Tuscola falls to Swain County at home

Sep. 11—Down four with two minutes left in the game, Tuscola got the ball at midfield with a chance to take the lead over the Swain County Maroon Devils on Friday night in Waynesville.

Junior tailback Gavin Langley took the initial handoff for one yard against a stout Swain County defensive front that held Tuscola to 89 total rushing yards in the game. The next play was an incomplete pass, setting Tuscola up for a 3rd down and 9 yards. Senior quarterback Jed West found senior Sy-eed Jackson for a 20-yard completion at the Swain County 29-yard line to pick up a new set of downs.

West used his legs on first down, rushing 14 yards through a hole in the Maroon Devils defense for the first down at the 15-yard line. West accounted for 80 of the Mountaineers' 89 rushing yards, including three touchdowns.

Two more completions of three and five yards set Tuscola up with a 3rd down and 2 yards from the Swain County 8-yard line.

West took the snap, rolled to his right under pressure, and let loose a throw to the back right corner of the endzone, where Swain County senior Joshua Collins intercepted the ball, all but sealing the win for the Maroon Devils.

"We knew we had a good game plan," said Tuscola head coach Jonathan Crompton on Saturday's "Jonathan Crompton Show" on YouTube. "We've got to make sure we don't beat ourselves. Nothing they did stopped us except ourselves... We've got to clean a couple of things up. That's part of the game."

The win moves Swain County to 4-0 on the season. The win also marks the Maroon Devils third-straight win over a Mountain 7 Conference opponent after upending Smoky Mountain and Franklin in preceding weeks.

The loss drops Tuscola to an even .500 on the season. The Mountaineers are 0-2 at home with a week one loss to Asheville.

"Our nonconference schedule was not an easy one by any means," Crompton said. "We faced four totally different offenses. That's a good thing. We've been tested as much as you can be tested in a nonconference schedule. That is going to prepare us for down the road when we get into a dogfight, and we'll know how to respond. I love how our kids reacted to it. They understand that this is a long road. They know that I'm going to make sure we're tested. When we get into the conference and playoffs, we're building for those moments to not be a surprise. I'm encouraged by that."

West had a big night for the Mountaineers, going 15 of 30 for 409 yards passing with one touchdown and one interception. The signal caller had 291 yards passing at the break. West also rushed for 80 yards and three touchdowns.

Tuscola's receivers were the primary beneficiaries of West's big night against Swain County's secondary: junior Jonas Howard led the unit with 7 receptions for 132 yards. Seniors Bryant Oancea caught 3 passes for 110 yards and the lone touchdown, and K.J. Vang hauled in 2 passes for 99 yards. Senior Syeed Jackson finished with 3 receptions for 68 yards.

The run game was not as effective against Swain County as it had been against previous opponents Polk County and McDowell. Aside from West, Langley had 10 total yards on four carries.

Tuscola takes an early lead

It was obvious from the first Swain County drive that stopping senior Joshua Collins would be Tuscola's primary concern on defense. After the defense allowed one first down, however, the Mountaineers stifled the run game and forced a Maroon Devils punt.

Tuscola took over at its own 7-yard line, and a penalty set the offense back at its own 3-yard line. Langley took a handoff 11 yards to pick up a first down, West found Oancea for an 11-yard competition and then Vang for a 45-yard reception on 3rd and 13 to cross midfield.

Another penalty backed Tuscola up to Swain County's 27-yard line, but West found Howard for 21 yards to set up 1st and goal to go. With a short field, West scampered 6 yards for the first touchdown of the game. A successful 2-point conversion gave Tuscola an early 8-0 lead.

On Swain County's ensuing drive, Tuscola's defense expected the run and stopped the Maroon Devils in the early down, but Collins broke a 61-yard touchdown run that woke up the offense. A successful 2-point conversion tied the game at 8-8 with 2:30 left in the first quarter.

Having found success passing on its previous drive, Tuscola went back to the air, with West finding Howard for 65 yards and what would have been a touchdown had Howard not been dragged down at the Swain County 3-yard line. After Langley was stuffed on first down, West took the keeper for the 3-yard touchdown run. The two-point conversion was unsuccessful, leaving Tuscola with a 14-8 first-quarter lead.

