GAINESVILLE, Ga. — A gritty second-half effort by North Hall’s defense helped the Trojans beat back East Hall 35-16 Friday at The Brickyard and extend their winning streak to 15 straight over the Vikings.
The North Hall defense held East Hall scoreless in the second half despite being on the field for most of the final 24 minutes. The Vikings ran 35 offensive plays to the Trojans’ 18.
Leading 21-16 at the half, the Trojans (1-2) weathered a 17-play East Hall drive to start the third quarter. North Hall stopped the Vikings on downs on Parker Carlton’s sack at the North Hall 19.
“Gritty was exactly what this game was,” North Hall coach Sean Pender said. “It was a great game. East Hall’s quarterback (Jamarcus Harrison) did a lot of damage with his legs, but defensively, we stood up and made some really good adjustments to what he was doing and played very well. Hats off to our defense.”
North Hall opens region play next Friday at Chestatee. The Vikings (3-1) have a week off before traveling to East Jackson on Sept. 20.
Harrison was limited to 59 yards rushing in the second half, with 47 coming on one play. The Trojans' pass rush kept the pressure on Harrison in the second half while the secondary blanketed East Hall receivers.
“Our coverage on their receivers was good for the most part,” Pender said. “He was killing us with his legs more so than his arm. We knew if we could contain him, we’d be in good shape.”
Whenever they needed a stop, the Trojans got it. They ended two other East Hall drives in the second half with forced fumbles and recoveries. Robby Lee had 10 tackles, and Walker Davis recorded six tackles and one interception to lead the Trojans.
The Trojans’ biggest defensive play came midway through the fourth when linebacker Buddy Clark broke through and blocked East Hall's quick kick attempt. The Trojans recovered at the Vikings’ 27.
Quarterback Smith McGarvey had a 14-yard run that set up Carlton’s 7-yard touchdown run to put the Trojans up 28-16 with 7:38 to play. After stopping East Hall on downs at midfield, North Hall put the game away with an 8-yard scoring run by Cole Cable on a reverse.
Carlton had a 30-yard run to help set up the score. He finished with 131 yards on 17 carries. The Trojans finished with 208 yards rushing. McGarvey had 39, and Luke Jenkins had 29.
The Trojans took a 7-0 lead four minutes into the game with a 75-yard drive. McGarvey hit Ty Kemp with a 14-yard touchdown pass.
Harrison led East Hall on an 83-yard drive to answer, finding Chasen Jones with a 10-yard touchdown pass. The Vikings took a 13-7 lead early in the second quarter on Harrison’s 4-yard run, set up by a 61-yard run from Lukas Pruitt.
Quarterback Alex Schlieman came off the bench to spark two North Hall scoring drives. He completed 6-of-6 passes for 101 yards and one touchdown, a 48-yarder to Kemp that gave the Trojans a 21-13 lead. Kemp caught three passes for 78 yards and two touchdowns.
North Hall had retaken the lead on the previous drive. Carlton scored on a 3-yard run to put the Trojans up ahead 14-13.
East Hall cut the Trojans’ lead to 21-16 at the half on Wilder Velasquez’s 32-yard field goal as the half ended.
Harrison and Pruitt led the East Hall offense. Harrison carried 20 times for 149 yards and completed 15-of-29 passes for 143 yards. Pruitt ran 14 times for 115 yards.
