STEVENSON, Ala. – Playing through steady showers in the first quarter and a steady downpour for most of the second, North Jackson forged a 28-0 halftime lead and coasted into the second round of Alabama’s Class 4A playoffs.
The Chiefs, Region 7 runners-up, improved to 7-4 at R.D. Hicks Stadium with a 28-6 victory over visiting Haleyville, the third-place finisher from Region 5.
North Jackson quarterback Trey Harris passes the ball during their prep football game against DAR at North Jackson High School on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015, in Stevenson, Ala.North Jackson 28, Haleyville 6
The star: North Jackson QB Trey Harris ran for 152 yards and passed for 111 on four completions, and he accounted for three of the Chiefs’ four TDs.Up next: North Jackson plays at Killen Brooks.
“It’s big. If you had told me before the game we’d hold them to six points, I’d have taken it. I promise you,” North Jackson coach Mark Rose said. “Our guys came out ready to prove a point. That team is 11 points shy of being their region champion.
“Cordova was 10-0 and Haleyville just lost 20-12 to them after leading the whole game.”
North Jackson dominated the Lions’ pass-oriented offense, limiting them to 64 rushing yards and 118 passing yards.
“Our guys were extremely physical on both sides of the ball, but this is the best defense that’s been played around here in a long time,” Rose said. “I’m happy with the overall team effort, but we weren’t very good on defense last year, and to have a chance to win a championship or to win in the playoffs you have to have a good defense.”
It helped the defense immensely, though, to get that early lead.
Quarterback Trey Harris ran 1 yards for the first score and then hooked up with Austin Cummings on a 75-yard pass before Omar Brown closed out the first-quarter scoring – 0:49 remaining – on a 2-yard run.
Harris then added a 55-yard run with 3:31 left in the second period for what would be the Chiefs’ final touchdown.
“He’s a great player,” Rose said of the first-year starter. “He has gotten better every week. He’s obviously a dual-threat guy, but he has cut down on his interceptions each week – just improves every week.”
Harris finished with 263 yards of total offense, running 13 times for 152 yards and completing four of nine passes – with no interceptions – for 111 yards, thus having a hand in three of North Jackson’s four TDs.
The steady Brown, a slashing and cutback runner, had 27 carries for 129 yards.
North Jackson will be on the road next week, traveling between two and three hours to play Killen Brooks, a 35-21 winner over Jacksonville on Thursday.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.