Westminster QB making plays on both sides of ball for GIAA football title contender
In 8-man football, players seeing snaps on both sides of the ball is common.
What made Westminster Schools of Augusta’s 69-0 rout of Crisp Academy on Friday night different was quarterback Levi Murphey. Not only was the junior signal caller nearly flawless leading the Wildcats’ offense, but he also stepped in and made plays in the secondary.
Murphey intercepted a pass on Crisp Academy’s second possession, setting up a Caleb Franks rushing touchdown.
“He’s been outstanding. He’s an outstanding leader, his work ethic is second to none and the team just rallies around him,” WSA coach Chris Murphey said. “It’s kind of amazing we had a corner go down with an injury and we brought him in at safety and the first play he gets that interception. I was like, ‘Wow.’”
While many coaches might not have been willing to put their quarterback in as a defender for obvious reasons, Murphey didn’t hesitate.
“This is the playoffs,” he said. “We’ve got to do whatever we have to do to get to the state championship. We’re not afraid to put him in on defense when we need to.”
That leadership was on full display all night. Levi was pulled following the first drive of the second half with the game well in hand. Freshman James Pope tossed a long touchdown pass in the third quarter, and who was the first to greet him on the sideline after the play? Levi.
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Westminster Schools of Augusta football looking for first state title since 2019
It was a familiar opponent, as the Wildcats also throttled Crisp Academy 56-13 in the regular-season finale. While they cruised to the win, Murphey stressed the importance of using what they saw from Crisp Academy the first time around.
“We kind of had an idea of what they were going to do, but we thought we’d see a few different wrinkles tonight being that it was a playoff game,” he said. “They pretty much came out and ran the same thing they ran last week, so it was kind of familiar ground.”
Looking for their first Georgia Independent Athletic Association 8-man state championship since 2019, Westminster will have to go through the defending state champs to do it. The Wildcats host David Emmanuel Academy next week in the semifinals, with the winner punching its ticket to the title game.
Murphey’s message to his team is simple: play physical.
“That’s a physical team, we’re going to have to play physical, smashmouth football,” he said. “They’re well coached and they are a good football team. We just have to play to our standard of excellence and if we do that, I think we’ll be fine.”
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: QB Levi Murphey leads Westminster to GIAA football semis
