Hart football moves to 4-0 before region play
The Hart County Bulldogs pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the Westside High School Rams 63-28.
The Hart County offense continued to dominate with total 555 yards, 413 of those on the ground, in their win over Westside on Sept. 17 in Anderson, S.C,
The offense started with the ball and ended in the endzone with a 16-yard touchdown run by JL Lackey. Lackey ran for 249 yards on 29 carries and tallied 5 touchdowns.
Hart’s defense made the stop but a good punt pinned the Dogs to the one-yard line. The Dogs weren’t able to get the first down and after an attempted pass was too long for receiver Paul Davis, they had to punt.
The defense forced another stop, but Lackey fumbled the ball on the first play back on offense. The Dogs stood tall again to force the turnover on downs, but the offense again didn’t give them much downtime as Davis was stripped on the first play.
The defense almost made a fourth stop, but a pass interference call put the rams into scoring position and the quarterback kept the ball on an option play to tie up the game.
On the next kickoff, Malachi Kelley put the Bulldogs in favorable field position with a good return. Kelley did not put up the same number as last game receiving but was a reliable target on third downs. Kelley had three receptions for 58 yards.
A combination of runs and passes put the Dogs in position for running back Nori Moore to score from the three-yard line, giving them the lead. Moore totaled three touchdowns on the night and ran for 146 yards on 12 carries.
The story stayed the same for the next drive. The Dogs forced the three-and-out and then comfortably ran down the field with Lackey finding the goal line. Hart misses the PAT putting the score at 20-7.
On Westside’s next drive, defensive back Jashon Gaines picks off the pass. Gaines had three tackles and one pass-breakup to go along with his interception.
After a face-mask penalty by Westside, Hart started in Rams’ territory with 2:28 left in the half. However, an ineligible-receiver down field and a tackle for loss put the Dogs at second and 24 and they had to punt with 27 seconds left in the half.
Westside showed some more life in the second half. After breaking tackles on an outside screen, Westside scored on another quarterback keep to narrow the margin to 20-14.
Lackey answered back on the next drive with a 48-yard touchdown run on a toss sweep to the left.
Hart had trouble defending the Rams quick-passing game on the next drive before giving up a 29-yard pass over the top for a touchdown.
However, the offense continued to roll with Lackey scoring on a one-yard run. Quarterback Austen Whitworth then found Malachi Kelley in the endzone for an additional two points, putting the Dogs up two scores at 35-21. Whitworth was 10-13 on the night with 142 yards.
On Westside’s next drive, linebacker Jai Moore emerged from a failed fourth-down attempt with the football and ran it back 51 yards for a touchdown without the officials ruling the play dead. Moore’s defensive touchdown gave the dogs a three-score lead over the Rams. Moore also led the team with 13 total tackles.
The teams then exchanged touchdowns with Westside scoring on the kickoff return but Lackey scoring on the next drive.
Then, the defense started to wear down on Westside and forced the turnover on downs, deflating the crowd in Anderson.
Moore finished the game with 32-yard and 66-yard runs for touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
Davis intercepted the ball on the Rams’ last promising drive of the night, securing the 63-28 victory.
The Dogs will take a rest this week before heading to Franklin County on Oct. 1. The junior varsity team will play Rabun County at home on Thursday, Sept. 23 at 4:30 in Herndon Stadium.