HAYESVILLE – In a game whose score more resembled a high-scoring baseball game than a football game, Hayesville (4-1) beat Cherokee (2-3) by a score of 9-6 on Friday, Sept. 16. The game just didn’t have a lot of offense with the Braves netting 144 total offensive yards to Hayesville’s 169.
Braves QB Ray Smith (#5) tosses a pass to Greg Tisho (#84) in Friday's game at Hayesville. (DENISE WALKINGSTICK/One Feather contributor)
What the game did have a lot of was penalties. Cherokee was penalized 10 times for 74 yards and the Hayesville received 12 penalties for 79 yards.
By looking at the score, you’d think it was a war of field goals, but it wasn’t. There were two touchdowns scored and a safety.
Cherokee got on the board first with just a little over a minute left in the half. Ray Smith connected with Poncho Ramirez on a 13-yard touchdown pass. The point after kick was no good and the Braves took a 6-0 lead into the locker room.
The Yellowjackets would score twice in the third quarter. Their first score was a 45-yard punt return for a touchdown by Zach Wall. The point after kick by Matt Danielson was good and Hayesville led 7-6 just two minutes into the quarter.
Then, less than a minute later, the Yellowjackets defense would sack Braves QB Smith in the endzone for a safety to make it 9-6.
The Braves didn’t lose a fumble in this game, but they did have three interceptions – one each for Ray Smith, Logan Woodard and Corbin Wright. Smith went 8 of 16 for 83 yards and 1 TD in addition to his one pick.
Cherokee’s usual potent rushing attack was held to 83 yards. Wright led the way with 6 carries and 52 yards.
The Braves defense played well and held the Yellowjackets to 150 yards rushing and only 19 yards passing. Greg Tisho led the way with 17 tackles followed by Caleb Queen with 15.
This week, the Braves play host to the Murphy Bulldogs (2-3) on Friday, Sept. 23. After three losses to start the season, Murphy has won its last two beating Smoky Mountain 28-12 and Rosman last week 41-21. The game is set to kickoff at 7:30pm.
– One Feather staff report by Scott McKie B.P.
