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Joshua Collins advances the ball
Hannah Styles
hstyles@thesmokymountaintimes.com
The rivalry between the Swain Maroon Devils and Cherokee Braves has always been strong and each year fans look forward to the meeting of the two teams. Last week, that meeting happened at Ray Kinsland Stadium in Cherokee and the game fell nothing short of fiery.
The Braves began the scoring for the night when Kaden “Tso” Smith carried a quarterback keeper with the clock at 5:08 in the first quarter, followed by a good point after kick. Swain didn’t stay down long, with less than a minute later Maroon Devil Josiah Glaspie carried a 74 yard touchdown with a good point after kick from Oliver Reyes, tying the score at 7-7.
In the second quarter, Cherokee got two touchdowns making Maroon Devil fans a little nervous as the 21-7 score looked pretty intimidating but with 6:32 left in the second, Josh Collins passed to Reece Winchester for a Swain touchdown but the point after was no good, making the score 21-13. That didn’t stop The Braves’ momentum as they got another score before the end of the half, bringing the score to 27-13.
Cherokee started the third with another touchdown from Chase Calhoun and a good point after kick from Mato Grant. Swain dug their heels in and fought back with two touchdowns in the third, one from a carry by Josiah Glaspie and the other off a pass from Josh Collins to Reece Winchester followed by extra points, making the score 34-28 with Swain still trailing closely behind Cherokee.
In the final daunting quarter, Cherokee’s Kaden “Tso” Smith got another touchdown followed by a no good point after pass giving the Braves six more points. Swain came back swinging with six minutes left in the game Josiah Glaspie carried another touchdown with a good point after kick putting fans on the edge of their seat with Cherokee leading 40-35. Just when it seemed like the game was going to end in a win for the Braves, the Devils didn’t give up with under three minutes left, Reece Winchester passed to Josh Collins for a complete touchdown and a point after pass from Collins to Nathan Bogdanowicz ending the game with a 43-40 win for Swain.
Swain will go into the first round of the playoffs this Friday at home against Winston Salem Prep Academy.