How Swain County's defense showed it has 'what it takes' to win the Smoky Mountain conference
BRYSON CITY -- Swain County coach Sherman Holt knows he needs an elite defense to win the Smoky Mountain Conference and then to make a deep playoff run.
His team’s 37-13 victory over Murphy on Friday shows the Maroon Devils might just have one.
“They way we beat (Murphy) tells our kids that we’re capable of doing great things,” Holt said. “That’s the confidence thing you try to build throughout the season. We’re very confident in what we’re doing.”
Swain County held the Bulldogs, who were averaging just over 300 yards per game this season, to 211 yards. The team’s starters allowed just seven points.
The Maroon Devils are 8-0 for the first time since 2012, when they made a run to the state championship game. The defense has been key. Swain County is allowing only 11 points per game.
“They just fly around. They’ll hit you,” Holt said. “Just proud of that side of the ball because that’s what it takes to be a championship football team.”
Senior Josh Collins said the defense’s success starts at the line, calling his teammates mean and gritty.
“They know how to play football,” Collins said. “When you have guys that are able to make havoc up front, it makes it so much easier for the backers to read and fly to the ball.”
Collins has been the biggest influence in Swain County’s undefeated start. Collins, the team’s leading tackler, recorded just four tackles Friday, but three were sacks.
“I’ve played about every position on defense since my sophomore year,” said Collins, who played outside linebacker on Friday. “This year, lot of film study. … My knowledge of the game has grown over the three years I’ve been on varsity.”
On the other side of the ball, Collins rushed for 265 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries. All three touchdowns came on 151 rushing yards in the fourth quarter, turning a defensive dogfight into a blowout.
“He’s like the Energizer bunny,” Holt said. “He just keeps going. Later in the game he gets better and he’s just a tremendous football player.”
Collins said his offensive line made it easier for him to run all night, and that they were more excited to score than he was.
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“Every time I come off the sideline, whether it was (Josiah Glaspie) scoring or me scoring, they were like, ‘Let’s get another one,’” Collins said. “Those guys are hungry and we’re ready to get back to work.”
The win builds Swain County towards a title match against Robbinsville – also undefeated in Smoky Mountain play – in just two weeks. Holt said his team will be ready.
“It keeps building,” Holt said. “This team just keeps taking steps up the ladder to the next rung. They’re so dialed in.”
Evan Gerike is the high school sports reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email him at egerike@citizentimes.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanGerike. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: How Swain County's defense showed it has 'what it takes' versus Murphy
