North Murray takes control after halftime to down LFO in region opener

Published 10:30 pm Friday, September 6, 2024

CHATSWORTH — With a fight of a first half ending in a 7-7 tie between North Murray and Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe Friday night, the Mountaineers came out of the locker room set to receive the ball.

The Neers had the first chance to take control of the second half, and they seized it and never let up.

North Murray capped a long, methodical drive to open the third with a Hudson Hulett two-yard touchdown that put the Mountaineers up for good as North Murray fended off LFO 21-7 in the Region 7-2A opener for both teams.

Where both teams struggled to put offensive drives together in the first half — with the exception of one touchdown drive apiece — North Murray (2-1, 1-0 Region 7-2A) got its ball-control offense going in the second, while the Warriors (1-2, 0-1 Region 7-2A) sputtered.

After the go-ahead Hulett touchdown run, which capped a second-half-opening drive that ate up 6 minutes of clock and put North Murray up 13-7, LFO was held to a punt, picked up a turnover when the punt hit a North Murray player, then was swallowed up on a fourth down attempt at midfield.

North Murray took back over, quarterback Hulett busted another run to get the Mountaineers in position, and running back Layten Myers broke free for a 27-yard touchdown run with 1:50 left in the third. On a two-point conversion attempt, Hulett scrambled to the edge and dived just inside the pylon to put North Murray up 21-7.

The Neers wouldn’t score again, but they didn’t have to.

North Murray forced one punt, then had a holding call lead to a punt of their own.

LFO’s first first down of the second half came when Carson Michael Goff took a reverse on fourth down all the way to the North Murray 28 with six minutes left, but the Mountaineers held the Warriors to another fourth down try, and North Murray stuffed it again.

The Neers took over with 4:52 left and bled the rest of the clock dry with a few more Hulett and Myers runs.

The quarterback hit on a couple of key pass plays to keep North Murray drives moving, but he did a lot more damage with his legs.

Hulett had 100 rushing yards by halftime and finished with two touchdowns.

The game was scoreless after a quarter, with two North Murray drives ending in punts, while the Mountaineers forced a punt on LFO’s first drive and Conner Ponders picked off LFO quarterback Darian Keefe on a deep throw to end another.

Early in the second quarter, aided by a big punt return and some penalties, LFO struck first.

Jamie Hinton got the edge on a Mountaineer punt and put the Warriors in play with good field position at the North Murray 37, starting out LFO at the deepest point in North Murray territory the Warriors had been all game. After two separate facemask penalties got LFO down inside the 10, Tragontae Lewis earned the first touchdown of the game when he took a handoff at the four, took a backstep to force a North Murray missed tackle and walked into the end zone. Connor Simpson’s PAT made it 7-0 with 8:02 left in the second.

That’s when Hulett took over on the ground.

The first three plays of the ensuing North Murray drive were 10-plus yard runs from Hulett, and another got North Murray down to the 8 on a fourth down at the 40.

Hulett punched in a run from the 6 for six points, and the PAT tied the game with 3:12 before half.

After a stalled drive from LFO gave North Murray the ball back, a Hinton pick of Hulett gave the Warriors the chance to bleed out the final 50 seconds and head into halftime with a tie.

North Murray took control from there, limiting the Warrior offense after the break.

The game resumed a series between North Murray and LFO that had been played each season from the Mountaineers’ first season of play in 2010 until 2021. North Murray is now 10-3 overall against the Warriors, including the last four matchups. The last game between the two was a 56-17 win for North Murray in 2021.

Next Friday, North Murray travels across the county to play rival Murray County.

LFO is idle next week, and the Warriors will return to action Sept. 20 with an intra-county rivalry of its own when LFO travels to Ringgold.