After four straight losses, Newton County Academy coach Rob Roberts said any win is a good win.
The Generals overcame a late start after an hour-long rain delay and used a stingy defense to take a 16-0 win over Amite School on Friday night.
With the win, the Generals improve to 3-4 on the season and will host rival Sylva Bay on Friday night.
After three straight blowout losses, the Generals found a way to win on the road.
“I thought we played better and threw it a little better,” Roberts said. “It was just good to get a win. We’ve been so banged out and not played very well so it was just good to go get a win. It was kind of tough. They went into a lightning delay five minutes before the game and we had to go back inside. That can be tough but I thought our kids handled it well.”
The Generals got the ball in good field position to open the game after recovering a lost fumble. But the Generals were unable to get a first down and turned the ball over on downs.
Amite then gave the Generals their first points of the game as they snapped the ball over the punters head for a safety.
NCA then got the ball right back and put together a nine-play, 46-yard drive as Zander Meeks hit Hayden West on a 13-yard touchdown throw. Colby Hollingsworth ran in the two-point conversion and the Generals led 10-0 midway through the first quarter.
The Generals did threaten to score before the half. A 47-yard pass from Meeks to Hayden Wall put the Generals deep in Amite territory. The drive stalled and a West field goal attempt failed as NCA led 10-0 at the half.
“I thought the defense played a lot better,” Roberts said. “They were a lot more scrappy than they have been. I thought they ran to the ball a lot better than they have been. I thought we tackled well and put a lot of pressure on their quarterback.”
The Generals extended their lead in the fourth quarter when Hollingsworth scored on a 30-yard touchdown run. West’s PAT was good and NCA led 16-0.
The Generals had 286 yards of total offense with 182 passing and 104 rushing. Meeks was 15-of-33 passing while Wall had eight catches for 118 yards. Hollingsworth had 65 yards rushing on 10 carries. West had 50 yards receiving on five catches.
On defense, Hollingsworth had 18 tackles while Hayze West had 16 stops. Jordan Mason had 14 tackles while Trey Terrell had 12 tackles. Kemp Alderman had also had 10 tackles.
