Black Hills can’t slow Archbishop Murphy, falls 56-21 in 2A playoff opener
Black Hills’ first offensive play went for an 80-yard touchdown pass from junior Christian Williams to senior Mark Melendres in Friday’s opening round of the 2A state football tournament.
Not much else went right for the Wolves.
The Archbishop Murphy Wildcats (11-0) scored touchdowns on its first six offensive possessions and added an interception return and a punt return for scores in a 56-21 dismantling of Black Hills (9-2).
The season ends for the Wolves having lost just two games, one to unbeaten top seed Tumwater and the other to No. 4 Archbishop Murphy.
“It was a great season, a lot of firsts for us,” Black Hills head coach Kirk Stevens said. “We came up a little short today. We ran into a really tough team, and they were on and we were a little bit short. It happens sometimes and tonight was one of those where it wasn’t our night.”
The Wildcats set the tone on their first drive with their Wing-T rushing attack. Senior Kerry Jackson found the end zone first, following a 25-yard run into Wolves’ territory with a 27-yard touchdown run to give Archbishop Murphy a 7-0 lead.
The Wildcats built a 49-7 lead at halftime, allowing head coach Jerry Jensen to rest most of his starters with a running clock in the second half.
Even in the second half with most of its starters on the bench, Archbishop Murphy kept grinding for more yards using the running game.
Jackson rushed for 107 yards on 12 carries and scored two touchdowns. Junior Anfernee Gurley rushed for 67 yards on six carries and scored a touchdown. He also caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Connor Johnson and returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown.
“Little things we hoped we would avoid, but that’s part of the Wing-T and what (it does) and we kind of bit into it,” Stevens said. “It was a nice job by them.”
Johnson finished 3 for 3 for 17 yards and two touchdowns.
Williams finished 8 for 17 for 274 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Wolves.
This story was originally published November 13, 2015 at 9:56 PM with the headline "Black Hills can’t slow Archbishop Murphy, falls 56-21 in 2A playoff opener."