If there was any concern about how the Northwest Whitfield football team would respond to missing the postseason for the first time in eight years, a second consecutive win over a 2022 playoff team Friday night may have provided the answer.
The Bruins, after opening with a 38-0 rout of Pepperell last week, spotted Whitfield County neighbor Coahulla Creek a 7-0 lead in the first quarter before exploding for 35 points in the second quarter en route to a 42-7 win.
Gavin Nuckolls, who had five touchdown passes last week, threw four more to go with 248 yards. After Caden Ramsey's 2-yard run tied the game to start the uprising, Nuckolls hit Hudson Gray for a 25-yard score. He then connected with Austin Cooley for a 25-yard score on a screen pass before hitting Breckin Sirmans for back-to-back touchdowns.
"I'm very proud of our team's effort tonight," Northwest coach Josh Robinson said. "We flashed signs in the second quarter of what we can become. We have to continue to climb the hill and get better each day."
Sirmans led Northwest with 122 yards on four catches, with Cooley adding 60 on three. Cameron Collins led the Bruins on the ground with 113 yards.
For Coahulla Creek (1-1), Chase Ward passed for 163 yards, with Nate Tilley catching two balls for 76 yards.
(READ MORE: Final scores and photos from Friday night's Chattanooga-area prep football games)
Heritage 28, East Hamilton 23: The Generals (1-1) raced to a 28-0 lead before holding off the Hurricanes' furious rally. Brody James scored three touchdowns, two on short runs and one on an interception return, while Cody Bryan returned a blocked punt for a score as Heritage, coming off a disappointing loss to Catoosa County rival Ringgold, rolled early against the visitors from Tennessee.
East Hamilton (1-1), though, cut the lead in half on consecutive touchdown passes from Trey Crawford to Vanzale Hinton in the second quarter. The Canes dominated play in the second half but managed only a trio of Ethan Hixson field goals. Down five, they reached the Heritage 7-yard line with less five minutes to play, but a holding penalty stalled the drive, which ended with a field-goal attempt that was missed.
J.C. Armour later ended any further comeback attempt with an interception, and Andrew Moore picked off two passes for Heritage.
Calhoun 40, Carver-Atlanta 18: In the Great Atlanta Bash at Eddie S. Henderson Stadium, the Yellow Jackets evened their record at 1-1 as Trey Townsend connected with tight end Emaree Winston for a pair of touchdowns and ran for a score. Caden Williams added a 36-yard touchdown run and Bryant Arnold returned an interception 34 yards for Calhoun.
Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe 33, Murray County 25: The usually pass-happy Warriors (1-1) turned to the running game to get the nonregion win at home. Tragontae Lewis had 22 carries for 237 yards and four touchdowns on runs of 10, 10, 53 and 37 yards, the last one sealing the game with 1:26 to play.
Jared Mitchell added a touchdown catch and Grayden Johnson had three catches for 43 yards for LFO.
Other area scores:
Gordon Lee 34, Armuchee 23
North Cobb Christian 34, Ridgeland 0
Southeast Whitfield 19, Gordon Central 16
Temple 41, Christian Heritage 13
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com.