Swain County rattled off three first downs runs on its first drive of the second quarter, crossing midfield into Tuscola territory. The Mountaineers' defense punched out the ball on a first-down carry and recovered the fumble on their own 13-yard line to give the offense a new set of downs.

Tuscola took quick advantage of the Swain County miscue, as West found Oancea for an 87-yard touchdown pass on the first play. Oancea high-pointed the ball, the Swain County defender punched it up, and Oancea caught it and kept running for pay dirt. The two-point conversion was unsuccessful again, which left the Mounties with a 20-8 lead with 9:24 remaining in the half.

Tuscola went 1-for-3 on two-point conversions and has not attempted an extra point all season.

"I trust our team enough to get 3 yards," Crompton explained. "If we get 50 percent (conversion rate), we've made every extra point. That's the reason we go for two a lot. It has everything to do with analytics."

Maroon Devils make it a game

The Maroon Devils converted two third downs on their next drive, with Collins breaking off runs of 39- and 16-yards to set Swain County up in the red zone. Senior quarterback Reece Winchester kept it himself for the 6-yard touchdown run. Swain County settled for an extra point, making it a 20-15 game with 2:57 left.

Swain County finished with 390 yards rushing on 59 carries, 37 of which were carried by Collins.

Tuscola punted on its ensuing possession, and Swain County, despite two runs of 10 yards, saw its own drive smothered before halftime.

Coming out of the half, Tuscola threw four straight incompletions to turn the ball over on downs, giving the ball back to Swain County. The Maroon Devils relied on their run game, breaking off a 45-yarder before they converted two third downs and a fourth down. Collins punched the ball into the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown. After the extra point, Swain County took its first lead of the game, 23-20, with 6:45 left in the third quarter.

Down for the first time, Tuscola began its drive at its own 47-yard line. West found Jackson for 38 yards down to the Swain County 12-yard line. West scrambled for 10 yards to set the ball up on the 2-yard line. Keeping it himself, West scored his third rushing touchdown of the game on the next play to regain the lead 27-23 (the two-point try was no good) with 4:50 left in the third.

In what would be their penultimate drive of the game, Swain County converted two fourth downs, bleeding through the remainder of the third and half of the fourth quarter with its grind-it-out offense. The Maroon Devils converted the final third down to set themselves up at Tuscola's 3-yard line. Swain County punched the ball into the end zone on first down, retaking the lead 30-26 after the extra point.

"We knew they were going to try to hold the ball. That's going to be the story of the rest of our year," Crompton said. "Everybody knows we can score in under 90 seconds. We've got to be prepared that when we go on the field, we've got to be efficient offensively because our time of possession is not going to be lacking because we are able to score quickly. That's a credit to our guys."

Mounties come so close

Tuscola got the ball back on its own 33-yard line. After a penalty, West was stifled on 3rd and five, setting up a fourth down for the Mountaineers. West found Oancea down the sideline for 13 yards to pick up a new set of downs. Two straight incompletions set up 3rd down and 10 yards to go. West scrambled for 13 yards and a first down with just over five minutes left to play in the game.

West unleashed a deep ball to Oancea that fell incomplete. Seeing another opportunity, West found Oancea for a 38-yard touchdown, but a penalty on Tuscola erased the score. West threw incomplete on 2nd and 15, and a penalty erased a West rush on 3rd and 15. Faced with a 4th and 15, West returned to the pass, but the ball fell incomplete.

With only a few minutes left, Swain County ran the ball in an attempt to bleed the clock, but the Tuscola defense had another plan. On 3rd and 3, the Mounties stifled the back for only a 1-yard gain, and on 4th and 2, plugged the holes and forced a turnover on downs at the 50-yard line.

Down four with two minutes left in the game, Tuscola got the ball at midfield with a chance to take the lead.

A short gain and an incomplete pass set up a 3rd down and 9 yards to go. West found Jackson for a 20-yard gain to the Swain County 29-yard line and a first down. West rushed for 14 yards to the 15-yard line on the next play.

Two more completions set Tuscola up with a 3rd down and 2 yards from the Swan County 8-yard line, but West's pass was intercepted in the end zone to end the game.

Tuscola has a bye week this Friday night but returns with an away game at the Franklin Panthers (0-4) at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Sep. 22.