Newton County had one of its best rushing nights of the year but Northeast Lauderdale was too strong as the Trojans built a 35-0 halftime lead and cruised to a 42-7 win over the Cougars on Friday night.
For Newton County coach Gene Mitchell, it was more of the same the Cougars fell to 1-8 on the season and 0-3 in 5-4A play.
“We ran the ball a little bit better,” Mitchell said. “We are a road block to ourselves. We would get a first down, and then would get a penalty and get backed up. We can’t do that in this offense. It’s more of the same old, same old. We didn’t tackle well and weren’t where we were supposed to be on defense.”
Northeast took control of the game early as they scored 14 points in the first quarter and 21 points in the second quarter and led 35-0 at the half. Both teams scored seven points in the fourth quarter.
Northeast Lauderdale improved to 6-3 on the season and 2-1 in Division 5-4A. The Trojans are coached by Newton County native Curt Blackburn, who has his squad in position for a playoff berth with two division contests remaining.
The Cougars had 196 yards of total offense, one of their better outputs of the season. The Cougars rushed for 162 yards on 41 carries and threw for another 34 yards. The Cougars did have six fumbles and lost two of them.
Carlois Walker led the Cougars with 77 yards on 12 rushes, including a 47-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter for Newton County’s only score of the game. Miquel Evans had 26 yards on six carries while Malcolm Clay had 22 yards on eight carries. Donovan McCoy had 18 yards on eight carries and was 2-of-6 passing for 34 yards.
On defense, Ethan Gentry and Spencer Blalock each had six tackles apiece while Jemarcus King and Jarius Huddleston each had five tackles. Antonio Wansley and Skylar Porter each had four tackles apiece while Carlonte Walker, Makindal Evans and Tucker Hillman each recorded three tackles apiece.
