DAHLONEGA — Banks County got its first win of the 2020 season shutting out a depleted Lumpkin County squad 37-0 Friday night at The Burial Grounds.
It was the Leopards (1-3) most lopsided win ever over the Indians (0-3) who were without head coach Caleb Sorrells and several key players due to COVID issues.
It started badly for Lumpkin and just got worse. A bad snap resulted in a Leopards’ safety and then Cade Simmons capped the next drive with a touchdown run to push it 9-0 in the opening minutes.
However, it stayed that way until Roman Hayes popped off a 30-yard scoring run for Banks County to open the second quarter for a 16-0 lead.
Two minutes later Carter Stroud snagged a pick-6 for the Leopards to push the lead to 23-0. Stroud then caught a 33-yard pass from Cooper Smith to set up a 2-yard TD run by Kellen Wally for a 30-0 halftime advantage.
Walley struck again midway through the third quarter with a 40-yard TD run for the final score.
Roman Haynes (8-97 yards, 2 TDs) and Kellon Walley (9-96 yards, 2 TDs) led the Leopards' rushing attack. Quarterback Cooper Smith was 9-for-16 with 101 yards.
