OAKWOOD — North Hall’s offense may not have had the rushing yardage it hoped for in its season opener on Friday, but the end result was still the one desired.

Though the Trojans (1-0) used eight different running backs, they found it hard to find any consistency in the rushing game — finishing with only 146 yards total — but managed to take advantage of key mistakes by Johnson to secure a 20-3 win at Billy Ellis Memorial Stadium.

"We have to do better next week," North Hall coach Bob Christmas said. "But I still feel like this team has a lot of potential.

"This team can be as good as they want to be."

The only scoring the Trojans needed was three rushing touchdowns by junior running back Mack VanGorder. He scored on a run from the 5-yard-line only 29 seconds before halftime, then on runs of 19-and 1-yard in the third quarter. North Hall scored all three touchdowns off of Johnson (0-1) turnovers.

North Hall’s first score came after senior Dylan Mann intercepted the first of his two interceptions of Johnson passes. After the interception late in the second quarter, Randy Olson caught a 12-yard pass from Trojans quarterback Nathan Jones, then Jones broke off an 11-yard run down to the 5. VanGorder scored on the next play. That made a seven-point swing going into halftime, and clearly gave the Trojans some life on offense.

"I was telling everyone that Johnson has a good football team," Christmas said. "But we had some players make some plays tonight, and Nathan Jones did a great job leading the offense."

The mistakes were especially frustrating for Johnson coach Paul Friel. On the kickoff to start the second half, Johnson’s return man fumbled, the ball recovered by the Trojans. Four plays later, North Hall went for it on fourth-and-10 at the 20, which paid off with VanGorder’s second touchdown run.

The Knights were plagued by costly mistakes all night, primarily a pair of fumbles of kickoffs, and four intercepted passes.

All the mistakes brought a quick halt to all of the Knights’ momentum, despite outgaining the Trojans offensively by a 285-172 margin.

Making matters worse, Johnson senior linebacker Gilberto Espinoza re-injured a sprained knee on the game’s first series and didn’t return to the game. Friel was unsure of the extent of the injury.

"As soon as we show signs of becoming a class program, we self-destruct again," Friel said.

Trailing 14-3, Johnson fumbled another kickoff but recovered, then went three-and-out. North Hall broke through the line and Darian Roman blocked the punt, which was recovered at the 1. VanGorder scored on the next play. He finished as North Hall’s leading rusher with 63 yards on 11 carries.

Jones had 34 rushing yards. Peyton Wilhoite led North Hall on defense with 13 tackles and Jones added 12.

Johnson’s most productive drive came in the second quarter, covering 53 yards on 10 plays. The Knights used a nice mix of pass and run behind senior quarterback Anthony Prophet, and an 18-yard field goal by Chris Henry to take a 3-0 lead early. The longest play on the drive was a 21-yard pass from Prophet to tight end Trae Wilson for 21 yards.

Prophet passed for 116 yards and rushed for 79. Johnson tailback Mantevius Rucker finished with a team-high 80.

North Hall plays host to Buford; Johnson visits North Forsyth at 7:30 p.m. next Friday.