DAHLONEGA — For a half on Friday, White County's trek to Lumpkin County was everything expected from a fierce football rivalry.
Then the Warriors found their offensive spark.
White County scored four third quarter touchdowns to turn a 7-0 advantage into a sizable advantage over their neighbors en route to a 40-7 victory.
After impressing in last week's season opening win, the Indians proved a thorny foe for a White County squad beginning its 2018 campaign, yielding only a 1-yard touchdown run from Michael Mintz, as the Warriors (1-0) nosed in front at the interval.
White County turned the game on its head in the third quarter, however, starting with a fumble recovery from Kurtis Havlen at the Indians' 25-yard line. The turnover led to a 16-yard touchdown run from Mintz -- his second of three on the night.
Then it was quarterback J Ben Haynes' turn to light the Warriors' attack, and his 77-yard touchdown pass to Cody VerSluis made it 21-0. The sophomore signal caller also finished the quarter with a 30-yard scoring strike to Cooper Turner to help White County to full control of the contest.
Haynes finished the night 16 of 23 for 266 yards and two scores. Turner proved his top target with six catches for 93 yards.
Lumpkin County's Luke Smith responded in the fourth quarter, ripping off a 70-yard touchdown run to pull within 33-7. But the Warriors responded with a 38-yard touchdown run from Jared Julian to squelch any notion of a comeback. Julian finished with two carries for 42 yards to pace White County's rushing attack, which managed 176 yards on 33 carries.
Smith led the Indians (1-1) with nine carries for 139 yards.
Lumpkin County will look to bounce back next week as Jackson County visits Dahlonega.
White County, meanwhile, plays host to Habersham Central (1-1) next week in Cleveland.
