Big second half carries North Murray in ‘Poag Bowl’

Published 8:00 pm Friday, August 18, 2017

CHATSWORTH — The second edition of the “Poag Bowl” could not have gotten off to a much different start than the first, but by the end result was similar as North Murray High School poured on the points late into the game to beat Christian Heritage 57-21.

Facing his former team and his brother as the opposing coach, North Murray coach Preston Poag said he was pleased with the result, but didn’t think his team played well Friday night in its home opener.

“Our guys played hard but we had a lot of mistakes and way too many penalties,” said Preston Poag, who was Christian Heritage’s head coach from 2012-15. “We won 57-21 but I still don’t feel great. We didn’t play good, but still won. It was a good win though and something to build on as we have a lot of film to look at.”

On the opposing sideline, Preston’s older brother Jay didn’t mince words in clarifying there was no solace in a moral victory. But as the Lions jumped out to an early 7-0 lead and showed their heart and competitiveness in the first half, Jay Poag acknowledged there is a different feel to this year’s Lions.

“I am extremely proud of them,” he said. “A loss is a loss, and losing is contagious. We are not going to go down the road and have everyone tell us how proud they are of us. But this team has a different feel to it. We’ve known it since the spring. We have a very young team, and I hate how it got away from us at the end. But we will grade the film really hard and see what we didn’t do well and be ready to face Murray County in two weeks.”

Christian Heritage (0-1) took the early 7-0 lead after quarterback Matthew Neff hit Zach Gentry for a 34-yard touchdown.

Meanwhile, North Murray (1-0) quarterback Preston Poag Jr. struggled to get into a rhythm early as he faced consistent pressure from the Lions. Following the Lions touchdown, a sack by Christian Heritage put North Murray in third-and-25 on its own 27-yard line. But Poag Jr. found wide receiver Connor Rice for a 73-yard touchdown to tie the game. Later in the second quarter, Poag Jr. was sacked again to force third-and-19, but scrambled 70 yards for another big play.

“They were getting in Preston’s face a lot and we had some breakdowns along the offensive line,” Coach Preston Poag said. “We have to get better at protection. (Christian Heritage) played hard and they did a good job scheming and brought the house. But those were big plays on third and very long and I thought Preston did a good job of handling the pressure.”

Poag Jr. finished the game 11-for-21 passing for 282 yards and four touchdowns with one first half interception by Zachary Walker. He also ran for 103 yards and a score. Rice made numerous big plays, including a 46-yard touchdown to put the Mountaineers up 51-21. His 3-yard touchdown and the extra point gave North Murray a 14-7 lead in the second quarter.

Despite the gaudy numbers, Poag Jr. wasn’t satisfied with his play either.

“I’ve never scored five touchdowns before, but I felt like I did awful,” he said. “You feel good about scoring all those points, but there was also a lot of things that went bad and we have a lot to work on.”

Waylyn James got his first start at tailback for North Murray and finished with 11 carries for 52 yards and a touchdown and caught three passes for 54 yards and a score. His 2-yard run put North Murray up 21-7 in the second quarter, and his 22-yard touchdown catch resulted in the final score.

The story of the second half for North Murray was the defense, highlighted two breakout performances. The first came from sophomore Ladd McConkey, who scored his first varsity touchdown with a 65-yard interception return for a touchdown.

“I had a touchdown in the scrimmage, but it was nothing like that,” McConkey said. “I just ran it in and it felt great.”

The second breakout was from defensive lineman Nick Hagin, playing in his first game after having to sit out a year following his transfer from Christian Heritage. Hagin also had an interception return for a touchdown and a sack which resulted in a safety against his former team.

“It was really surprising that it happened,” Hagin said of his interception. “It just felt great to be out there with my teammates. I stayed here because I love this team and I’m happy I could make some plays and help my team. And it’s even better that it came against my old team.”

For the Lions, Neff finished 25-for-49 with 295 yards and three scores, but also had four interceptions as Hayden Hulet and Logan Viars intercepted him in the first half. Christian Heritage also had two fumble recoveries.

Neff’s favorite target was Gentry, who finished with seven catches for 113 yards, but Neff also spread it out. Evan Lester had six catches for 54 yards and Christian Koneman caught six passes for 58 yards.

Jay Poag said he saw a lot of positives in the team’s play, but knows there is much to work on before traveling to take on Murray County on Sept. 1.

“We are going to have to find ways to run the football, but we’re awfully young up front,” he said. “We’re preaching defense and I know they hung 50 on us but I felt like we played better defensively. We had two pick-sixes and the two big plays on third down and we have to clean that up. But I couldn’t be prouder of the 45 kids in our program and the 30 middle school kids we had on the sidelines and the crowd behind them. We are trending in a positive direction and this thing is going to be really good.”