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SPORTS
Bill Murphy Sports Editor | 770-718-3415 | sports@gainesvilletimes.com
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gainesvilletimes.com
Saturday, October 27, 2018
FLOWERY BRANCH 27,
WEST HALL 7
SCOTT ROGERS I The Times
West Halls quarterback Quentin Smith loses the ball
temporarily as he’s hit by Flowery Branch’s Grant Lackey
and Cody Inman, right, during Friday’s game in Oakwood.
Falcons lock
up spot to the
state playoffs
BY SARAH WOODALL
swoodall
©gainesvilletimes.com
The football coaches of
Flowery Branch and West
Hall both identified
the line of scrim
mage as the focal
point entering Fri
day night’s region
matchup, and it
certainly fit the bill
ing of a battle in the
trenches.
The cooled tem
peratures coupled
with soggy, slick
field conditions played a
big part in making the game
a defensive slugfest. But
in the end, ninth-ranked
Flowery Branch was able to
overcome.
Chase Dial-Watson rushed
for a 10-yard touchdown and
hauled in an interception on
defense for the Falcons as
they pulled away in the clos
ing minutes for a 27-7 win
from inside the Hot Gates of
Spartan Field in Oakwood.
“We didn’t want this
to turn into a track meet.
And these conditions are
definitely for a defensive
game,” Falcons second-year
coach Ben Hall said.
Despite back-to-
back gut-wrenching
losses to top-ranked
Blessed Trinity and
No. 7 Marist, Flow
ery Branch (7-2, 3-2
Region 7-4A) will
return to the state
playoffs under Hall
after clinching a No.
3 playoff seeding
with one game left.
As for West Hall, the
Spartans (1-4, 2-7) were
most likely mathematically
eliminated with the loss and
a White County win Friday.
The “next man up mental
ity” was very much appar
ent for Flowery Branch.
Hall, who’s Falcons entered
Friday’s contest battered at
a number of key positions —
including at quarterback —
■ Please see BRANCH, 3B
SCOREBOARD
Gainesville tops
Apalachee, 7-6
Associated Press
Gainesville’s Walt Dixon
scored on a 30-yard touch
down pass from Gionni
Williams in the third quar
ter and withstood allowing
a late touchdown to beat
Apalachee 7-6 on Friday
in Winder. With the win,
the Red Elephants (2-7, 2-2
Region 8-6A) remain in the
playoff hunt with one regu
lar season game remaining.
Makius Scott and Rassie
Littlejohn both blocked field
goals for the Red Elephants.
Apalachee scored on
a long punt return in the
fourth quarter but missed
the extra point.
On Friday, Gainesville
faces Lanier in Sugar Hill.
LAKEVIEW ACADEMY
21, TOWNS COUNTY 20:
Ben Puckett had a touch
down catch in the final min
ute for the Lions (1-8, 1-3
Region 8-A subregion B) on
Friday in Gainesville. Puck
ett also had a rushing score
for Lakeview Academy.
Jordan Thomas scored on a
5-yard run for the Lions.
On Friday, Lakeview
Academy faces either Prov
idence Christian or Athens
Christian in the region play-
in game.
WHITE COUNTY 49,
CHESTATEE 20: Christian
Charles ran for two first-
quarter touchdowns and
passed for a score for the
War Eagles (1-8, 0-5 Region
7-4A) before halftime on
Friday in Cleveland. The
Warriors scored 42 points in
the second half, led by three
rushing scores by Kurtis
Havlen (38, 28 and 8 yards).
White County quarterback
J. Ben Haynes started its
scoring on a 69-yard run and
added a 15-yard touchdown
run later.
On Friday, Chestatee
wraps up the season at West
■ Please see SCORES, 3B
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL I North Hall 76, East Hall 0
WELL-OILED MACHINE
Photos by AUSTIN STEELE I The Times
North Hall quarterback David Seavey hands the ball off to JT Fair against East Hall on Friday in Gainesville.
Trojans continue dominant month with region win
North Hall’s Clark Howell runs the ball against East Hall during Friday’s
game in Gainesville.
BY NATHAN BERG
nberg@gainesvilletimes.com
October has been a good month to
be a member of the North Hall foot
ball team.
After a bye week to start the
month out, the Trojans have rolled
through three straight opponents,
culminating in their 76-0 rout of East
Hall Friday night. Over that period,
North Hall beat opponents by a com
bined 208-13, blowing out Fannin
County and Lumpkin County before
defeating the Vikings.
“I think we’ve just gotten back to
focusing on ourselves and doing the
little things,” North Hall head coach
David Bishop said of the team’s
recent dominance. “I tell people all
the time, it’s a very mature team.
