GAINESVILLE, Ga. – No Brickyard Magic needed on Friday night.
North Hall opened its season with a 41-7 rout of Wesleyan at The Brickyard.
“I’m very excited for our program and the way we played tonight,” North Hall coach Sean Pender said. “Wesleyan is no joke. They are a good football team. We saw that last week against Commerce. It was just a situation where our boys came in and played hard and played well.”
The capper to a 609-yard offensive night for the Trojans (1-0) was Wyatt Tumlin’s 99-yard touchdown run with 2:56 to play in the game.
Tumlin’s run was set up by Wade Haynes' interception inside the Trojans’ 1. The senior running back, who finished with 221 yards on 10 carries, busted through the line of scrimmage and outran the Wolves. Several defenders seem to have a chance to bring Tumlin down, but he broke their tackles and raced for the score.
“I saw grass and I was doing what coach tells us to do, see grass and go,” Tumlin said. “A couple of times, they got the back of my shoes. I thought I was going down, but I got through.”
Said Pender, “What an awesome play from Wyatt. It was not wide open. He broke some tackles. I’m just really excited for him.”
It was an overall effort for North Hall, ranked No. 7 in Class 3A. While the offense was rolling up big yards on the ground and in the air, the defense was shutting down the Wolves (1-1). The Trojans held Wesleyan to 244 yards. Defensive lineman Robby Lee led North Hall with nine tackles. Defensive back Walker Davis had eight tackles, and linebacker Buddy Clark recorded seven tackles and a fumble recovery.
Ranked No. 8 in the Class A DI-3A Private rankings, the Wolves could not match North Hall’s physical play.
“I think the physical play took a toll,” Pender said. “With them having guys play both ways, we wore them down. That’s where you saw the separation in the second half.”
The Trojans ran for 347 yards and passed for 262 more. Running back Parker Carlton rushed for 49 yards and one touchdown. He also caught three passes for 63 yards and one touchdown.
Wide receiver Ty Kemp caught four passes for 87 yards, including a 69-yard touchdown pass on the third play of the game. Junior quarterback Alex Schlieman completed 13-of-23 passes for 246 yards and two scores.
If it had not been for Tumlin’s touchdown run, the Trojans’ fourth touchdown of the night might have been. Facing fourth and 24 at the Wesleyan 37, tight end Dawson Gray took a screen pass from Schlieman and scored to put the Trojans up 27-7.
“We were too close to punt,” Pender said. “I thought the play was going to be there. We saw on film that it might be there. I was not expecting it to go that far. Dawson Gray made a fabulous play.”
Senior running back Justin Allen scored on a 4-yard run on North Hall’s next possession.
The defending Region 6-3A champions continue their tough non-region schedule with a home game against Cherokee Bluff next Friday. They face cross-county rival East Hall on Sept. 5 before starting region play.
