Newton County Academy’s two-game winning streak to start the season came to an end last week.
Visiting Oak Hill Academy took an early lead and never trailed as the Raiders pulled away in the fourth quarter to take a 33-14 win over the Generals.
With the loss, the Generals fall to 2-1 on the season.
The Generals struggled on offense as senior running back Eli Finnegan went down with an injury on the first series of the game.
“It looks like somebody stepped on his foot and he started limping and we got him out,” NCA coach Rob Roberts said. “That really hurt us. Colby (Hollingsworth) came in and ran the ball well but we didn’t have the speed that we have when Eli is in the game. And it hurt us on defense because Eli is so good at linebacker over there for us. But that’s something we have to adapt to and work through it.”
The Raiders took the opening kick and drove 51 yards on seven carries as they scored on a 5-yard pass early in the first quarter. The PAT was good and Oak Hill led 7-0.
The Raiders went up 13-0 late in the second quarter when they intercepted a Zander Meeks pass and returned it 58 yards for a touchdown. The PAT failed and Oak Hill led 13-0 at the half.
The Generals got the ball to open the second half and went 72 yards in nine plays as Colby Hollingsworth scored on a 20-yard run. Hayden West booted the PAT and NCA railed 13-7.
But Oak Hill answered right back with a 41-yard pass play to stretch the lead back out to 19-7.
NCA came right back with another long scoring drive as they went 68 yards in six plays as Hollingsworth scored on a 1-yard run. West’s PAT cut the lead to 19-14 at the end of the third quarter.
The Raiders added two fourth-quarter touchdowns to pull away for the win.
“It was definitely a game that we could have won but we were wore out in the fourth quarter and they just pulled away from us,” Roberts said. “We got back into it after being down 13-0 and I thought we were going to get back head of them but never did. We had some penalties that really hurt us and we weren’t able to overcome the injuries. And we struggled throwing the ball. We have to be better at throwing so we can move people out of the box.”
The Generals had 321 yards of total offense with 287 rushing and 34 passing. Hollingsworth had 174 yards while Meeks had 33 yards and Finnegan had 28 yards.
On defense, Hollingsworth had eight tackles while Jacob Smith also had eight stops. Harber Reese also had seven tackles while Kemp Alderman had six stops. West had five tackles while Wesley Williams also had five stops. Jordan Mason and Lee Hollingsworth also had four tackles apiece.
