Robbinsville upends No. 6 Jackets, advance to sectional final
Bessemer City – All the buzz around Robbinsville’s football season reaching its conclusion suddenly quietened when news emerged from suburban Charlotte of Friday’s outcome.
After pulling back above .500 for the first time all year, the Black Knights continued to strike while the iron is hot in the second round of the playoffs. Making its gridiron debut against Bessemer City (No. 6, 8-5), Robbinsville (No. 11, 7-6) held the hosts at-bay and channeled the momentum of three rushing touchdowns from quarterback Bryce Adams to definitively eliminate the Yellow Jackets 19-0.
“It was a great team effort,” Adams said. “We executed the game plan the coaches had planned for us. Our defense was great; another shutout (Robbinsville’s third of the season), but the true key was the line – it was amazing.”
Adams’ hat trick came thanks to a pair of touches in the second quarter: he broke the scoreless monotony with a 19-yard run at the 5:59 mark of the stanza, before punching in an 8-yard weave just before halftime.
The Knights’ senior quarterback saved the best for last, though: churning out a 26-yard rumble to the house with 2:39 left in the affair. He finished with 97 rushing yards on 10 attempts.
Bessemer City was held to a scant 49 offensive yards; Jackets gunslinger Gavin Chastain fired three interceptions to Robbinsville’s willing hands.
The win was 1-of-22 Friday in which a double-digit seed advanced to the third round of the playoffs, statewide.
The Black Knights are peaking at the right time and plan to channel the energy into their third-round opponent this week: the Murphy Bulldogs. Robbinsville led Murphy (No. 3, 11-1), 7-0 in the fourth quarter of Oct. 11’s home game, but squandered the lead and fell 14-7.
“This win was big, but Murphy has been in the back of our minds. We have been looking forward to this for a long time,” said Adams. “We have to stay disciplined and trust in our coaches; they have done a very good job of getting us ready every week.
“I truly believe that if we stick to our gameplan, no one can beat us.”
Kickoff at Bob Hendrix Stadium will be at 7:30 p.m.; The Graham Star Sports Network (grahamstarsports.com) will be live-streaming the proceedings for $7.99.
Smoky Mountain Conference Playoff Scoreboard
2nd Round: Nov. 22-23, 2024
* Eastern Randolph (No. 4, 12-0) fanned Cherokee (No. 13, 7-5), 42-0;
* Mountain Heritage (No. 2, 10-0) defeated Hayesville (No. 18, 4-8), 51-7;
* Murphy (No. 3, 11-1) beat Christ the King (No. 19, 5-7), 21-11;
* Robbinsville (No. 11, 7-6) blanked Bessemer City (No. 6, 8-5), 19-0.