CHATSWORTH, Ga. - The stakes were clear Friday night when Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe's football team visited North Murray. The winner would be the 6-AAA North subregion champion.
A suffocating Mountaineers defense made sure that title belonged to the home team.
North Murray gave up only 38 yards in the first half and created six turnovers in the game on their way to a 44-15 victory.
"The defense has played good in the last month," North Murray coach Preston Poag said. "We were in the backfield a lot and created a lot of negative plays. Usually in a championship game, whoever has the most turnovers is going to win the game, and we did that tonight."
North Murray (6-3, 4-0) dominated the first half, outgaining LFO by 175 yards. The defense stymied a Warriors rushing game that has been successful throughout the season.
After a 23-yard field goal on their first possession and a 53-yard touchdown run by junior quarterback Preston Poag Jr. on the next, the Mountaineers held a 9-0 lead less than seven minutes into the game. That's where the score remained until midway through the second quarter, when North Murray took advantage of the Warriors' first big mistake.
A muffed punt around the 20-yard line caused a mad scramble as the ball bounced toward the end zone. Mountaineers senior linebacker Jaden Baggett came out of the scrum with the ball for his first career touchdown.
"I saw it and I thought, here we go, I have to jump on this," Baggett said. "I'm about to get us rolling right here. The first touchdown is just awesome."
North Murray added a 15-yard touchdown pass from Poag Jr. to Connor Rice a few minutes later and took a 23-0 lead into halftime. Quarterback Poag finished 14-for-29 passing for 215 yards and two touchdowns. Both scores were to Rice, who hauled in five catches for 105 yards for the game.
LFO (5-4, 3-1) came out strong in the second half, forcing a three-and-out and then getting on the board with a 38-yard Baley Goins field goal just three minutes into the third quarter.
But the Mountaineers defense forced too many mistakes for the Warriors to overcome. They had three interceptions - two by sophomore cornerback Logan Viers - and two more fumble recoveries. The final touchdown was a 25-yard fumble return by Nicklaus Hagin.
Contact Kevin Llewallyn at sports@timesfreepress.com