The Hart County Bulldogs shut out the Franklin County Lions inside Ed Bryant Stadium in a 37-0 win to start their region play.
Hart County’s defense limited Franklin County to 139 yards of total offense, an average of 3.1 yards per play, in their win on Friday, Oct. 1.
The Lions started the game with the ball but turned over possession on downs around midfield.
However, on Hart’s first drive, quarterback Austen Whitworth threw an interception in the endzone after driving down the field. Whitworth was six of 13 through the air for 76 yards and threw two interceptions.
The stout Bulldog defense kept the Lions pinned down and forced a punt from deep in their own endzone.
An electric punt return by Paul Davis set up the six-yard touchdown run by JL Lackey to give the Dogs the lead. Lackey was Hart’s bell-cow back in the game, running for 223 yards on 22 attempts and finding the endzone three times against what had been a stingy Franklin County defense.
The Lions found some success on their next drive with quarterback scrambles to the backside of plays but were stopped and forced to attempt a field goal on the 32-yard line. The Lions kicker missed the attempt.
Another interception put an end to Hart’s next drive and a penalty put Franklin’s offense on the Hart County 40-yard line. Penalties were a problem for Hart which committed a total of eight on the night for 80 yards.
Hart linebacker Jai Moore was able to recover a fumble to get the Dogs out of a sticky situation. Moore also had eight tackles for the Bulldogs.
On their next drive, Hart needed a tough run by Lackey to get a fourth and short conversion. Later in the drive, four straight incompletions gave the ball back to the Lions late in the first half.
The defense was able to prevent Franklin from reaching field goal range before halftime.
Hart started the second half wearing on Franklin with the run game. Lackey broke out on a 27-yard touchdown run to give the Dogs the 14-point lead.
Franklin again found success on the quarterback scramble but was stopped on the 24-yard line. The Dogs then blocked the field goal attempt and Jashon Gaines took the ball 63 yards for the touchdown. Gaines also had four tackles in the game.
The defense was not done causing havoc and scored a safety on a bad long snap to the punter after forcing a three-and-out from Franklin.
On the short kickoff, running back Nori Moore took the return for a touchdown but was called back due to a personal foul by the blocking unit. Moore didn’t see as much action in the run game, only getting six carries for 19 yards.
Hart’s offense was able to continue running the ball and Lackey scored on a one-yard run making the score 30-0.
Hart’s defense forced two more three-and-outs, sandwiching a 7-yard run by Whitworth, to send out the second-team offense to ice the game with less than three minutes left in the match.
Hart’s next game will be its most challenging of the season, a home bout against Oconee County, on Friday, Oct. 8 at Herndon Stadium.