North Hall’s football team seemed to make history every Friday night with a punishing Wing-T attack and an even more punishing defense.

The Trojans cruised through the regular season to another Region 7-AAA title. They won convincingly in the first two rounds of the playoffs.

But on a bitterly cold night at The Brickyard on Nov. 30 in the state quarterfinals, it wasn’t North Hall’s defense or offense that stamped their ticket to the Georgia Dome. It was something much more dramatic.

A missed field goal.

The Trojans beat Perry 12-10 that night to make it to the first Class AAA state semifinals in school history.

Tied 0-0 at halftime, North Hall held on to a two-point lead against a surging Panther offense that was threatening to ruin North Hall’s historic season. With only seconds left on the clock, Perry had one last shot, a 30-yard field goal.

The drama of the moment was palpable, aided by a number of delays and timeouts before the kick.

But when the Perry kicker’s foot met leather, the ball flopped sideways and sailed wide right of the post, sending the North Hall section into bedlam.

Those fans, anxiously waiting in the stands, stormed the field once those final seconds wound down. The cold of that night did nothing to dampen the celebration.

There would be no celebrating a week later as North Hall’s season ended in the Georgia Dome, losing to Cairo 42-21.

The joy of beating Perry was contrasted by the despair of losing to Cairo. A team not used to losing listened to coaches and players tell them how much the season meant to them after the game. There wasn’t a dry eye in the makeshift locker room.

The 2007 North Hall Trojans quickly vaulted themselves to the top of the program’s football lineage.

The Trojans set records for wins and points scored in a season. They were the first team to make it to the Georgia Dome in school history and were a dominant force in the region.

"This was the greatest team to ever play at North Hall and have so much to be proud of even though it hurts to lose right now," North Hall coach Bob Christmas said after the game. "They played with tremendous passion all season and accomplished something that had never been done in school history."