Wolf leads North Hall into quarterfinals

MURRAYVILLE - With his team locked in a scoreless duel at halftime, North Hall senior Hunter Wolf decided to take matters into his own hands Friday night against Sandy Creek in the second round of the Class AAA football playoffs.

Wolf recovered a fumble on the first play of the second half, finished off the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run, added a 50-yard kickoff return to set up another touchdown, and then returned a fumble for a score to lead the Trojans to a 21-7 win at The Brickyard.

Wolf then perhaps sealed the win for North Hall intercepting a pass in the end zone to snuff out a Sandy Creek scoring chance.

The win moved the Trojans to 12-0 for the second time in school history and into the quarterfinal round for the third time in four years. They will take on Perry, which beat Worth County 28-6, next week at The Brickyard for a spot in the semifinals at The Georgia Dome.

Both defenses dominated the play in a scoreless first half. The Trojans never let high-rated quarterback Rio Johnson, the brother of former Georgia Tech star Calvin Johnson, get untracked holding the Fighting Patriots to three and out four times.

The Sandy Creek defense bent but did not break against the state's top-rated offense not giving up any big plays to North Hall.

But the second half started with a bang for the Trojans, whose defense came up with the first big play of the game on the first play of the third quarter as Wolf recovered a fumble. After North Hall converted a huge third down to keep the drive alive Hunter finished what he started with a 2-yard scoring run to give them a 7-0 lead.

But the Patriots struck quick behind Johnson to open the fourth quarter on a 53-yard pass to Braxton Lane to tie the game at 7-7.

But Wolf would let not the Trojans down returning the ensuing kickoff 50 yards to the Sandy Creek 25 and then Fabian Jackson finished it two plays later with a 23-yard scoring run to make it 14-7.

Wolf then helped put the game away on the next play after the kickoff stripping the ball from Lane and running it in for a defensive touchdown and a 21-7 lead.

Wolf then stopped another Sandy Creek drive with an interception in the end zone to snuff out the Patriots last scoring opportunity.

Neither offense could get much going with Sandy Creek getting just 214 total yards and North Hall piling up 211 yards. The difference was three Sandy Creek turnovers that led to 14 North Hall points.

Wolf finished with 82 yards rushing on 18 carries and a touchdown to lead the Trojans. Jackson had 51 yards on 11 carries and one touchdown and Bobby Epps had 41 yards on 13 carries.

Rio Johnson finished 9-for-18 passing for 108 yards one one touchdown. Lane had five catches for 95 yards and one touchdown.