CHATSWORTH, Ga. - Preston Poag doesn't hide the fact he's aggressive when it comes to decisions on the football field, so when the first-year North Murray High School coach elected to gamble just before halftime of Friday's 37-18 win over rival Murray County, he was ready for whatever happened next.
He couldn't have scripted, though, how it worked out.
Poag's Mountaineers had just scored a pair of touchdowns in a little more than a minute to take a 16-6 lead when he called for an onside kick with 2:18 left in the half. The visiting Indians, however, recovered the ball near midfield and were set to retake the lead and completely seize momentum.
But after the Indians reached the 35, North Murray's defense stiffened and forced a turnover on downs after tipping away Dominick Genitempo's fourth-down pass with 50 seconds to go. The Mountaineers, instead of sitting on the lead, again went full steam ahead.
Quarterback Blake Davis ran for 25 yards on first down, then passed to Waylyn James for 37 yards to the 3. Brady Harper then punched it in for a sudden 23-6 lead that stunned the Indians.
"That was the turning point," Poag said. "We got the momentum - and the onside kick was there, we just didn't cover it - but to get that big stop and score again was just huge. I have to give a lot of credit to our defense for playing hard all night."
After taking their first drive 55 yards for a touchdown as Genitempo raced in from 8 yards out, the Indians (3-3, 0-1 Region 6-AAA North) twice had the ball inside North Murray (4-2, 1-0) territory in the first half only to self-destruct. They were down 9-6 when Genitempo was picked off on the first play after falling behind. Three plays later, Harper scored from 7 yards out, the first of his four touchdown runs.
"We've given up over 100 points in the last three games, and that's not winning football," said disappointed Murray coach Chad Brewer, whose team committed 12 penalties and two turnovers. "We talk about wanting to be a winning team, and you can't play defense like that and win. We've been giving up big plays and committing silly penalties the last three games.
"We seem to lose focus or something in the middle of games, and that's something we have to figure out."
The second half was no different as the Mountaineers continued to sizzle. Davis, who was praised by Poag, was 3-for-3 on the team's first third-period drive for 32 yards while also adding a 29-yard scramble that set up Harper's 2-yard touchdown run.
The speedy Harper, stymied most of the game, had 80 yards on 23 carries, with Davis adding 53 on nine. James, filling in for injured leading receiver Conner Rice, had 97 yards on four catches.
"Their game plan was to make us throw it," Poag said. "We had some throws early but just missed. But I'm proud of the guys for sticking with what we do. We were still able to pound it and then hit them with some big pass plays. I thought Davis had one of his best games, and Waylon really stepped up with our best receiver out."
Genitempo, also bottled up most of the game, broke off a 69-yard touchdown run late and finished with 132 yards on 18 carries. He completed 22 of 41 passes for 145 yards.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.