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Jackets end season with tough loss in playoffs
Hayesville struck pay dirt early in the first quarter with a 65-yard run by quarterback Jonathan Shively, capped with the extra point kick by Shaun Tant to take a 7-0 lead. Then the game began to seesaw with both teams loading up on penalties, until late in the second quarter, East Wilkes struck back with its own TD and kick to tie the game 7 to 7. After that both teams offense faltered until late in the 4th quarter when Shively took another long run, a 30-yarder, in for the score putting the Jackets up 14 to 7 with only six minutes to play. What was so striking about that run was that it came on a 4th down with 10 yards to go for a first down. A daring move, well executed.
Hayeville took the kickoff and made some long passes of its own, almost completing two of them, but the offense stalled and Shively was forced to punt with 40 seconds left in the game. East Wilkes took the ball over on the 41 yard line, and it looked like the game was sure to go into over- time. Would you believe, they did it again. Tossing a long pass, East Wilkes took the ball down to the 10-yard line, and after a play getting the ball positioned in front of the uprights, they kicked it in for the final points of the game, giving them a 17 to 14 win. In the stats, East Wilkes held a slight edge over the Jackets in both rushing and passing yardage; however they were close and the East Wilkes rushed the ball twice as often as the Jackets. For Hayesville, Shively picked up 135 yards in 13 attempts. Brett Moody rushed for 37 yards in four attempts. Shively completed eight passes in 14 attempts for 107 yards and had one interception.
Coach Neil Setzer said he felt like this was a game the Jackets could have won, should have won, and that he was disappointed that they hadn't. "We got in the scoring zone but didn't execute the plays well," he said. "Also, East Wilkes was little quicker than we had thought. They showed speed in the defensive front." Even though the Jackets have been on somewhat of a roller coaster late in the season, they still had a good year, tying for second place in the conference with Murphy and Swain (both larger schools.) Hayesville had been picked in the polls to finish in the bottom half. "It was a positive overall season," Setzer said. "A lot of credit belongs to our seniors. They worked hard in the off season and demonstrated a lot of leadership. We had a 40 man roster, which means that 20 percent of the high school boys were playing football. The Hayesville fans were also good to support us." With the football season ended, basketball and wrestling is just about to begin. The varsity Yellow Jackets travel to Highlands on Friday for its first game of the season. The first home game is scheduled for Monday, November 26 with Franklin. The wrestling team has its first match on November 27.
Former Yellow Jackets playing college ball include Brian Cook who played his last game at Guilford on Saturday. He graduates in the spring. Taylor Baker, who played a couple years at Guilford, graduates this semester. Tyler Ledford plays for Guilford but has been on the injured list with a knee injury. He is expected to be working out with the team next year in spring practice. Clay Woody is a member of the Army football squad at West Point.
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