Northeast Lauderdale’s offense up to this point in the season has garnered a lot of attention for helping the Trojans get off to their best start in seven years. But with Northeast Lauderdale’s offense sputtering early against Newton County due to costly penalties, the Trojan defense provided the boost needed to separate from the Cougars.

The Trojans forced four first-half turnovers to propel Northeast Lauderdale to a 42-7 win against Newton County Friday at Northeast Lauderdale.

“The defense tonight did a great job and shut them down for three quarters,” Northeast Lauderdale coach Curt Blackburn said. “(Newton County) got the score there at the end, but a lot of effort there from that group of kids, and they played their heart out.”

Northeast Lauderdale (6-3, 2-1) recovered three fumbles in the first half, and Joheim Smith recorded an interception. 

Up 21-0 in the second quarter, Trojans linebacker Braxton Lee recovered a Newton County fumble and raced 55 yards for the score to put Northeast Lauderdale ahead 28-0 after the PAT from Brayden Moody.

“That was a big momentum swing; Braxton did a great job getting the football and picking it up and running with it and getting in the end zone,” Blackburn said.

On the ensuing kickoff, Newton County (1-7, 0-2) put the football on the turf, and Brock Butler recovered it to give Northeast Lauderdale the ball at the Cougars’ 36-yard line.

“Once again, great effort by our kickoff team getting down the field to recover that,” Blackburn said. “It was a big momentum swing, and it was really big for the guys.”

Northeast Lauderdale quarterback Kamerion Hulin had a pair of touchdown runs of 1 yard in the first half, and he threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Jarvis Cook in the second quarter. He also ran for a 20-yard score in the fourth quarter. Running back Je’Torie Grace added a 5-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

Newton County running back Carlois Walker scored his team’s lone touchdown on a 53-yard run with 6:12 remaining in the game. 

Newton County coach Gene Mitchell said his team’s struggles Friday can be attributed to its lack of containing Northeast Lauderdale’s playmakers for all four quarters.

“We quit tackling,” Mitchell said. “We quit tackling (Hulin), we quit tackling (Michael McClinton), we quit tackling (Cook). We never sustained anything on offense to get the defense off the field.”

Up next: Northeast Lauderdale hosts Quitman, and Newton County hosts West Lauderdale.