Robbinsville poised to clinch divisional title
Robbinsville – Their bodies may be bruised and battered, but the Black Knights are one win away from a third-straight Smoky Mountain Conference title.
Having to squeeze in a make-up game with Swain County (4-4, 2-3) on Tuesday night – following a 24-14 victory over Andrews (5-3, 1-3) on Friday – tested the very depth and tenacity of Robbinsville (5-3, 3-1), but the Knights came out of the battles in position to capture the divisional championship, should they defeat Hayesville (3-6, 1-3) in the regular-season finale Friday.
A Murphy win over Andrews this week would tie both programs for first place, but Robbinsville would win the tiebreaker, due to the Knights defeating the Bulldogs 23-20 on Oct. 15.
“We feel really good. We’re ready for Hayesville,” said Robbinsville senior Ben Wachacha. “We feel really good about the playoffs; if we can play with this kind of momentum – and as aggressive and excited as we have been – we should be able to go through the playoffs, no problem.”
Robbinsville kept the Andrews offense at-bay for the first half of Friday’s affair and even limited the Wildcats’ vaunted running attack to just 33 yards during the game. In exchange, the Black Knights struck twice in the second quarter, in a span of 44 seconds.
Returning to action from a back injury, Cuttler Adams capped a 16-play, 82-yard drive with a 1-yard push across the goal line. Following Cody Cline’s PAT, the ensuing kickoff featured Zeke Silvers scooping up a Wildcats’ fumble at the 39-yard line. Two plays later, Adams broke free and sprinted 30 yards for another score. Cline’s point-after sent Robbinsville into the locker room with a 14-0 lead.
Andrews finally clawed its way onto the scoreboard with 3:14 left in the third, on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Donovan Bateman to Isaac Weaver. Ty Clark’s PAT cut Robbinsville’s lead in half, but the Knights struck again with 9:56 left in the game on a 6-yard scoring run from Kage Williams.
Cline hit the point-after, then was called on with 4:20 remaining to split the uprights on a 43-yard field goal, putting the game out-of-reach.
The Wildcats scrambled to respond and did so with 2:35 left, on a 13-yard Weaver run. Clark nailed the PAT, but even though Andrews got the ball back after forcing a Knights 3-and-out, the Cats ran out of time in their quest to rally.
Devils go down
Robbinsville wasted little time getting on the board Tuesday against Swain County, eventually picking up a 31-14 win over the Maroon Devils.
The Knights chewed 3:59 off the clock on the opening drive, before punching in a 1-yard quarterback keeper from Dasan Gross. A Briley Tolbert sack on the first Devils possession forced a punt, with Robbinsville continuing to dictate the clock and eventually scoring with 11:15 left in the second, when Gross dropped a 15-yard pass into Cuttler Adams’ hands.
Swain finally broke through with 8:18 left in the stanza, scoring on a 22-yard Gabe Lillard keeper. Robbinsville pieced together a response in the form of a 3-yard Kage Williams scoring run. Though the Devils managed to trim the deficit once more – a 3-yard carry from Joshua Collins – the Black Knights denied Swain County’s offense for the remainder of the game.
Robbinsville’s second-half offense came thanks to a 30-yard field goal from Cline in the third and a 34-yard sprint by Williams. Brock Adams’ interception on Swain County’s final drive sealed the deal for the Knights.
“Our offense and defense played really good,” Wachacha noted after Tuesday’s win. “We really played together tonight. I think we played better tonight than we did against Andrews. We were more excited; this is always a big game.”