Turnovers, penalties doom NCA in loss to Wayne Academy

Published 10:56 pm Thursday, October 19, 2017

Newton County Academy’s Eli Finnegan tries to get past a pair of Wayne Academy defenders Thursday night in Decatur.

DECATUR — The unpleasant combination of turnovers and untimely penalties plagued the Newton County Academy once again.

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The Generals committed four turnovers as Wayne Academy spoiled senior night with a 26-7 win on Thursday night.

The Generals finish the regular season with a 5-5 record and are assured of hosting a first-round playoff game after winning their district last week. Wayne improves to 5-5 and will likely make the playoffs as a wild-card.

For the Generals, it was a game of missed opportunities, as they lost three fumbles and threw one interceptions.

“Too many turnovers early; we didn’t play that badly, but we had three turnovers in the first half,” NCA coach Robert Roberts said. “One down deep that we were in good position to score and tie the game, and that really hurt. It was hard to overcome that, but we have everybody healthy for the playoffs next week. Wayne is tough; they played hard. They looked good.”

The first half was slow until the Jaguars hit a big play. Wayne gained 54-yards on a reverse pass that appeared to be a touchdown but was called back because of an offensive facemask. But the Jaguars finished off the drive as Cole Harris hit Payne West on a 10-yard touchdown pass with 6:27 left in the first half. Harris booted the PAT, and Wayne led 7-0.

The Generals were poised to respond when Braxton Rose broke a 49-yard run to the Wayne 13. But on fourth-and-2 on the Wayne 5, the exchange between quarterback Sage Gunn and Rose was fumbled, and the Generals turned the ball over on downs with 3:11 left in the half. 

“They got going with that long touchdown pass,” Roberts said. “We were in position, and they had a tall kid that just outjumped us. After that, they kind of got going on offense and were hard to stop. But I thought our kids played good, and I think we will be OK next week. I think we will be all right.”

After forcing an NCA fumble to open the second half, the Jaguars got to moving on offense, this time going 47 yards in seven plays as West barreled in the end zone on a 1-yard plunge with 6:46 left in the third. The PAT failed, and Wayne led 13-0.

After the Generals turned the ball over on downs, the Jaguars extended their lead as Payne West capped off a four-play, 45-yard drive with 2:25 left in the third. The two-pint conversion failed and Wayne led 19-0.

The Generals finally got something going on offense when Gunner Bounds hit Eli Finnegan on a halfback pass for a 23-yard gainer. Braxton Rose finished off the drive with a 3-yard run with 42 seconds left in the third. Ethan McDill booted the PAT and NCA cut the lead to 19-7.

The Jaguars finished off the Generals late in the fourth as West found the end zone again, this time on a 39-yard run with 2:21 left in the game. Th PAT was good, and Wayne led 26-7.

Wayne finished the night with 292 yards of total offense, with 183 on the ground and 109 in the air. Running back Hunter Sanderson led the way with 86 yards on 17 carries, while West had 59 yards on five carries.

The Generals had 157 yards of total offense, with 124 on the ground and 33 in the air. Rose led the Generals with 69 yards on 13 carries, while Gunn had 45 yards on 11 carries.