GAINESVILLE, Ga. — There’s no doubt a lot of Cherokee Bluff defensive eyes were centered on slowing down North Hall receiver Cole Cable Friday night in the two teams’ annual showdown.
But Ty Kemp had his back. The senior receiver hauled in eight catches for a career-high 177 yards, including touchdown catches of 50, 27, and 66 yards, to help the Class 3A 8th-ranked Trojans pull away in the second half for a 43-31 win over the 9th-ranked Bears at The Brickyard.
The 66-yard bomb from Alex Schlieman proved to be the back-breaker, giving North Hall (2-0) a 36-24 lead midway through the third quarter. But it was the first two that perhaps did the most damage. Kemp’s first TD catch came on a 3rd-and-19, and his second was on a 4th-and-23.
“They tried real hard to take Cole out of the game. And then, sure enough, Ty steps up and has probably a career night,” North Hall coach Sean Pender said moments after the win. “I don't know exactly what he had, but he had a really good night.”
North Hall exploited every missed Bears’ coverage. Schlieman finished 17-of-25 for 283 yards and the 3 TD passes to Kemp.
“(North Hall) came out here and they executed well, converted some long yardage situations that really impacted the game, and they were able to make those plays,” Bluff coach Tommy Jones said.
For large chunks of the game, it resembled a pair of heavyweight boxers throwing one haymaker after another.
North Hall exploded out of the gate, with Schlieman connecting on passes of 13, 22, and 6 yards to Wyatt Tumlin, Cable, and Kemp before capping the 10-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run. Smith McGarvey then threw to Dalton Hulsey for a 2-point conversion and an 8-0 lead.
The two teams then traded interceptions, with the Bears ending up with the ball at midfield. On the next play, Bluff quarterback Cooper Dean hit a streaking Malcolm Milsap on a 50-yard bomb to cut the lead to 8-7 with 4:07 left in the first quarter.
Bluff took the lead on its next possession, helped by a muffed punt from North Hall. Dean connected with Dylan Haley on a 10-yard pass and then with Milsap on a 16-yard strike to the North Hall 1. That set up Dean’s QB sneak for a 14-8 lead early in the second quarter.
The Trojans' fourth drive was the McGarvey show. McGarvey found Dawson Gray on a 13-yard pass, ran for 3 yards, then connected with Kemp on back-to-back plays on passes of 9 and 8 yards before ripping off a 52-yard touchdown sprint to the end zone to reclaim the lead for North Hall, 15-14. They never trailed again.
McGarvey finished 3-of-3 passing for 30 yards, caught five passes for 38 yards, and had a team-high 56 yards rushing. Cable had two receptions for 42 yards for the Trojans.
Then it was Schlieman’s turn again for North Hall. Schlieman hit on passes of 10, 11, and 17 to move the Trojans to the 50. Schlieman and Kemp struck again for a 50-yard bomb to push the lead to 22-14 with just 20 seconds left in the half.
But the Bears were not done. After a short North Hall kickoff, Dean found Bryce Fontenot for 22 yards and then Hayley again for 10 yards with just 3 seconds left to get to the North Hall 38.
Jacob Guiliano drilled a 45-yard field goal at the horn to cut the lead to 22-17 at the break.
Dean finished 22-of-27 for 285 yards and 2 TDs. Haley had nine catches for 94 yards, and Milsap caught four balls for 85 yards for Cherokee Bluff.
But from there, the North Hall defense was able to take control. The Trojans held the Bears to just one second-half touchdown until Bluff scored with just 24 seconds left in the game.
They held Bluff to just 77 yards on the ground for the game. Jackson Pirkle was held to 28 yards on 15 carries and no touchdowns.
“I mean, giving up 31 points, it doesn’t look like it. But the defense played well,” Pender said. “They have guys that can make big plays, and I thought we did much better in the second half of limiting those.”
Despite the loss, Jones said his group has plenty it can take away from Friday’s shootout. The 74 combined points are the most in the brief 8-year series.
“I was real proud of the resilience and the grit and the toughness that our kids showed,” he said. "Hopefully, we can learn a lot from tonight. We can grow, we can improve, and we can get better.”
NOTES: The win for Pender was the 150th of his career. He is 21-14 at North Hall in three-plus seasons, which already is good for fourth on the Trojans’ all-time coaching wins list. He won 54 games with Pierce County and 35 each at Brunswick and Brantley County.
The 35 wins at Brantley are still a program record and the 54 at Pierce is second on the Bears' win list.
“Right now, I'm just celebrating the win over Cherokee Bluff with my team," he responded when asked about it immediately following the game. "It hasn’t really hit me yet.”
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