbinsville put the final touches on a 9-0 Midgets campaign by defeating the hosting Smoky Mountain Mustangs 12-6, thanks to – what else? – late heroics.
“We knew it was going to be tough,” Midgets head coach Elijah Wachacha said. “We came in here with the mentality that we were going to win, but we knew we would be against the wall, so we’d have to show up.
“We had four starters and an extra running back out, so we had to compromise because we only had two running backs. But we came in with the game plan of ‘simple football, simple win.’”
With 1:08 left in the second, the Knights punched their first touchdown on the board with a 7-yard Benton Gibby rumble. Smoky Mountain (7-2) thwarted the conversion attempt.
Mustang Hampton Ryan picked off a pass to begin the fourth and set the wheels in motion for the Mustangs’ lone touchdown – a 66-yard sprint from Damon Young, which knotted the tussle at 6-6.
However, Robbinsville snuffed out the conversion attempt and with 35 seconds left in regulation, broke away with the lead once more on a 31-yard Cameron Allison dashing score.
In full desperation mode, Smoky Mountain took to the air for its final attempts and it almost worked – until Allison broke up a pass to Young as the buzzer sounded.
Throughout their pursuit of perfection, the Robbinsville Midgets held opponents to just 78 points, while putting up 270.
Cherokee (8-0) bested Smoky Mountain (7-2) in the PeeWee title game that opened Saturday’s tilt, 36-14.