They come out with the right atti
tude about how to do business. And
they do that at practice and they do
that in the game. It’s just been a joy
to be able to coach these guys. ”
The Trojans were carried by
their high-powered rushing offense
Friday night, an attack which no
one has managed to find an answer
to since the team’s lone loss against
Greater Atlanta Christian at the end
of September. North Hall running
backs JT Fair and Daniel Jackson
once again led the way, combining
for 158 yards and scoring four touch
downs on just six carries against
East Hall. The pair added 84 yards
and two scores through the air, and
Jackson scored twice on special
teams.
The dynamic duo had already
scored 12 touchdowns in their pre
vious two games and have been a
major factor in the program’s recent
hot streak.
“Really just every back that we
have here at North Hall just gives it
everything they have, ” Jackson said.
“That’s what opens it up for other
people. We’ve just really got to give
all the credit to our offensive line
though and the way they’ve stepped
up so far. We’ve just got to continue
that for the rest of the season. ”
And as impressive as the offen
sive numbers have been, North
Hall’s defensive efforts have been
equally as effective.
The Trojans pitched their second
straight shutout against East Hall,
and they’ve only allowed one team
to top 20 points against them all
season.
“That’s one thing we really
focused on as a staff here, is just try
ing to simplify a lot of what we do on
defense,” Bishop said. “I think our
starting defense has only given up 54
points all year. It’s flashy on offense,
but defense doesn’t get a whole lot
(of credit), but a lot of those kids are
both sides of the ball, so one way or
the other, they’re getting it.”
The win sets North Hall up with a
huge regular season finale against
Dawson County with plenty of play
off seeding implications. Both teams
come into the contest with 4-1 region
records, and the winner of the game
will enter the postseason as the sec
ond-seeded team out of Region 7-3 A.
“Dawson County is a quality
opponent,” Bishop said. “They’re
coached well. They’re also a very
old and veteran team. There’s a lot
of guys that have been starting for
two and three years. They’re big
and physical and very disciplined
in what they do. It’s going to be an
interesting night for sure.”
Friday’s games
■ North Hall 76, East Hall 0
■ Flowery Branch 27, West
Hall 7
■ Gainesville 7, Apalachee 6
■ Lakeview Academy 21,
Towns County 20
■ Buford 61, Walnut Grove 0
■ Dawson County 41,
Cherokee Bluff 7
■ White County 49, Chestatee
20
■ Riverside Military 20,
Commerce 19
The Tigers have been on a hot
streak of their own, taking out all but
two opponents by multiple scores
with their only loss coming on the
road against No. 6 Greater Atlanta
Christian.
But with the way North Hall has
been gelling in all three facets of
the game of late, neither Bishop
nor Jackson expressed any worry
regarding the task at hand.
“We’ve got all the confidence in
the world right now,” Jackson said.
“We just know we’ve got to have
another great week at practice, take
it one week at a time. We know it’s
going to be a good game, and we’re
ready for it.”
NO. 7 GEORGAVS. NO. 9 FLORIDA I 3:30p.m. CBS
Holyfield, Swift eager for more runs
RYNE DENNIS
Athens Banner Herald
Mere minutes after walk
ing off Tiger Stadium’s
turf two weekends ago in
Baton Rouge, Georgia run
ning back Elijah Holyfield
wanted to be right back on a
field somewhere.
The Bulldogs had just suf
fered a 36-16 loss in Death
Valley, but Holyfield and fel
low tailback D’Andre Swift
were shining moments dur
ing the game, combining for
128 yards rushing and seven
yards per carry.
Despite his success, how
ever, play calls limited Holy-
field to just seven carries on
the day and Georgia’s coach
ing staff faced questions
about why they went away
from what was successful
early in the game.
With a bye this past Satur
day, the Bulldogs have been
sitting on those questions for
over a week, and Holyfield is
eager to get back on the field
to answer some of them.
“I’m always very excited
to play,” said Holyfield, “and
that makes it even
sweeter to know
that we’re playing
in Jacksonville ver
sus a big rival.”
That’s right, the
next time Holyfield
and Georgia’s run
ning backs get to
prove themselves
is Saturday at 3:30
p.m. in Jacksonville when
the No. 7 Bulldogs face No.
9 Florida.
One answer last week
from Georgia coach Kirby
Smart in regards to the
Bulldogs’ running
attack-which aver
ages a little over 226
yards per game this
season-was pretty
simple: Do more of
it.
“That’s really
what our strength
is,” Smart said.
“When you see
(offensive linemen) Solo
mon (Kindley) and Andrew
(Thomas) come off the ball
on a double team and move
■ Please see GEORGIA, 3B
Smart
JOHN BAZEM0RE I Associated Press
Georgia running back D’Andre Swift (7) fights off Tennessee
defensive back Nigel Warrior (18) as he runs during the first
half during the game Sept. 29 in Athens.
