LaGRANGE — Thursday night lights are just fine with West Hall football.
The Spartans forced five Troup turnovers and rallied from a 21-10 first half deficit to knock off the Tigers 24-21 on Thursday night in the first round of the Class AAAA state playoffs. (The Spartans were playing on Thursday due to a stadium share for Troup.)
It was the first playoff win for the Spartans (7-4) since 2000. They now move into the second round and await the winner between No. 2 Thomson and Americus-Sumter, who play Friday.
Ashun Favorite picked off four passes, while brother AJ Favorite scored the eventual game-winner on a 4-yard run midway through the third quarter.
"This was just a huge win for our program," West Hall coach Tony Lotti said. "AJ just played a tremendous game. We made some mistakes but the kids never quit... Just proud of the whole bunch."
Troup (8-3) grabbed the early lead after stopping the Spartans on their initial drive. The Tigers converted on a pair of long third down passes and capped a quick drive for a 7-0 lead less than four minutes into the game.
West Hall responded with a long run by AJ Favorite deep into Troup territory, but the drive stalled at the Tigers' 3-yard line and Israel Lopez booted a field goal to haul the Spartans within 7-3.
The West Hall defense then forced a Troup three-and-out but the Tigers recovered a muffed punt and then capped a short drive with another touchdown for a 14-3 lead.
West Hall got its first break when Ashun Favorite returned an interception deep into Troup territory, and then Tyrese Osborne cut the lead to 14-10 with a 10-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
The Spartans snagged another Troup interception but could not capitalize, and the Tigers used a pair of long runs to push the lead to 21-10 with 8:41 left in the first half.
The teams traded punts and West Hall got the ball back with just over 5 minutes left in the first half at its own 4-yard line. Senior quarterback Jacob Satterfield responded, engineering perhaps the Spartans’ most crucial drive of the season. The signal caller connected on passes to Will Dague and Tanner Ahmad to the Tigers' 25 and then capped the 96-yard drive with a 20-yard touchdown run just before the half to pull within 21-17.
The West Hall defense grabbed three interceptions in the first half but converted the turnovers into just 7 points.
Yet West Hall took its first, and lasting, lead with 24 seconds left in the third quarter when AJ Favorite scored on a 4-yard run for a 24-21 scoreline. A crucial third down pass from Satterfield to Ahmad kept the drive going.
Troup kept the Spartans from putting the game away, however, picking off Satterfield in the end zone with 7:31 remaining. But the Spartan defense held firm, forcing a turnover on downs before sealing the contest with Ashun Favorite's fourth interception of the night on Troup's final possession of the night. The Tigers had moved to the West Hall 16 with just under a minute remaining. After yielding 21 points through the first 16 minutes of the game, the Spartans defense shut out the Tigers over the final 32 minutes.
"(Defensive coordinator Eric) Bona and his staff just did a fantastic job of making adjustments," Lotti said. "The offensive staff had a great game plan and once we cut down on the mistakes they did a great job. I'm going to drive back home and enjoy this one for a while and then get ready for next week."
