It didn’t take long to figure out what Newton County Academy’s game plan was on Friday night against Delta Academy.
The Generals were going to run the ball with a heavy dose of senior running back Colby Hollingsworth.
Hollingsworth ran for a career-high 299 yards on 39 carries and scored four touchdowns in a 56-48 come-from-behind win on Friday night.
The Generals improve to 3-1 on the season and will now travel to undefeated
Wilkinson County Christian this week.
For the Generals, it was the third straight week they have feel behind in the first half and scrapped back to take a second-half win.
“It was another good comeback by our kids,” Nelson said. “I’m just proud of them for never quitting and giving up. We were down 40-28 at the half and tied it up and then they went back up. But we just kept on plugging and made a few stops on defense. But it was basically a mirror image of the last few games we have played. We were behind the whole game and found a way to win. It’s just overcoming adversity and giving effort and that’s what you want. We will take a win any way we can get it.”
The Generals fell behind immediately when the Raiders returned the opening kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown and converted the two-point conversion to go up 8-0.
But the Generals answered with a 10-play, 57-yard drive as Hollingsworth scored on a 1-yard run. Hunter Scarbrough ran in the two-point conversion to tie the game at 8-8.
The Raiders struck again on special teams as they returned the ensuing kick 75 yards for a touchdown and converted the two-point conversion for a 16-8 lead.
After getting an interception from Paxton Russell, the Generals went 27 yards in three plays as Hollingsworth scored on a 5-yard run. The try for two failed and Delta led 16-14.
After the Generals recovered a Delta fumble, the Generals went 40 yards in five plays as Trace Evans scored on a 5-yard run with 9:18 left in the half to give NCA a 20-16 lead.
But Delta responded with back to back scores on a 57-yard run and a 37-yard pass to take a 32-20 lead.
The Generals then went 62 yards in eight plays as Evans scored on a 12-yard run to cut the lead to 32-28 right before the half.
But Delta returned their third kickoff for a touchdown of the half to take a 40-28 lead at halftime.
“They had three kickoff returns for touchdowns and that really hurt us,” Nelson said. “They still moved the ball on us but we were able to get some turnovers. We scored at the end of the half and cut it to four and had all the momentum and then they returned it for a touchdown. I thought that was a huge momentum loss. We just found a way to win after that.”
The Generals got the ball to start the second half and went 52 yards in seven plays as Evans scored on a 31-yard run to cut the leads to 40-34, a score that held through the end of the third quarter.
The Generals took their first lead midway through the fourth when they went 56 yards in six plays as Hollingsworth scored on a 7-yard run and also punched in the two-point conversion to give NCA a 42-40 lead.
“We weren’t trying to fool anybody with what we were doing,” Nelson said. “We had a good night on the offensive line and a good night by Colby, Hunter and Trace. Colby punished some kids from Delta and they just got tired of hitting him in the end. You don’t run for 299 yards if you aren’t doing something right.”
Delta retook the lead on the next possession with a 6-yard run and two-point conversion to go up 48-42.
But NCA scored the last two TDs as Hollingsworth scored on a 15-yard run to tie the game at 48-48.
Evans then hit the game winner as he hooked up with Russell on a 37-yard touchdown pass. Hollingsworth ran in the two-point conversion for the final score of 56-48.
The Raiders had one last shot at the end zone but the Generals tackled the Delta quarterback at the NCA 8 to preserve the win.
The Generals had a big night on offense with 415 yards rushing and 69 passing. Hollingsworth finished with 299 yards rushing. Evans had 81 yards rushing on 10 carries and 69 yards passing on 3-of-11 passing. Scarbrough also had 41 yards rushing on eight carries while Braxton Kelly had 32 yards receiving on two catches.
On defense, Hollingsworth led the team with nine tackles while Scarbrough, Logan Smith and Micah Garrison each had five tackles apiece.
