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Keyanthae Graham (from left), Mason Cochran, Andreas Cisneros and Skeet Cook grapple with opponents from the Madison Patriots at the game Sept. 22. The Devils won in 35-16.
Larry Griffin
lgriffin@thesmokymountaintimes.com
The Maroon Devils football team continued its unbroken winning streak Friday, Sept. 22 as they defeated the Madison Patriots with a 35-16 score.
The game saw the Devils gaining a wide early lead for the first few quarters, though the Patriots were able to mount a formidable opposition for the final half of the game before the Devils ultimately came through.
The first goal came with 8 minutes left in the first quarter, as Josh Collins carried the ball hands-off for a touchdown, and then Brendan Lanning got a kick to add an extra point, giving the Devils seven points to zero, according to scoring information and statistics provided by Swain County Schools Public Information Officer Toby Burrell.
Then, with one minute remaining in the quarter, the Patriots’ Tate Jones got a field goal from 40 yards and scored their team three points.
The Devils came back in the second quarter and scored again with around a minute left, as Collins passed the ball to Corey Stillwell for a touchdown from 74 yards. Then Lanning got another kick in adding an extra point, bringing the score to 14-3 in favor of the Devils.
Collins passed the ball to Keyanthae Graham, who got a complete touchdown and brought the score up to 21-3 with just one second left in the quarter.
The third quarter saw Collins getting another touchdown and Lanning landing another kick, with the score then sitting at 28-3 in favor of the Devils.
The Patriots’ Levi Shelton carried the ball for a touchdown with 2:50 left in the quarter, and Jones got in a kick, bringing the score to 28-10. The Devils answered as Collins and Lanning scored again just a minute later in the quarter, raising the score to 35-10.
The last quarter saw the Patriots getting a final goal in, with 9:16 left on the clock, as Shelton carried the ball for a touchdown at one yard and then Jones got a kick in. The final score was 35-16 in favor of the Devils winning their fifth consecutive game this season.
Collins got five touchdowns over the course of the game, and he rushed a total of 262 yards over the whole game.
Coach Sherman Holt said he was feeling good, though there were “some things to clean up.”
“We need to be more disciplined,” he said. “We need to take pride in doing things the right way, responding the right way, instead of losing composure or playing the way we don’t want to play.”
But with the win, Holt was still happy.
“They played hard; it was a great effort. We’re 5-0 starting conference. We have a couple days to get a couple guys healed up,” he said.
This coming week’s game, Friday, Sept. 29, is homecoming, and Holt said his ideal goal for the team was to strike a balance between enjoying the spectacle of homecoming and also playing another strong game.
“It’s always fun for the kids,” Holt said of homecoming. “It’s a big night. But it’s still just a football game. They shouldn’t be distracted by the festivities. Enjoy it, be a kid, but don’t let it affect the outcome of the game.”