LEDGER — The Mitchell High varsity football team is headed to the third round of the 1A state playoffs after riding its potent rushing attack to a 49-14 rout of visiting Swain in the second round on Friday, Nov. 12.
The No. 3-seeded Mountaineers (10-2) got the home crowd excited early by capping a 12-play, 75-yard opening drive with an 18-yard touchdown run by junior quarterback Ty Turbyfill.
Swain responded with a touchdown run of its own just three minutes later, but Turbyfill scored again late in the opening quarter, this time from 48 yards out, to put Mitchell up 14-6.
Turbyfill scored three more rushing touchdowns in the second quarter from 3, 20 and 40 yards out to give the Mountaineers a 35-6 advantage at halftime.
Senior Carter Hoyle joined the scoring party midway through the third quarter with a 9-yard touchdown run that put Mitchell up 42-6.
The Maroon Devils cut the lead to 42-14 with another rushing touchdown in the third quarter and Turbyfill connected with Gage Young for a 10-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to make the final score 49-14.
Turbyfill ran 18 times for a team-high 184 yards and five touchdowns. He completed 7 of 10 passes for 78 yards and a touchdown.
Hoyle carried 16 times for 102 yards and a score and sophomore Chase Duncan ran six times for 50 yards. Young finished with 21 rushing yards on five carries.
Dalton Hollifield led the Mitchell receivers with three catches for 51 yards. Ethan Willis caught a pair of passes for 11 yards and Young and Hoyle had one catch each.
Duncan and Kaden Phillips paced the Mountaineers defense with four tackles each. Hollifield recovered a Swain fumble.
Next up
Mitchell’s win sets up a third round matchup against No. 6 seed Thomasville on Friday, Nov. 19 in Ledger.
Thomasville (9-2) has not yet allowed a point in the playoffs. The Bulldogs blanked Highland Tech 62-0 in the opening round and followed with a 34-0 thrashing of South Stokes.
Thomasville, which has won three straight, has outscored its 11 opponents 502-115 this season.
Kickoff between the Bulldogs and Mountaineers is 7:30 p.m. Friday in Ledger.