RABBITTOWN — For a week all the talk was about how many points the Chestatee and East Hall offenses would pile up in their annual showdown at East Hall Stadium.
In the end, however, it was the much-maligned Chestatee defense that proved the difference in the War Eagles’ 34-26 win over the Vikings Friday night.
In the second half, Chestatee held East Hall to just 117 yards, forced three punts, snagged an interception, and stopped the Vikings on downs in the final minute to preserve their first victory of the 2019 season.
“Just hats off to our defense in the second half,” Chestatee coach Shaun Conley said. “That group has taken a lot of flack but this is not the same group as last year.”
A year after giving up the most points in all of Class 4A, the War Eagles (1-2) came into Friday’s matchup having already given up 79 points. They surrendered just 6 second half points.
“This was a big win for us,” Conley said. “We felt like we were getting better. Now they have something to show for it.”
The second half effort came after a wild first half that saw three lead changes, 41 points, and more than 500 total yards combined by the two high-powered offenses. It ended with Chestatee clinging to a 21-20 lead.
Chestatee’s junior standout quarterback Christian Charles threw for 178 yards and 2 TDs and added another 53 yards rushing in the first half. Seth Pressley, his main go-to target, had 5 catches for 40 yards and caught both scoring passes.
East Hall sophomore quarterback Clete Cooper had 105 yards passing in the first half to complement the running of fellow sophomore Mon Tabor, who had 96 yards and a pair of touchdown runs.
But any momentum either team built was washed away by a more than two hour lightning delay. The second half did not kick off until 11:15 p.m.
“I have never been a part of anything like that,” Conley said. “If it takes a rain delay like that to get a win, I’m all for it.”
East Hall, however, never regained its first half swagger after the long wait. But the War Eagles defensive adjustments may have played a factor.
“The offense just wasn’t there in the second half,” East Hall coach Michael Perry said. “Chestatee did a good job but we didn’t help ourselves much either.”
Cooper was held to just 7-of-18 passing for 91 yards and one interception in the second half. Tabor just 21 yards after intermission for the Vikings (1-3).
“We still have a ways to go,” Perry said. “But we’re also a very young team. We’ll flush this one and get ready for the next one.”
Charles finished 18-of-28 for 213 yards with 2 TDs and 2 INTs for Chestatee. He also had 148 yards and two more scores rushing. The key cog, though, was Hunter Chambers, who pounded out 192 yards rushing and added two big catches for another 23 yards for the War Eagles.
"Hunter was outstanding," Conley said. "I thought the guys up front did a nice job opening things up."
The first half was the back-and-forth affair many expected. But it was the East Hall defense that got things started.
After the War Eagles methodically drove to the East Hall 10 to open the game, the Vikings staged a goalline stand stopping three Chestatee runs inside the 5-yard line to force a turnover on downs.
The Vikings offense used that momentum to grab the initial 6-0 lead on a 2-yard Tabor run. A huge 45-yard screen pass from Cooper to Mon Prather on a 2nd-and-21 helped set up the score.
But Chestaee stormed back quickly needing just 39 seconds. The War Eagles scored three plays later on an 8-yard TD pass from Charles to Pressley, which was set up by a 55-yard pass from Charles to Caleb Carter, to take a 7-6 lead.
After the War Eagles forced an East Hall punt, Charles and Pressley connected again on a 14-yard TD pass to cap a 9-play drive. Charles added a 2-point pass to Anakin Rowland for a 15-6 lead.
But the Vikings did not go quietly. The Vikings answered back even quicker as Tabor electrified the crowd with a serpentining 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to cut the lead to 15-12.
The two teams then traded interceptions but a Chestatee fumble on their next possession gave the Vikings the ball at the War Eagles’ 21. Three plays later Cooper scored on a 5-yard run and Tabor gave them a 20-15 lead with a 2-point run.
The War Eagles got the final answer, however, driving 61 yards, with the key play a Luke Bornhorst pass to Robbie James on a 12-yard fake punt play for a first down. Chambers finished the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run to give Chestatee an eventual 21-20 halftime lead.
But East Hall almost erased that lead moments later when Kyle Hughes scooped up the ensuing onside kick and raced to the Chestatee 8 with just 41 seconds left. But Tabor, as he was stretching for the end zone on a 2-yard run, lost the ball and the War Eagles recovered for a touchback to end the half.
In the second half, the two teams traded three punts apiece Into the fourth quarter. Chestatee eventually extended its lead to 28-20 when Charles capped a 98-yd drive with a 4-yard scoring run. The drive was set up by a Pressley INT of Cooper at the War Eagles’ 2.
The Vikings answered that drive with a Cooper 5-yard TD run but after a pair of penalties, they could not convert a 23-yard 2-point try to tie the game with 7:12 left.
Chestatee put it out of reach scoring on its next possession, a 3-yard touchdown run by Charles to cap a 10-play, 76-yard drive that ate up over four minutes. The War Eagles defense sealed it stopping the Vikings on downs with 1:14 left.
SCORING SUMMARY
| Chestatee | 7 | 14 | 0 | 13 | 34 |
| East Hall | 6 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 26 |
First Quarter
E -- Mon Tabor 2 run (kick failed) 6-0, 5:26
C -- Pressley 8 pass from Charles (Pruitt kick) 7-6, 4:47
Second Quarter
C -- Pressley 14 pass from Charles (Rowland pass) 15-6, 10:57
E -- Mon Tabor 85 kickoff return (kick failed) 15-12, 10:43
E -- Cooper 5 run (Mon Tabor run) 20-15, 5:33
C -- Chambers 5 run (run failed) 21-20, 0:51
Fourth Quarter
C -- Charles 4 run (Pruitt kick) 28-20, 9:34
E -- Cooper 5 run (Mon Tabor run) 28-26, 5:33
C -- Charles 3 run ((kick failed) 34-26, 2:38
