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Cole Wikle soars over a Robbinsville player in a catch attempt.
Hannah Styles
hstyles@thesmokymountaintimes.com
It’s a tale as old as time. The rivalry between the Swain County Maroon Devils and the Robbinsville Black Knights. Both teams have reputations that precede them in the Smoky Mountain Conference and a long history of state championship titles.
The two went head-to-head last week on Thursday for a conference matchup originally scheduled for Friday that was moved due to potential bad weather.
The Devils entered the game with a record of 3-2 and Robbinsville 3-1.
The game began with a tense first quarter with both teams pushing back. The first score of the night came from Robbinsville’s Cuttler Adams with 5:46 left in the quarter followed by a two-point conversion bringing the score to 8-0. Swain soon tied the score when Reece Winchester passed to Josiah Glaspie for an impressive touchdown, followed by a two-point conversion by Josh Collins with 1:24 left in the first.
With under five minutes left in the second, Black Knight Cuttler Adams got another touchdown that he followed up with a two-point conversion sending the game into halftime 16-8.
After the half the Maroon Devils came back with force as Josh Collins carried a 61-yard touchdown with 5:52 remaining in the third, finished with a pass from Gabe Lillard to Reece Winchester for another two point conversion. The teams entered the final quarter tied 16-16 putting the entire stadium on pins and needles.
In the beginning of the final quarter, the Devils suffered an unfortunate penalty for a late hit out of bounds that moved the ball to Swain’s 35-yard line, which eventually resulted in the finishing blow for Robbinsville, another touchdown and two-point conversion.
The Devils just couldn’t recover after that, ending the game with a 24-16 loss for Swain.
Maroon Devil Josh Collins had a game rushing high of 92 yards with 14 carries and Josiah Glaspie had 16 yards rushing with three receptions for 42 yards.
Leading tackles was Lucas Sutton with 7 tackles and 5 assists and Gabe Lillard with 7 tackles with 4 assists.
This Friday, Swain will travel to Andrews to face the Wildcats for what is bound to be a tough game with Andrews currently ranked 4th in the 1A West Division. The Devils enter the game ranked 11th in 1A West and 3-3.