1 week Ago
North Augusta was firing on all cylinders in its dominant 56-0 win over Airport to open up the Class AAAA football playoffs. The clock was left to run down in the second half after the Jackets (10-1) put up 42 points in the first two quarters. They took control from the first play after recovering their kickoff to start both halves with possession.
“It worked out the way we wanted it to,” said head coach Richard Bush. “And it's just another way to get extra possession throughout the game. So that was important.
It was important to start off fast and execute early. And that's what we were doing. We were sloppy at times with some turnovers that we usually don't make, but we'll go back to the drawing board and we'll fix it, but you know, proud of the guys, proud of our effort.
Great job by defense and special teams and offense. We executed, for the most part, all three phases.” Junior running back Michael Doe scored the first two touchdowns for North Augusta, one at the start of the game and one more at the end of the first quarter.
Bush said that the offensive line played a big part in giving Doe the opportunity to score and take the ball downfield all night. “He's a heck of a football player,” he said. “He's a heck of a running back.
He practices hard and works hard and he's very attentive in everything we do. And what you see him doing on game days is what he does throughout the week. He's always ready to go no matter what, when or where it is.
So he's a heck of a football player and, he played well tonight, but so did our offensive line. I feel like they played pretty good tonight, giving him some holes to run through so proud of those guys up front and for Mike.” Defensively, the Jackets were lights-out in all four quarters as they kept the Eagles from gaining any momentum.
Each of Airport's drives ended in either a turnover or a punt with most possessions ending in just four plays. One of the Jackets' biggest moments was an interception from junior defensive back Donte Bell midway through the second quarter that resulted in Doe’s third touchdown of the night. It was also North Augusta’s second score in 35 seconds of game time.
“It was big,” Bush said. “It was big for them to come out and play well. Especially early, they did a great job.
They did a great job putting them in third and third and long. So we can pin our ears back and go get the quarterback. So that was good.
They [Airport] got a dynamic quarterback. He's going to be a heck of a football player, but defense played well. And so I was excited and happy for those guys.
” The first half ended with two more touchdowns for the Jackets as senior quarterback Corey Tillman found Connor Brown and Toian Nabriat in the end zone to put them up 42-0. The second half was a chance for younger players to take the field for North Augusta, especially on offense. Neither team scored in a quick third quarter, but the Jackets started to get comfortable in the fourth quarter, tacking on 14 more points.
The first of those scores came from sophomore running back Jayden Hatcher with a 42-yard run into the end zone. The final score of the night was from freshman Alkaleb Terrell, who wasn’t even added to the team roster until the playoffs. Bush said it’s important for them to have depth and to see those younger players step up when they’re needed.
“We talk about all the time that they need to be ready for when their number's called and when they get the opportunity to play,” he said. “We always preach, it's not how many reps I get, it's what I do with the reps that I do get. And I felt like that those young guys came in and executed well, like we asked them to.
And they were able to get the fruits of their labor, which is what we wanted them to do is execute and that's what they did.” North Augusta will stay at home to face May River in the second round. The Sharks beat Bluffton by a point in double overtime in the first round after losing to the same team in the last week of the regular season.
They finished the season fourth in Region 6-AAAA with a 3-2 record. NA 14 28 0 14 -56 A 0 0 0 0 - 0 SCORING SUMMARY First Quarter NA - Michael Doe 6 run (Andrew DeGennaro extra point) 10:40 NA - Doe 10 run (DeGennaro extra point) 1:42 Second Quarter NA - Deondre’ Baskett 1 run (DeGennaro extra point) 8:42 NA - Doe 23 run (DeGennaro extra point) 3:29 NA - Corey Tillman 24 pass to Connor Brown (DeGennaro extra point) 1:34 NA - Tillman 6 pass to Toian Nabriat (DeGennaro extra point) 0:55 Fourth Quarter NA - Jayden Hatcher 42 run (DeGennaro extra point) 10:20 NA - Alkaleb Terrell 7 run (DeGennaro extra point) 2:45.
