Northside turns turnovers into touchdowns to thump Macon County

Macon County would move the ball a little bit and turn it over.

And Northside would score.

That was the script for the entire first half as Northside rolled past Macon County 45-6 on Friday night at McConnell-Talbert Stadium in non-region action.

Northside, ranked second in GHSA Class 6A, improved to 6-0. Macon County, No. 6 in Class 1A, fell to 3-2.

The Bulldogs turned the ball over five times in the first half, and the Eagles scored each time, more often than not having to travel a less-than-long distance. A few times, the turnovers came downfield after big gains, twice because the Eagles just stole the ball.

That started with Tae Daley on the Bulldogs’ second play from scrimmage, which came after Macon County stopped Northside on a fourth-and-4 at the Bulldogs’ 34.

Northside then scored after getting the ball back on a punt, a fumble after a 24-yard gain, a punt, a 3-yard loss, an 11-yard loss and a 31-yard gain.

Macon County broke the shutout early in the fourth quarter on a 14-yard pass from K’Hari Lane to Trey Brown.

Three who mattered

Daley: The Vanderbilt commitment was all over the field, mostly going up against Brown and giving little leeway. Daley’s swipe and score was a tone-setter.

Armond Childs: The junior defensive back may have covered more ground than Daley, coming up with several big hits and passes defended, as well as a fumble recovery.

Lane: The Macon County quarterback was under pressure most of the night, and the offense was the victim of several dropped passes. But he still had a decent night with all that and a running game that was stifled.

Observations

On the other hand: Macon County wanted to make a much better impression on the big stage, but the Bulldogs went home with a “better” loss than did Class 5A Ware County, a 48-7 victim of the Eagles two weeks earlier. Both games had running clocks, although Ware County did have to wait longer, thanks to Northside leaving first-half points on the field. But the Bulldogs had more yards than the Gators, 222-153, and one more first down.

Big play becomes bad play: Macon County will watch the game tape and make painful noises as the Bulldogs see chances to be competitive waste away. Three of the five first-half fumbles came down the field, after the Bulldogs had caught a pass. The fumbles came after cumulative gains of 75 yards.

Worth mentioning

Medical report: Macon County lost a key weapon early when receiver Tra Mathis was injured on a kickoff return and left the game, without getting a reception for the night. Mathis suffered a knee injury, and head coach Dexter Copeland wasn’t sure how serious it was.

They said it

Northside head coach Kevin Kinsler: “We were pretty opportunistic. We were able to cause some turnovers and turn them into points. I thought that was big early, especially against an explosive team like this.”

Macon County head coach Dexter Copeland: “You turn over the football against good teams, you’ll get beat like we got beat (Friday). Our experience showed in big games. We came in, and we did the things we normally don’t do. We can chalk that up to big-game experience. But we’ve got to move on.”

Lane on the halftime atmosphere: “It wasn’t nice. It wasn’t nice.”

Lane on the last time halftime was that rough: “I think my freshman year maybe.”

Kinsler on the Bulldogs being better than what they showed: “I think Macon County’s a very good football team. They’re gonna do just fine. Macon County got after it. Our kids had to play hard.”

Copeland on the fumbles after getting good yardage: “I wanted to see what would happen. I wanted to make some plays. We just lost our composure. We hadn’t had that adversity yet. Against Fitzgerald, we were still moving the ball and doing things. But the fumbling and all that kind of stuff, that was different.”

What’s next?

Northside opens Region 1-6A play at Valdosta, while Macon County returns to Region 4B-1A action at Crawford County, both on Friday.

This story was originally published September 30, 2016 at 11:22 PM with the headline "Northside turns turnovers into touchdowns to thump Macon County."