RABBITTOWN — It took a split second to sink in -- but Chestatee saw two-plus seasons of heartache come to an end on Friday night.
The War Eagles used a third quarter touchdown to overcome East Hall, the elements, and a losing streak that stretched back to 2014 thanks to a 23-21 victory in Valhalla.
The game featured plenty of intrigue -- only made more nail-biting by an almost two-hour lightning delay that forced the contest to conclude in the third quarter, thanks to reaching an 11:30 p.m. cut-off time for GHSA contests.
"Well, any time you get a win it's awesome, but especially after the drought they've been on. I'm so happy for these kids," said first-year Chestatee coach Shaun Conley. "I'm telling you, it's just amazing to see them.
"We were just trying to play hard and get our kids not to give up, and give great effort, and they did that tonight. I'm super proud of them right now."
The effort was spread out between several War Eagles, including standout running back Nick Lyles, who rushed 18 times for 129 yards and a touchdown and caught two passes for 69 yards and a score.
"Nick Lyles is a special player, we knew we had to get the ball in his hands," Conley said. "He's the type of player that can take a game over and he pretty much did that tonight."
Meanwhile quarterback Storm Yarbrough threw for 124 yards and two scores and rushed for 42 yards. Jacob Goodall caught the other touchdown pass from Yarbrough and finished with 55 yards receiving.
Goodall's 40-yard touchdown catch proved the winning strike, putting Chestatee up 23-21 with 6:43 left in the third quarter -- which ended up the final quarter of the contest thanks to the long weather delay.
"Well, actually, I didn't even think about it. We were just trying to stay with our game plan. We were trying to score. We weren't relying on the time, we were trying to win it, you know, us scoring touchdowns," Conley said. "Our defense did a really good job at the end there of holding them out, and then when we got the ball back we knew we only had a few minutes left, so, we felt pretty good about that."
Chestatee took a 10-7 first quarter lead thanks to Lyles 62-yard touchdown reception and a 30-yard field goal from Steven Martinez-Ramirez. Lyles then ripped off a 47-yard touchdown run to give the War Eagles close a 17-7 lead late in the second quarter.
Yet the Vikings were determined to notch their own victory of this season, and Austin Brock hauled in a 12-yard touchdown pass just before the interval to pull within 17-14. Markese Jackson struck just after halftime, exploding on a 27-yard scoring run to push East Hall in front 21-17.
But the War Eagles were not finished and Goodall and Yarbrough hooked up to produce the winning score.
Chestatee will look to keep things rolling next week against Flowery Branch.
East Hall, meanwhile, will take a bye before taking on Johnson on Sept. 9.
