Hannah Styles
hstyles@thesmokymountaintimes.com
The matchup between the Maroon Devils football and Pisgah Bears had to be one that Coach Sherman Holt was waiting on, as a former coach at Tuscola; Pisgah is their arch nemesis. The Maroon Devils even had an extra cheering section at the game with Tuscola students joining Swain’s student section to cheer on the Devils against their rivals.
The first quarter brought pushes from both teams but ended with neither scoring. The second had a similar start with the Devils and the Bears battling back and forth but it wasn’t until the end of the quarter, where the Devils had made their way down the field to Pisgah’s 4 yard line, that Gabe Lillard passed to Reece Winchester to complete a touchdown with 1 second left on the clock. With the point-after kick from Brendan Lanning the score went to 7-0 for Swain.
After the half, with 2:28 left in the 3rd Reece Winchester carried a quarterback keeper touchdown for 1 yard, followed by another point-after kick by Lanning making the score 14-0.
In the final quarter Pisgah’s Aaron Clark carried a 1 yard hand off touchdown with just under 9 minutes left in the game, bringing the score to 14-7, for the first score of the night by Pisgah.
With only seconds left in the game, Pisgah’s Aaron Clark made a pass, broke up by Blake Sain and intercepted by Josiah Glaspie at the Pisgah 6 yard line for an impressive touchdown, followed up shortly after by an incredible interception when Josh Collins jumped over a Pisgah player to intercept Pisgah’s Aaron Clarks pass bringing Swain fans to their feet! The game ended with Swain kneeling at the Pisgah 12 yard line with a final score of 20-7 for a Maroon Devil win!
Swain had 167 rushing yards compared to Pisgah’s 107 and Josh Collins had a game high of 73 yards rushing in 16 carries and Gabe Lillard had 62 yard in 6 carries.
Josiah Glaspie, Josh Collins, and Gabe Lillard each had impressive interceptions in the game.
This week Maroon Devils football will host Dade County, Georgia at home for a non-conference matchup. Swain will go into the game with a 3-1 record, to Dade County’s 2-1.