The Newton County Academy General made the long road trip to Prentiss Christian on Friday night.
And things didn’t start so well for the Generals.
After falling behind 7-0, the Generals scored six unanswered touchdowns and took a convincing 42-13 win.
NCA improves to 1-1 on the season and will host Delta Streets this week.
NCA coach Stevie Nelson said he thought his team dominated the game after giving up the first touchdown.
“I thought we played okay after they scored,” Nelson said. “We gave up a fourth and 13 and they scored on a long pass and they went up 7-0. After that, we pretty much dominated the rest of the game and scored the next 42 points. I was pleased with the defense after that first touchdown and they shut down their run game. We were better on offense and hit a couple of pass plays. We got the clock running in the second half and got to play some young kids so all in all, it was really good.”
Prentiss took an early lead in the contest when they scored on a 19-yard pass and kicked the PAT to take a 7-0 lead.
But the Generals answered with a score. Aided by two personal fouls on Prentiss, the Generals went 62 yards in five plays, scoring on a 10-yard run by Cooper Savell. Ty Thrash then converted the two-point conversion and took an 8-7 lead.
After a Prentiss punt, the Generals started to take over on the ground, going 65 yards in 14 plays as Thrash scored on a 2-yard run. The try for two failed and NCA led 14-7.
The Generals forced another punt and got a short field, getting the ball at the Prentiss 13 after a 17-yard return from Noah Agent.
NCA then scored on a 4-yard run from Ty Thrash to finish off the short drive. Cohen Rule missed the PAT and NCA led 20-7.
The Generals got the ball back in their own territory on the next Prentiss drive when Harrison Wall recovered a fumble.
NCA hit quickly as Thrash hit Cooper Savell on a 64-yard touchdown pass. Rule made the PAT and led 27-7.
Prentiss then fumbled again and Wall got his second recovery of the game at the Prentiss 16. Three plays later, Thrash scored on a 3-yard run and Rule hit the PAT as NCA led 34-7 at the half.
“I think us playing a game and them not playing one was a big advantage for us,” Nelson said. “They had some struggles with snaps and that had something to do with the pressure up front. I felt like our timing was better than theirs. We did some shuffling around and played a lot better up front. I didn’t think their offensive line was their strong suit and we handled them pretty good.”
NCA got the ball to start the second half and got a big 48-yard return to the Prentiss 27 by Noah Agent. Three plays later, Slayden Hollingsworth scored on a 16-yard run. Agent ran in the two-point conversion and NCA led 42-7 to get the clock running.
Prentiss added a late score for the final margin.
NCA had 154 yards rushing and 78 passing for 232 yards of total offense. Thrash had 76 yards rushing on 12 carries while Cooper Savell had 52 yards on five carries. Slayden Hollingsworth also had 21 yards and a TD on three carries.
Thrash was 2-for-4 passing for 78 yards and a TD while Savell had both catches for the Generals.
On defense, Logan Usry had 10.5 tackles to lead the Generals while Hollingsworth had seven tackles. Harrison Wall and Taylor Burt each had 6.5 tackles while Amos Castillo had 4.5 tackles. Noah Agent also had four tackles while Ethan Woodham and Josh Fletcher each had 2.5 tackles.
