The Newton County Academy Generals used their familiar formula of running the football and playing defense as they took a 21-7 win over Carroll Academy on Friday night in Carrollton.
With the win, the Generals improve to 3-1 on the season and will host Class AAA Leake Academy on Friday night.
For NCA coach Rob Roberts, it was good to get a win on the road against a quality opponent.
“I was proud of them,” Roberts said. “They adapted to the situation and didn’t get frustrated and just played football. That’s about all you can do. We scored some points with our offense and played defense.”
Carroll took an early 7-0 lead as they took the opening kickoff and drove 69 yards on five plays as quarterback Colby Holly scored on a 40-yard touchdown run early in the first quarter. Holly also booted the PAT and Carroll led 7-0.
“We had a lot of penalties that we have to clean up,” Roberts said. “We gave up a touchdown early on a counter play that we have worked on and let them score on a long run. Other than that, the defense played pretty good. We gave up one other long pass but bounced back and held them. I thought the defense was clicking pretty good. They gave up one or two big plays but played pretty good overall.”
The Generals responded with a 12-play 71-yard drive as they pounded the ball straight at the Rebels. Braxton Rose capped off the drive with a 5-yard run midway through the middle of the first quarter. Ethan McDill booted the PAT to tie the game at 7-7.
The NCA defense turned the Carroll offense over on downs two straight times and after a punt on offense, the Generals finally took control of the game.
Midway through the second quarter, the Generals used a seven-play, 67-yard drive as Rose scored on a 19-yard run. McDill’s PAT gave the Generals a 14-7 lead.
The NCA defense got a big play from the defense as Kemp Alderman blocked a punt and Jordan Mason recovered the kick on the Carroll 15. Seven plays later, Rose capped off the drive with a 1-yard run for his third touchdown of the game. McDill booted the PAT and NCA led 21-7.
Rose finished the game with 106 yards rushing on 19 carries and three touchdowns, continuing his strong play this season.
“I thought Braxton ran the ball hard,” Roberts said. “We did what we do on offense. We ran the ball right at them and played defense. I thought the line played pretty good at times but they have to continue to get better. I thought it was a good hard-fought football game. It was a battle the entire game. They didn’t back down and played us hard the entire game. They were very physical. It was a good Friday night football game.”
The Generals had 285 yards of total offense as Rose led the way with 106 yards. Sage Gunn had 84 yards on 16 carries while Logan Tadlock had 70 yards on 12 carries.
On defense, Josh Dearman led the way with seven tackles while Rose had six tackles and a sack. Jordan Mason and Austin Pippin also had six tackles while Tadlock and Eli Finnegan also had five tackles. Gun also had an interception while Lincoln Jordan also had a fumble recovery.
