Northeast Lauderdale’s Michael McClinton rushed for 229 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Trojans in a 40-3 win over Newton County in Decatur Thursday night.
The Cougars fell behind 26-0 in the first 15 minutes of the game, as Newton County fell to 2-7 overall and 0-3 in district play.
Coach Bobby Bass said his team fought back and played better in the second half, but the poor start was just too much for his team to overcome.
“We came out and played hard defensively in the second half, and we did the same thing against Quitman last week,” Bass said. “We just have to learn how to start the game a little bit better.”
While the running game racked up big yardage, the game got out of hand when the Trojans went to the air. Northeast Lauderdale John Douglass said they took advantage of the Cougars’ man coverage to seize control of the game.
“We hit a couple of big passes, and I think that kind of changed the flow of the game,” Douglass said. “We took a couple of other shots that we didn’t hit, but we hit two or three of them. If people want to play man coverage and put everybody else in the box, you have to show that you’re willing to take a shot and that you can connect on them.”
Disaster struck on the third play of the game, as Tyvontae Hopson stripped Cougar quarterback Hayden West of the football on a sack. Trojan defender Tyler Ziller recovered the ball at the Cougar 11-yard line.
Chris Hardy took the jet-sweep handoff 6 yards for the score. Mason Daniels added the extra point to give Northeast Lauderdale a 7-0 at the 8:59 mark of the first quarter.
Hardy added his second score, this time on a 52-yard passing play from quarterback Kam Hulin to double the advantage nearly three minutes later.
Hulin then tossed a 60-yard touchdown pass to Jaquarius Barron to give the Trojans a 20-0 lead late in the first quarter.
The Cougars then recovered a fumble moments after being stopped on fourth down and then drove into Northeast Lauderdale territory before a block-in-the-back penalty forced another Cougar punt.
Two plays later, Miguel Evans recovered yet another Trojan turnover two plays later in plus territory. However, the Cougars were stopped on a fourth down incompletion.
McClinton took over on the next drive, rumbling 66 yards only to be stopped short of the goal line by Tony Shelwood. McClinton finished the drive with a 2-yard run on the next play to give Northeast Lauderdale a 26-0 lead.
The Cougars then put together its best drive of the night, 65 yards in 14 plays. West had a 19-yard run to get the move the chains. Marcus Wash pushed the ball into Trojan territory on an 11-yard run and kept the drive alive with a 6-yard run on third-and-5.
Then a personal foul penalty by the Trojans gave the Cougars new life inside the red zone. The drive eventually stalled at the 10-yard line, where Cole Shimfessel nailed a 28-yard field goal with 3:17 left before halftime.
However, a special teams breakdown allowed Jaheim Smith to rumble 90 yards on the ensuing kickoff for another touchdown.
Shelwood picked off a Trojan interception with three seconds left until halftime, but West’s pass fell short of the goal line to leave the Trojan lead at 33-3.
Late in the fourth quarter, McClinton capped the scoring with a 2-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal.
Newton County was held to just 102 yards of offense on 62 plays for the game. West finished 9-for-23 for 54 yards passing. Wash caught four passes for 21 yards while Donavon McCory had three catches for 17 yards and Cameron McDonald had a reception for 12 yards.
Carlois Walker finished with 32 yards on 18 carries while Wash added 31 yards on 11 carries.
The Trojans finished with 337 yards on 45 plays, with 111 yards passing for Hulin on 5-for-10 passing with two touchdowns and one interception.
Douglass said he’s been where Bass has been, being the first-year coach trying to get a program turned around.
“I’ve been in his shoes a couple of times,” Douglass said. “I know they do a great job and they work hard. His kids play hard. Just a great night for us. We actually got a little sloppy there in the second half. All in all, I thought we played a pretty solid game.”
Newton County still has an opportunity to make the playoffs, but it will require back-to-back wins over West Lauderdale and Northeast Jones to get there. Bass said his team will have to eliminate distractions.
“We’ve had a lot of distractions the last couple of weeks. We’re going to eliminate some of them,” Bass said. “I’ve got a lot of ninth and tenth graders that are going out there and playing against juniors and seniors. They need to understand that their time is coming.”
