Nothing was meant to be easy about Friday’s trip to Murphy.
A multi-hour bus ride to the far western mountains of North Carolina with a defending state champion lying in wait? The difficulty of such a scenario was only compounded when Christ School spotted the Bulldogs a touchdown in the first three minutes.
Not to worry, the Greenies weren’t feeling nearly as generous from that moment on.
Flying to the football, shedding blockers, and anticipating every next move, the Christ School defense was able to hold Murphy to its lowest points-total in three years with a 27-7 road win.
“We had some real leaders tonight on defense and they were laser-focused on what they needed to do,” Greenie coach Nick Luhm said. “Guys like Read Sunn ’20, Jasper Thomas ’20, Lex Long ’21, Aydan White ’20, and Kiki Alcime ’20 played so fast. We knew we were up against a well-coached opponent that knew what they wanted to do. To hold a team like that (to seven points) is big for us.”
Christ School (3-0) committed the game’s only turnover (a third-quarter fumble) and twice gave the ball away on downs – at its own 34-yard line as well as potentially driving for a score at the Murphy 16. The offense still did more than enough to solidify a win in the first-ever meeting between the Greenies and Murphy (3-1).
Pierce Hammonds ’22 was a workhorse with 153 rushing yards and touchdown runs of 6 and 33 yards. Navy Shuler ’20 passed for 208 yards with touchdown throws to Wilson Handy ’21 (9 yards) and Aydan (19 yards). Both scoring connections were notable, albeit for different reasons. Friday’s touchdown was the first for Wilson in his Christ School career. Aydan was able to get at least one foot in-bounds for both of his catches, surely adding to the senior's highlight film.
Lex and Charlie Browder ’21 both made key third-down receptions to keep drives alive in the second half.
Christ School only led 14-7 entering the fourth quarter, but was never in danger of giving up a tying touchdown after Murphy turned the ball over on downs at the Greenie 25-yard line midway through the third. Linemen Will Buchanan '20 and Ian Adams '21 were both hobbled by injuries that theoretically should have helped the Bulldogs' chances.
Murphy was No. 2 in the season’s first Associated Press state poll for N.C. High School Athletic Association 1-A football and is ranked third overall on a regional level by the Asheville Citizen-Times.
Christ School has been the No. 1 team in the ACT poll for two weeks now, a first in each case for the program.