Mountaineers finish season 7-1
Sophomore quarterback Ty Turbyfill prepares to fire a pass down the field as Robbinsville defenders arrive on the rush. The Black Knights beat the Mountaineers 28-20 in the second-round state playoff game and will advance to host Murphy. (Miranda Buchanan/Robbinsville High School)
ROBBINSVILLE — The season is over for the Mitchell High varsity football team.
Robbinsville (9-0) beat the visiting Mountaineers (7-1) 28-20 Friday, April 23 in the second round of the 1A state playoffs.
After forcing a Robbinsville punt on its first drive, Mitchell drove down the field on a 16-play drive and capped it with a 7-yard touchdown run by senior Ty Sparks.
Robbinsville followed with 14 unanswered points off of a pair of rushing touchdowns.
Mitchell stopped the scoring run with a 3-yard touchdown dive by senior Tanner Duncan.
After a missed extra point following Duncan’s score, Robbinsville took a 14-13 lead into halftime.
Robbinsville scored another 14 unanswered points in the second half to push its lead to 28-13.
Sophomore quarterback Ty Turbyfill scored a 2-yard rushing touchdown midway through the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 28-20 but the visiting Mountaineers ran out of time as the Black Knights chewed the fourth-quarter clock with their rushing attack.
Turbyfill completed 12-of-20 passes for 173 yards with one interception. He ran a team-high 15 times for 31 yards and a score.
Ty Sparks led the Mitchell receivers with six grabs for 94 yards including a 53-yard reception. Caius Arrington caught four balls for 34 yards and Cole Sparks and Duncan added a catch each.
Duncan led the Mitchell rushing attack with 13 carries for 67 yards and a touchdown. Ty Sparks ran once for seven yards and Carter Hoyle had three carries for five yards.
Hoyle and Duncan each had 10 tackles to tie for the team lead. Senior Mason Bullius had nine tackles and juniors Xander Gardner and Gabe Brandt had one tackle for a loss each while combining for 15 stops.
Ty Sparks recovered a pair of Black Knight fumbles and senior kicker Cole Woodard averaged 59 yards per kick and earned three touchbacks on four kickoffs.
Robbinsville will host Murphy in the next round.