Despite being drenched from head to toe, it was hard for North Hall coach Bob Christmas not to smile following his team’s 49-7 win over Chestatee on Friday night at War Eagles Stadium.
With the way his offense played, it was hard to blame him.
The Trojans (6-2, 4-0 Region 7-AAA) scored 42 unanswered points and four touchdowns on their first 16 plays from scrimmage to turn a 7-7 game into another big subregion win.
"It’s just a lot of hard work," Christmas said of why his offense played so well. "The kids deserve all the credit."
Especially the senior foursome of Ben Booth, Peyton Wilhoite, Robert Humphrey and Nathan Jones, who accounted for five of North Hall’s touchdowns.
Three of those five scores came at the start of the second half with the Trojans leading 23-7.
After Chestatee (4-4, 3-2) started the third quarter with a failed onside kick, Jones connected with Booth for a 50-yard touchdown on the Trojans’ second possession from scrimmage to boost the lead to 23 points.
Jones recovered a fumble on the ensuing possession to set up the next North Hall touchdown, a 3-yard run by Humphrey. Less than two minutes later, Booth scored on an 80-yard run to cap a 20-point scoring barrage to start the second half.
"We knew our offense was rolling," said Jones, whose two passes both went for touchdowns. "We’re getting better and better each week and we proved that tonight."
North Hall’s offense was so impressive that even Chestatee’s coach had to tip his hat.
"They’re very good at what they do," Chestatee coach Stan Luttrell said. "It was a very physical game and North Hall is a good football team."
Good? Christmas thinks his team is better than good.
"This team is turning into a great football team," he said. "I knew we had the potential, and we’ve overcome a lot of adversity, and we’re almost there."
If Friday was any indication of what’s to come, then the Trojans are closer to great than Christmas thinks.
North Hall rushed for 300 yards and five touchdowns, its two passes from Jones both resulted in scores, and it held Chestatee’s running attack to just 164 yards on 37 attempts.
One of those attempts was a touchdown run from Lamar Brooks, who was making the first start of his career at quarterback. Brooks, who finished with 44 rushing yards, faked a handoff to Keaton Summerlin then went untouched for a 38-yard touchdown that tied the game.
It was all North Hall from there, as the Trojans quickly answered with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Jones to Trevor Ross. After the War Eagles ended a penalty-ridden, 11-play possession with a bad punt snap that resulted in a safety, Kanler Coker scored on a 27-yard quarterback keeper to give North Hall a 23-7 halftime lead.
The win increases North Hall’s subregion win streak to 20 games, and in a prime position for a fourth straight subregion title.
"We still have two tough games coming up," Christmas said. "Fortunately for us, we got ’em both in The Brickyard and we’ve had pretty good success there."