SENIOR NIGHT TRIUMPH; Smith County seniors honored, unit captures victory in home finale

By Terry Collins Courier Sports

CARTHAGE — The Smith County High Owls played their final home game last Friday night at Owl Stadium in Carthage against first time opponent Moore County.

Six Owls seniors were honored before the game as Landon Blevins, Joey Wright, Jaden Preston, Dylan Tomlinson, Ethan Montgomery and Bryson Halliburton played their final game at Owl Stadium.

“I’m really proud of our players and coaches,” said Smith County head coach Matt Dyer. “Our guys fought hard and played with a lot of effort for four quarters — especially to have a big win on our senior night, honoring our seniors.”

The six seniors played extensively and led the Black-and-Gold to a 27-13 victory to improve their record to 4-4 overall. Landon Blevins came in for an injured Riley Martin at the end of the first quarter and in his first ever playing quarterback did an excellent job of leading the Owls’ offense.

Smith Co. had 341 of their 360 yards in the game’s final 39:30 minutes with Blevins leading the way. He was 7-of-16 through the air for 125 yards and a touchdown while also adding 10 carries for 77 yards and a score. 

Blevins capped his night with a 66 yard kickoff return late in the fourth quarter which led to the hosts final score.

“We had to face some early adversity in this game when Riley Martin went down after our first possession,” said Dyer. “He’s been our QB1 for three years now and everything we do goes through him. So the fact our guys were able overcome that obstacle and still perform is a testament to their resiliency and perseverance. We have worked multiple QBs this season as other packages or injury scenarios. And Landon Blevins has had the most reps there this offseason and when we called his number, he didn’t blink once. And the guys really rallied behind him to help him out. It limited our playbook a bit because of Riley’s injury but it helped that our offensive line  and perimeter guys did such a good job in the run game.”

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