CHATSWORTH, Ga. - Most football coaches look forward to an off week in the schedule as a time to heal up, watch a lot of game video and tweak a few things.
Don't count E.K. Slaughter among that group this year. His Heritage Generals head into their open date 4-0 after a convincing 42-14 over host North Murray on Friday night. Senior quarterback Blake Bryan had his most complete game, going 20-for-33 for 356 yards and five touchdowns while adding a team-high 81 yards on the ground.
The Generals' aggressive defense added 13 more tackles for loss to their season tally and held the Mountaineers (1-2) to negative-9 yards rushing.
"I'm proud of the improvement," Slaughter said. "As a coach, all you want to see is your team to get better, and you want to max out at the right time. We're headed in the right direction.
"We've got an older group and defensively we've gotten better every game for two years. Coach (Jeremy) New has done a great job. And with Blake, it's his first year at quarterback and he's gotten better every single snap. He had a big night tonight, and offensively we put up a bunch of points."
Bryan wasn't the only offensive star. Senior receivers Luke Grant and Ryan Carter combined for 19 catches, 328 yards and all six of the touchdowns. Grant had touchdown catches of 17, 36 and 58 yards, while Carter had seven-yard and 40-yard scoring catches to go along with a 72-yard punt return for a touchdown.
"Ryan and Luke are great," praised Bryan. "They are part of the reason I was excited about playing quarterback. I just have to get the ball to those guys and they make great things happen. This is a great start, and now we just have to get ready for region play."
Heritage scored 21 first-quarter points, with Grant getting the Generals on the board first with his 17-yard score on a perfect Bryan pass on a fade pattern. After a three-and-out defensive stop, Carter then had his punt return to make it 14-0.
Another short field led to Grant's 36-yard score to cap a three-play drive and a 21-0 lead. North Murray halted the run with a 54-yard drive as quarterback Preston Poag Jr. hit Ladd McConkey on a leaping 28-yard touchdown pass.
Heritage, though, answered right back with a 78-yard drive culminating in Carter's 7-yard score on a quick out pass. The Generals' defense, led by Zaine Burton, Hank Weldon, Zach Goins and Jeffrey Curtis, made sure the lead was safe with a constant barrage of blitzes.
"We're tough to deal with defensively," Slaughter said. "We've got some tough guys up front who can run and a terrific linebacking corps and we're pretty tough in the back, so there aren't a lot of holes.
"That's a good football team we just beat. Coach Poag does a great job, and they are going to win a lot of games."
Preston Jr. completed 23-of-32 passes for 193 yards, with Connor Rice getting 97 yards on seven catches and McConkey 73 on eight.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.