Lumpkin County football proves determined against North Hall

The scoreboard said North Hall 59 Lumpkin County 0 at the end of the game. What it didn’t reflect was the gritty determination on the face of each player for Lumpkin County as they ran from the sideline back onto the field.

This determination was apparent at the very beginning of the game. Running back BoJack Dowdy carried for a third down conversion, and the Indians defense held North Hall to a field goal for their first possession.

From there the Lumpkin County defense had their work cut out for them to stop the Trojans’ running game. They were assisted by numerous penalties on the North Hall offense throughout the game, but still struggled to get make a play on their Gainesville-based opponents. Part of this struggle was due to the loss of key starters because of injuries, including starting tight end/defensive end Aaron Hopkins.

Although the Trojans were able to put together drives to gain yards, there were plenty of Indian stops. Indian Noah Adams got a sack for a loss of five yards just before the half. Adams, Ethan Kline and Andrew Adams tied for the most solo tackles during the game with three each.

Lumpkin County also had some great moments on offense to prove they weren’t completely out of the game. Along with the usual carries for gain by Dowdy and Trey Wilkes, some younger players stepped up to fill in for injured starters. One of those players was Caleb Norrell, who played in the wide receiver role for most of the night.

Norrell was on the receiving end for the play that gained the Indians the most yards of the night- an incredible 30 yard pass from quarterback Tucker Kirk. Immediately after, the Lumpkin County switched it up a bit with a handoff from Kirk to Dowdy, who then completed a pass for nine yards to Kline.

The Indians will be looking for some plays to gain yards when they head to Blue Ridge next week to face the Fannin County Rebels. Defense will play an important factor as well against a Rebel offense that can pass, run and block. Fannin County lost to region 7 opponent Dawson County on Friday night, and fell to 5-3 overall and 2-2 in the region.

After tonight’s loss, Lumpkin County fell to 1-7 overall, and 0-4 in the region.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. next Friday, November 1.