With seven minutes left in Friday night’s Class 2A playoff game with Christian Collegiate, Newton County Academy got the ball holding a slim six-point lead.
The Generals then ran out the clock and held on to take a 40-34 win over the Bulldogs to advance to the Class 2A semifinals.
NCA improved to 10-1 on the season and will travel to Tallulah, La., on Friday night in the Class 2A semifinals.
NCA coach Stevie Nelson said the Generals continued to respond all night and never trailed in the game.
“We couldn’t have started off any better,” Nelson said. “We ran back the opening kickoff but didn’t play very good defense and let them score pretty quick. We went up by two scores in the first half and it went back and forth. I was pleased with how we responded all night when they scored. Then we went up 18 points in the second half and they came back and cut it to six and had all of the momentum. We took over the ball with seven minutes left and we pounded it out and ended up getting in victory formation and that made me feel good. That was a playoff-winning drive.”
The Generals got the ball to start the game and Hunter Scarbrough returned the opening kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown with 9:47 left in the first. The try for two failed and NCA led 6-0.
Christian Collegiate didn’t take very long to return the favor as they went 71 yards in three plays, scoring on a 9-yard run with 8:24 left in the first. The Bulldogs also missed their try for two and left the game tied at 6-6.
The Generals answered with a quick scoring drive of their own as they went 72 yards in three plays as Trace Evans hit Paxton Russell on a 71-yard touchdown pass with 6:57 left in the first quarter. Scarbrough ran in the two-point conversion and NCA led 14-6.
NCA forced a Christian Collegiate punt on their next possession and the offense went 65 yards in six plays. Scarbrough capped off the drive on a 42-yard touchdown run. The try for two failed and NCA led 20-6 with 1:08 left in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs answered with a seven-play, 59-yard drive and scored on a 42-yard run midway through the second quarter. The try for two was good and NCA held a 20-14 lead.
NCA answered with an eight-play, 60-yard drive and capped it off on a 1-yard run by Paxton Russell with 1:12 left in the half. The try for two failed and NCA led 26-14.
Christian Collegiate didn’t much time to find the end zone as they scored on a 64-yard pass play and converted the two-point try to cut the lead to 26-22 with 55 seconds left in the half.
But NCA got a 47-yard return from Russell on the ensuing kick and scored six plays later as Evans hit Scarbrough on an 18-yard touchdown pass with 12 seconds left in the half. Evans ran in the two-point conversion and NCA led 34-22 at the half.
“At times, we ran the ball pretty well and threw it pretty well in spots,” Nelson said. “We missed a few passes and went for it on fourth down and overthrew it. We should have scored there and should have done a better job. We just have to do a better job of finishing people off. We have to stomp on them when we have them down, but we let them hang around and make it way too interesting for me. I went from being pretty relaxed to a coach who was pretty tense at the end.”
Christian Collegiate got the ball to start the third period but an interception by Evans ended the threat.
NCA then went 69 yards in six plays as Evans hit Marshall Wright on 13-yard touchdown pass with 4:33 left in the third. The try for two failed and NCA led 40-22.
After swapping possessions, Christian Collegiate scored the last play of the third quarter on a 65-yard run. The try for two failed and NCA led 40-28.
After an NCA punt to start the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs scored on a 54-yard pass to cut the NCA lead to 40-34.
NCA then got the ball with 7:10 left in the game and put together an 11-play drive that ran out the clock to preserve the win.
NCA had 356 yards of total offense with 186 rushing and 170 passing. Evans was 7-of-15 passing for 170 yards and three TDs.
Scarbrough led the rushing attack with 103 yards on 14 carries while Micah Garrison had 56 yards on seven carries. Russell had one catch for 75 yards while Jackson Bunyard had two catches for 63 yards. Scarbrough also had three catches for 19 yards.
On defense, Scarbrough had 9.5 tackles while Marshall Wright had 6.5 tackles. Russell had 5.5 tackles while Bo Smith had 4.5 tackles. Amos Castillo had four catches while Evans had three tackles and an interception. Garrison also had three tackles while Slayden Hollingsworth and Logan Heidelberg had 2.5 tackles apiece.
