Sequoyah whips Murray County

By Doug Hawley

CHATSWORTH — A struggling Murray County High football team ran into a bunch of angry Sequoyah Chiefs on Friday night, and the results were disastrous for the Indians at Murray Field.

After a loss last week to Northwest Whitfield knocked the Chiefs from a share of the Sub-region 7A-4A lead, they quickly made sure another defeat would not occur. A 42-0 halftime advantage turned into a final of 56-0, with a running clock throughout the second half due to Georgia High School Association mercy rule.

“We just encouraged them to stay focused and not go through the motions,” Sequoyah coach James Teter said. “We needed a game like this. We hadn’t had one like this all year.”

Sequoyah (6-3, 5-1 sub-region), which earlier stunned host Dalton, must settle for third place in the sub-region’s crossover game.

“We were not mentally ready to play,” Indians coach John Zeigler said. “That’s my fault. We couldn’t do anything. Everything we did was wrong. We have played poorly the last two games after our best game against Northwest (a tough 18-10 loss).”

Murray (1-8, 0-5), which lost its 27th consecutive league game, concludes regular season play next Friday on senior night at home against Allatoona.

“Perhaps that will give us some motivation,” Zeigler said. “We need something.”

In the Indians’ dismal first half, they had minus-8 yards total offense (minus-23 rushing and 15 passing) while yielding 282 yards to the Chiefs (225 running, 57 throwing).

Sequoyah scored on its first two possessions in the opening quarter to build a quick 14-0 lead.

Tim Swanny first culminated a seven-play 65-yard drive on an 11-yard run. Shawn Wortham kicked his first of six extra points.

Will Willis set up the next score by recovering a Murray fumble at the Indians’ 25. One snap later, Dominique Swope ran 25 yards for a score.

Early in the second period, Ben Rogers tossed a 3-yard scoring pass to Brandon Alexander.

Murray’s primary highlight came on Sequoyah’s next series as Luke Mealer returned a Rogers interception 40 yards from his 15 to the Chiefs’ 45. However, four plays netted only 3 yards.

Sequoyah added 21 more points before intermission — touchdowns by Swanny, 16-yard run; Tucker Adams, 20-yard run with a fumble; and Kirk Medas, 36-yard run.

After a scoreless third stanza, the Chiefs scored their final 14 points. Those came on Willis’ 2-yard run and Cameron Montalvo’s 34-yard scamper. Mason Strain kicked two PATs.

Sequoyah’s top three rushers never carried the ball in the second half. Swope had 88 yards on nine carries; Swanny 79 on five; and Medas 56 on three.

The Chiefs finished with 338 yards rushing and 57 passing for 395 total yards of offense. They limited the Indians to a mere 8 total yards.

CHIEFS 56, INDIANS 0

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Sequoyah 14 28 0 14 - 56

Murray 0 0 0 0 - 0

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

SEQ-Tim Swanny 11 run (Shawn Wortham kick), 8:03

SEQ-Dominique Swopes 25 run (Wortham kick), 4:47

Second Quarter

Brandon Alexander 3 pass from Ben Rogers (Worham kick), 11:10

Swanny 16 run (Wortham kick), 6:04

Tucker Adams 20 run with blocked punt (Wortham kick), 4:28

Kirk Medas 36 run (Wortham kick), 3:34

Fourth Quarter

Will Willis 2 run (Mason Strain kick), 6:35

Cameron Montalvo 34 run (Strain kick), :42

YARDSTICK

SEQ MURR

First Downs 22 4

Rushes-Yds. 35-325 29 (-7)

Passing Yds. 57 15

Com.-Att.-Int. 5-10-1 2-7-0

Fumbles-Lost 1-0 6-3

Punts-Avg. 1-28 4-31

Penalties-Yds. 6-40 2-20

Turnovers 1 3

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING - Sequoyah: Dominique Swope 9-88, Tim Swanny 5-79, Kirk Medas 3-56, Cameron Montalvo 1-34, Obie Meyers 3-34, Cole Temples 4-15, Will Willis 5-13, Stephen Ibar 1-9, Jake Pontius 2-8, Kyle Friedriches 2 minus 11. Murray: Dustin Anderson 6-22, Zac Dills 4-6, Luke Mealer 1-3, Zach Bell 1-3, Chasten Love 1-2, Jacob Born 4 minus 1, Trevor Nations 1 minus 4, Brady Todd 1 minus 5, Taylor Patterson 10 minus 33.

PASSING - Sequoyah: Ben Rogers 5-10-1 57. Murray: Taylor Patterson 2-7-0 15.

RECEIVING - Sequoyah: Kirk Medas 1-29, Vini Macedo 1-11, Garon Brandon 1-9, A.J. Howard 1-5, Brandon Alexander 1-3. Murray: Raheem 1-8, Luke Mealer 1-7.