The Rosman Tigers will travel to Murphy this friday with 3rd place in the SMC at stake....The Bulldogs have basically owned the Tigers since the turn of the new Millineum, and haven't lost to the Tigers since the new century started back in 2000 when the Tigers used a Pick-6 by Jeremiah Galloway to secure a 27-16 victory over the then 4th ranked Bulldogs, in Rosman....
In 2001, Rosman was undefeated(4-0) when they opened conference play in Murphy against the Bulldogs...The Tigers had just beaten Hendersonville on the road 29-13, which is the last time Rosman has beaten the Bearcats...Anyway, the game was a struggle for both teams as both teams were pretty good defensively that season...Murphy lead 18-13 with under 2 minutes to play, and the Tigers were deep in Bulldog territory when a Murphy INT inside their own 20yd line sealed the fate of the Tigers....That was the last time that Rosman realistically had a chance to beat the Bulldogs....
Since that 2001 game, Rosman has lost 15 straight, and most of those games were lopsided affairs...In fact, Murphy has scored NO fewer than 40pts in each game, since 2007...A span of 10 total games, including playoff losses in 2012 & 2013...
Last year in Rosman, Dalton Kent threw a long TD pass on the first play of the game, and the rout was on as the Bulldogs smashed the Tigers 48-21 in Rosman...Kent was lost for the season a week or so later, but he and McRae had a big night last year in Rosman....
Looking back thru the years, Rosman and Murphy first met on the gridiron way back in 1966 when Murphy was a 2A member, and the Bulldogs shutout the Tigers that year 32-0 in that first meeting between the two teams...
The Bulldogs and Tigers briefly became SMC members in 73' and 74' with Murphy winning both games handily....The 74' Murphy team featured one of the best RBs to ever play in the Mountains as Willie Brown ran wild that night, rushing for an amazing 457yds against the Tigers in a 56-14 win over Rosman....That Murphy team would later go on to win their only state 2A championship, beating Robersonville 32-22...Of course, Robersonville is the home location of today's relatively new Eastern 1A school South Creek, which is poised to have their best season this year....
Anyway as one might expect, Murphy holds a commanding series lead of 28-6 in the 34 previous games played between the two teams....
One of the best Regular season games in this series happened back in 1993 in Murphy when Rosman rejoined the SMC...It was a tough and physical battle right down to the end with Murphy missing a 27yd FG attempt in the final seconds as Rosman prevailed, and won a nailbiter by a 12-10 score....It was the first time that Rosman had beaten both Swain and Murphy in conference play in the same season...A feat that was repeated in 1998, which was the last time the Tigers have beaten the Maroondevils...
The 97' game in Murphy was one that I personally will remember for some time because Murphy led 20-0 at the half before the Tigers roared back in the 2nd half only to fall short in a 27-21 loss to the Bulldogs....A game in which I watched the 2nd half from the parking lot as I was escourted from the football field by a couple of Murphy's finest that night after some choice words that I had for the head official who made a bogus holding-call that wiped out a Tiger TD early in the 3rd quarter...And yes, I did verify later the next week that the call was indeed "bogus"...lol!
As for the game this friday night in Murphy, it will be the first time that Rosman and Murphy have closed the season, and it will also be the first time in quite a while that a conference game this late in the season has held this much meaning for the Tigers....There's just really NO way to tell at the moment whether Murphy will be in the big or small 1A playoffs because qualified teams can "opt-out" which could shift the Bulldogs one way or the other since they are basically on the cut line, but it is a big game for both teams because a 3rd place conference finish receives an automatic bid instead of being seeded as a Wildcard?....The Tigers have lost 3 games this year but 8pts or less, and have yet to lose on the road this year....The Bulldogs seem to have finally settled on a QB as the Curry kid took most of snaps at Swain with Kent being moved to TE...Once again, a wet field will probably be the case this friday as rain is in the forecast....The Tigers will of course be without Sr. RB/DE Tanner Green, but should be well rested after the Bye week, and may be as healthy at the start of the game as they've been since the game with Brevard?....How well those former injured players play, is another question that will be answered on friday night?....
As usual, turnovers and penaltys will play a vital role in this game, but the more important factor may be whether or not the Tigers believe themselves that they can actually beat Murphy?...As mentioned above, a lot of this year's Tiger Seniors were 2/3 year old kids when Rosman last beat Murphy 15 years ago, and the underclassmen were probably in diapers, so what will be the team's mindset when they get off the bus after making that 2+ hour bus ride to Cherokee County?....On another note: What will be Murphy's mindset having lost to rival Swain County last week?...Remember, the Bulldogs have never played a conference game after playing Swain County since moving down to the 1A class in 1985, so what can we expect from the Bulldog players on Senior night in Murphy?
Guess we are fixing to find out on friday?
Roar Tigers Roar!
