Andy Temoney of Mount Airy looks for running room last Friday.
Last week, the Bears (14-0) secured their third consecutive trip to the 1A final four after a 51-20 win over Princeton. Tonight, coach Kelly Holder and company will look to advance to back-to-back 1A state title games and pick up the program’s 31st consecutive win.
Holder said he thinks his team knows well what’s on the table.
“We’ve talked all year about our goals and as we’ve accomplished a goal, we’ve set forth others,” Holder said. “The kids know what’s at stake because they’ve experienced it before. They know every game is do or die and it’s important.”
The only obstacle standing in their way are the Robbinsville Black Knights (12-2) out of the Smoky Mountain Conference (SMC), the No. 3 seed in the 1A West and a team who has been on a tear since losing it’s second game of the season 18-16 to rival Murphy in early October.
The Knights, led by second-year coach Dee Walsh, defeated Elkin 40-6 a week ago for the right to travel to Wallace Shelton Stadium and have averaged more than 48 points per game since the loss to Murphy.
Robbinsville rides on the ample shoulders of running back Kurt Odom, a 6-1, 195-pound senior, who personifies the smashmouth, run-heavy style which the SMC is known for.
So goes Odom, so go the Knights, who dropped their first game of the season to 2A Mountain Heritage 31-8, a game in which Odom did not play.
In the opening round against South Davidson, Odom was on fire, rushing for 242 yards on 11 carries for three touchdowns.
Performances like that were the norm for the senior back this season, who Mount Airy defensive coordinator Chris Johnson said reminds him somewhat of East Surry’s Hunter Diamont, the Northwest 1A/2A offensive player of the year.
“He’s the best of both worlds, that’s why he’s had a lot of success this year,” Johnson said. “He’s got the size and strength to be a power back and a burst of speed also. He’s a complete football player.”
Johnson did say Odom isn’t having a great season all by his lonesome however, adding the Knights, indicative of the SMC, are a big and physical team from top to bottom.
“They are big for a lot of college teams,” Johnson said. “That’s our No. 1 concern. How are we going to match up against their size? That’s the reason why Odom has had a lot of success, he’s got good people in front of him.”
While Odom is the focal point of the Knights’ offense, Robbinsville is by no means a one-man team. The Knights utilize two main offensive sets, a spread and an “I” formation and change their styles when switching formations.
Robbinsville was without starting quarterback Luke Perkins (6-4, 185) for much of the season, but he has played sparingly over the past several games. Johnson said when Perkins is in the game, Robbinsville has a better ability to throw the ball and run between the tackles. In Perkins’ absence, diminutive quarterback Blake Anderson takes over, giving Robbinsville a quicker backfield and a different look. Anderson scored three times last week against Elkin.
Fullback Taylor Wachacha (5-11, 225) and receiver Randy Hernandez (6-1, 175) are other weapons which Robbinsville uses in their offensive scheme.
Johnson said for the Bears to successfully stop the Knights they must be quick to the point of attack and have defensive penetration.
“We’re not big enough to face them man-to-man so we are going to have to use our speed to try and get in their backfield as quick as possible,” he said. “We may give up some big plays doing that, but we’ve got to get in the backfield and cause havoc.”
While the run is Robbinsville’s main weapon, Holder said not to let the Smoky Mountain mindset fool you, the Knights aren’t a one-trick team.
“They are a little diverse,” Holder said. “Along with the fact their conference takes a lot of pride in playing hard and being tough, they have some finesse. They aren’t just going to line up and try to run over you.”
Defensively, the Knights run a 4-3 Cover 2 and rely on a large front line and players who might be the closest thing the Bears have met this season to their own intensity and hitting power.
“They are pretty big up front, they have big kids who come off the ball well and they’ll hit you,” Holder said. “We haven’t seen any game that they’ve lost. But the teams that have played against them, they pretty much just based up. They’ve got a few tendencies, you know if you line up in certain formations, but that is what good programs do. They are very well coached and very sound.”
Last week the Knights forced four turnovers against Elkin, turning three directly into scores. Robbinsville’s win over the Buckin’ Elks avenged a 21-20 loss in the same round a year ago.
As for Mount Airy, Holder said 2008’s state title team is far from his and his team’s mind.
“I don’t think we’ve thought a whole lot about last year at all because this is a completely different team,” he said. “They have a completely different demeanor, different style of play, different strengths, different weaknesses.”
Holder said when preparing this season’s Bears for a game like tonight’s, there isn’t much needed to put across the levity of the situation from a football standpoint.
“I told them today, that everybody plays a game that is going to define them and when you are playing you don’t know when that time is going to be, so you have to be prepared every night for that moment to happen,” he said. “They understand the importance and I don’t think it’s very difficult to get any team ready to play at this point.”
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