HARTWELL — At least for now, North Hall certainly will be glad to be done with its gauntlet run of Region 8-3A teams over the past two weeks.
Friday night's showing was far better than last week's disappointing shutout (42-0) at the hands of Stephens County. But for the Trojans, the result was nearly the same as they dropped a 48-37 decision to Hart County on the road.
The offense was much sharper as they piled up nearly 300 yards on the ground and got several big special teams plays to help them run out to a 10-point lead (31-21) and a nine-point lead (37-28) in the second half. But the defense once again wore down late against a bigger Bulldog team as they yielded more than 400 yards of offense.
Hart County (3-0) scored the final 20 points, including a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to take the lead for good.
Placekicker Luke Brown continues to impress as he booted a 47-yard field goal to open the scoring for the Trojans (1-2). They later recovered an onside kick and used that to take a 17-14 lead into halftime.
After the Bulldogs closed to within 24-21 in the third quarter, the Trojans got another big special teams play with a botched Hart County punt snap they turned into a 31-21 lead. But Hart County answered with a quick drive to get back within 31-28, highlighted by a 59-yard pass play.
Kevin Rochester, who rushed for a team-high 71 yards and three touchdowns, then gave North Hall a 38-28 lead, but the Bulldogs’ Nori Moore answered with a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown with 3:40 left in the third quarter.
Nori gave Hart County the lead for good on a 22-yard touchdown run one play after the Bulldogs had a touchdown run called back on a penalty. The Bulldogs put the game away with 4:10 left in the game on a 22-yard TD pass from Austen Whitworth to Malachi Kelley.
North Hall will take a much-needed week off before playing host to arch-rival Chestatee in two weeks.
