GAINESVILLE — North Hall football has undoubtedly made strides this season, but on Friday Carrollton showed the Trojans that they still have plenty of room for improvement.
North Hall battled from the start but could not claim its second straight victory, as the visitors pulled away with a 42-3 win at The Brickyard.
The Trojans held firm in the early going, but Carrollton found its rhythm in the second quarter and ran away with the contest, literally, rolling up 349 yards on the ground.
“They’re a very good team, very talented; and we had some chances, but we also made some mistakes, and that was frustrating,” North Hall coach David Bishop said. “That comes from being a young team still.”
The Trojans (1-2) put up 170 yards -- 142 of that rushing, paced by 62 yards from Sam Jackson.
“They decided to bring the house on defense, and that was tough to deal with,” Bishop said. “The good thing is we can learn from it.”
Jackson ripped off a 55-yard run in the second quarter that moved North Hall inside the Carrollton 20, trailing 7-0. But the Trojans could not convert the drive into a touchdown, and watched Carrollton begin to take full control from that point.
“We had a couple of penalties there that took us out of a good situation,” Bishop said. “We’ve just got to be consistent now. But it’s tough when the other team is getting four-five-six yards a pop. It’s still a learning process.”
Carrollton quarterback DaMarcus Mitchell led the way with 118 yards rushing and 68 yards passing, while Jarvis Terrell added 79 yards and a score.
Carrollton managed one long drive in a first quarter marked more by defense -- though the visitors could only miss on a 30-yard field goal attempt.
Yet Carrollton’s special teams made up for the miscue on the very first play of the second quarter, as Keegan Hill gathered a North Hall punt, slipped two tackles and sprinted 60 yards for the opening score and a 7-0 lead.
The Trojans answered immediately, however, Sam Jackson ripping off a 55-yard run deep into Carrollton territory. A holding penalty stalled the drive, however, and the Trojans settled for a 37-yard Chris Dennis field goal to pull within 7-3 with 8:19 left in the half.
Yet the visitors grabbed the momentum right back, piecing together an 80-yard drive capped by Jaylan Thomas’ three-yard plunge off right tackle to extend Carrollton’s advantage to 14-3. And Carrollton continued to roll after the interval, stuffing the Trojans’ opening possession and marching just over 50 yards to make it 21-3 on Conrad Jackson’s five-yard scoring run with 6:21 left in the third quarter.
Carrollton continued pulling away as the third quarter waned, Jarvis Terrell taking off on a 40-yard touchdown run off the right side for a 28-3 lead. Late in the contest, Angelo Osorio tacked on the visitors’ final offensive score on a 23-yard touchdown run -- before Jordan Bonner added a 70-yard interception return to close out the contest.
North Hall will look to bounce back next week in their opening Region 8-AAAAA contest against Stephens County (which was on a bye this week).
“With the people we’ve played (non-region) -- Jefferson, West Hall, Carrollton -- there’s no slackers in that group; that can only help us,” Bishop said.
NOTE: Maggie Ewing was named North Hall’s homecoming queen for fall 2015.
SCORING SUMMARY
CARROLLTON....0...14....14...14 -- 42
NORTH HALL......0....3......0.....3 -- 3
Second Quarter
CHS -- Hill 60 punt return (McLendon kick) 11:43, 7-0
NHHS -- Dennis 37 field goal, 8:19, 7-3
CHS -- Thomas 3 run (McLendon kick) 3:18, 14-3
Third Quarter
CHS -- Jackson 5 run (McLendon kick) 6:21, 21-3
CHS -- Terrell 40 run (McLendon kick) 2:15, 28-3
Fourth Quarter
CHS -- Osorio 23 run (McLendon kick) 2:30, 35-3
CHS -- Bonner 70 interception return (McLendon kick) 1:23, 42-3
