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Maroon Devils Gabe Lillard and Donnavin Groenewold before the snap, while linemen hold position in the home win against the Yellow Jackets.
Hannah Styles
hstyles@thesmokymountaintimes.com
The Swain County Maroon Devils took on the Hayesville Yellow Jackets at home Friday in the first round of playoffs.
The Devils came out confident and started the scoring shortly into the first quarter.
With eight minutes left in the first quarter, Gabe Lillard carried the ball for a touchdown bringing the score to 6-0. In the second quarter Hayesville made a pass that was intercepted by Josh Collins for the second touchdown for the Maroon Devils. The second quarter brought two more scores for the Devils by Donnavin Groenewold and Cooper Hyatt, ending the first half with 27-0.
After half time, Lillard carried another touchdown for the night making the score 34-0.
In the fourth quarter, the Yellow Jackets managed to score, followed by another Swain score by Dawson Fuller. Hayesville ended the game with another score bringing the final to 40-13 for a win for the Devils.
Lillard was 5 out of 7 for 79 yards through the air with a pair of touchdown passes. On the ground, Lillard added 66 yards, 11 carries and 2 rushing touchdowns. Carson Taylor had 54 yards on 7 carries. Groenewold and Hyatt had a pair of catches each, and each caught a touchdown pass.
On defense, the Devils had 3 interceptions by Josh Collins, Gabe Lillard and Nathan Bogdanowicz. Carson Taylor and Lucas Sutton each had 13 tackles.
This Friday, the Maroon Devils will travel to Mitchell for the second round of playoffs.