Trojans take advantage of Knights miscues

OAKWOOD -- North Hall football coach Bob Christmas glanced at the stat sheet after Friday night's season opener at Johnson.

"Not good... not very good," Christmas said, shaking his head. "We're going to have to play better than that to be the kind of team we want to be."

And this after the Trojans defeated Johnson 20-3.

What North Hall (1-0) did was play a rock-solid game, taking advantage of several Knights mistakes on either side of half-time to turn around a contest in which the home team had grabbed the early momentum. And though Johnson (0-1) outgained North Hall 285-172, the Trojans wouldn't let the Knights back into the contest after taking the lead, and, more importantly, the Trojans committed zero turnovers.

"They committed four turnovers and that was huge," Christmas said.

Johnson led 3-0 with less than a minute to play in the first half, but then came the first Knights giveaway. When the dust cleared midway through the third quarter Johnson faced a 20-3 deficit after yielding three turnovers and a blocked punt. North Hall scored touchdowns directly off three of the mistakes and never allowed the Knights offense to get comfortable near the Trojan goal line as they tied to play catch-up.

"I feel like we could beat that team, and then we end up beating ourselves again," Johnson coach Paul Friel said. "It's the same old thing."

North Hall defensive back Dylan Mann, who finished with two interceptions on the night, started the momentum swing when he picked off Johnson quarterback Anthony Prophet with less than two minutes to play in the first half. Mann returned the ball into Knights' territory before a personal foul penalty gave North Hall a first down at the Johnson 16. Two plays later, Mack VanGorder bulled his way into the end zone for a 7-3 Trojans advantage with 29 seconds remaining in the half.

VanGorder proved North Hall's go-to player when in scoring position, notching all three Trojans touchdowns on the night. VanGorder also finished as North Hall's leading rusher with 11 carries for 63 yards. His 19-yard scoring run with 9:45 left in the third quarter gave the Trojans firm control of the contest at 14-3 after Johnson had fumbled away the opening kickoff of the half.

Special teams play dogged the Knights on several occasions, and the Trojans blocked a Johnson punt attempt with eight minutes left in the third quarter. Darian Roman burst through the Knights line and swatted Chris Henry's kick, knocking the ball back toward the Johnson goal line for North Hall to recover at the one. VanGorder scored from a yard out on the next play for a 20-6 advantage -- following a failed point after touchdown attempt.

"We worked hard at special teams this off-season. I don't understand why it went so wrong tonight," Friel said, referencing three fumbled kickoff returns and the punt block. "You start to show signs of being a class program, and you self-destruct again. But we'll bounce back next week."

Prophet finished as the Knights leader on offense, with 79 yards rushing and 116 yards passing. He was 10 of 21 but also tossed three interceptions. Mantevius Rucker finished with 80 yards rushing on 18 carries. Trae Wilson also had four catches for 41 yards.

While Trojans quarterback Nathan Jones did not have flashy numbers -- 34 yards rushing and 31 yards passing -- his first start under center impressed Christmas.

"He made some outstanding plays for us tonight," Christmas said. "I thought he played tremendously."

Jones also led North Hall on defense with 12 tackles from his safety spot. Robert Humphrey was second with nine stops.

"I think we have the potential to be a very good football team. We're just probably not as good right now as I thought we were -- but we can be," Christmas said. "We'll have to be a better football team next week, there's no doubt about it. But I think I've got a group of guys that can still be as good as they want to be."

North Hall will face a stiff challenge next week against back-to-back Class AA champ Buford (1-0), which travels to the Brickyard.

Johnson, meanwhile, will travel to take on North Forsyth (1-0).