Trojans defeat Rebels 13-0

The North Hall Trojans finally finished a game with a win, but the Fannin Rebels didn’t make it easy for them. Friday night’s game in Gainesville was anything but a walk in the park for either team, as both defenses fought to the final whistle. A relatively low-scoring affair, the scoreboard read 13-0 as the Rebels met the Trojans midfield to shake hands before hustling to the end zone for their post-game meeting with Fannin County High School head coach Jim Pavao.

“I’m proud of the effort,” Pavao told the team, who were clearly discouraged with the final score. “We have some things to work on, and that’s what we’re going to do. We’ve gotta move on. We win as a team and we lose as a team; but what matters most is we stick together.”
North Hall entered the contest with a winless record of 0-4, but everyone familiar with their schedule knew they were much better than their record showed. They had arguably the toughest non-region schedule in the state. With losses to 4A Chestatee and 5A Flowery Branch – not to mention very close games against 4A schools Pickens and White – the Trojans were due a victory.

The Rebels were coming off a shutout win over Andrews, and hoped to win their region-opener on the road; but the Rebels have struggled to reach the end zone outside of Fannin County.

Despite the loss, Fannin came away with some much needed answers to some questions they may have had going into the game.

• They can run with just about anyone defensively. North Hall has a dual-threat backfield with a very skilled quarterback and a tough-as-nails tailback, but for the most part the Rebels defense kept them contained for 60 minutes of play.
• Chandler Smith at quarterback is a good decision. We still don’t have offensive stats for him and it’s Wednesday morning, but he played a great game under center. He managed the offense, protected the football, and completed some accurate passes throughout the game. He just wasn’t able to get the ball into the end zone so the scoreboard could reflect his effort.
• Miles Johnson is a beast. Fannin County’s special teams came up with a big blocked field goal in the first half when the game was still scoreless, thanks to big Miles Johnson getting a paw on the football and slapping it to the turf. Keenan Putnam also had a blocked kick in the game.
  The defense is wrapping up and building confidence as they become more aggressive. Ethan Smith (21 tackles), Mason Rhodes (18 tackles, 2 sacks), Will Mosely (19 tackles), Bailey White (10 tackles), and Brett Galloway (9 tackles) all played a huge part in holding the Trojans to only 13 points offensively.
• The Rebels have depth when they need it. Keenan Putnam suffered a very painful collarbone injury (sources say it may be broken – unconfirmed), so fans got to see center Bradley Flowers fill in on the defensive line. With 22 starters on the team, few Rebels have had to play both sides of the ball this year; but Friday night’s game showed that if the linemen are conditioned enough to play both sides of the ball, Fannin may have other weapons available (should they need or choose to use them in the future).

North Hall travels to Dawson County this week to play the Tigers, who are 2-2 for the season. Both of Dawson’s losses were heartbreakers as they fell to AAAA-Region 7 schools West Hall (13-10) and White County (45-42).

Fannin County hosts Greater Atlanta Christian, whose only loss this year came at the hands of Valor Christian, the top-ranked football program in the state of Colorado. Last week the Spartans absolutely man-handled the Union County Panters in a 47-7 shellacking that left many of their starters on crutches.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30pm.