Football Recap: Smoky Mountain Comes Up Short

Smoky Mountain was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their fourth straight loss. They took a 26-8 bruising from the Franklin Panthers. While losing is never fun, the Mustangs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina football rankings (they are ranked 233rd, while the Panthers are ranked 78th).

Jackson Cooper

Rushing Yards

10/24/25 @ Franklin	92
08/29/25 vs Andrews	90
09/19/25 @ East Henderson	65
09/12/25 @ Pisgah	61
09/26/25 vs Tuscola	55

When it comes to explaining why Smoky Mountain lost, don't look at Rylee Smith. Despite the final result, he rushed for 158 yards. Smith's rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his third straight game with at least 158 rushing yards. Smoky Mountain also got a significant boost from Jackson Cooper, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 92 yards.

Among those leading the charge was Addix Sutton, who rushed for 57 yards on only eight carries, and also caught one touchdown.

Smoky Mountain's defeat dropped their record down to 3-6. As for Franklin, the victory (which was their fourth in a row) raised their record to 7-2.

We've got plenty of inter-conference action coming up soon. Smoky Mountain is set to take on their familiar foe North Henderson at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. That matchup will pit two of the most dominant backs against one another: Smith and Parker Willis. Meanwhile, Franklin will face off against rival West Henderson at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.