–Hayesville OT win on Friday a ‘kick in the gut’
10 October 2007By Toby Burrell-SID-Swain Co High School
HAYESVILLE - October 5, 2007 - For the Maroon Devil football team last Friday’s loss was like a kick in the gut. Swain outplayed the home standing Yellow Jackets in almost every category but the final score. Hayesville took a 21-20 overtime nail-bitting heart wrenching win over the Devils.
No athletic contest comes down to one play to decide the outcome. Certainly that has never more been the case than Friday night for Swain.
To the casual observer, a missed extra point in the first overtime might appear to have been the Devils downfall. That would be far from the case.
One would not need to look any further than Swain’s inability to capitalize on seven Hayesville turnovers as the reason for the Devils downfall.
Swain picked off four Yellow Jacket passes and recovered three fumbles. Only one of the seven turnovers turned into a Maroon Devil touchdown.
Despite their inability to turn Jacket turnovers into points the Devils put together their best game of the season. Swain used their best rushing attack on the season to maintain control of the ball for much of the game.
Swain got on the board first, scoring on their first drive of the game. Two Cory Hipp passes netted the Devils 16 yards, the first to Chase Sneed and the other to Steven Archer. One play later sophomore Cory Greene broke free for a 45 yard touchdown run. Greene’s run and the extra point gave Swain a 7-0 lead.
Hayesville responded early in the second quarter. Jacket quarterback Jonathan Shively connected on a 16 yard touchdown pass. The extra point attempt failed, leaving Swain with a 7-6 lead.
The Jackets would take the lead mid way through the third quarter. Brett Moody scored from one yard out. Shively then connected for the two point conversion to give Hayesville a 14-7 lead.
Swain responded to open the fourth quarter. Cory Hipp hit tight end Aaron Smiley with a 15 yard touchdown strike. The Hipp to Smiley pass completed a 13 play 65 yard drive.
Aaron Queen, Hipp, Archer, and Greene all combined to pound out 50 of the 65 yards on the ground. The extra point tied the game at 14 with just over 11 minutes remaining, and would remain that way through the end of regulation.
Hayesville took the ball to start the overtime period. Shively hit Robert Rogers for a 10 yard touchdown pass, following a near Jacket turnover on first down. The extra point attempt was good giving Hayesville the 21-14 lead.
In the Devils overtime period, they netted five yard on two running plays. Facing third and five from the five, Hipp hit Ryan McMahn in the endzone for a five yard touchdown. Swain’s hopes of forcing a second overtime were dashed when the extra point sailed wide right.
For the night the Devils rushed for 129 yards on 41 carries, both season highs. Cory Hipp passed for another 99 yards by going 11 of 20. Hipp also tossed two touchdown passes. Casey Clark paced the Devil defense with a game high 12 tackles. Aaron Smiley added 10 tackles.
Swain will host county rival Cherokee this Friday. Kickoff from Swain County Memorial Stadium will be at 7:30. A large crowd is expected, so make plans to arrive early.
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