North Cobb Runs Past Archer in Second Half

LAWRENCEVILLE — By the time lightning lit up the sky with 7:16 to go in the fourth quarter, the North Cobb Warriors, due to their run game, had built an impressive lead that was big enough for the referees to call the game against the Archer Tigers by a final score of 49-21.

Despite striking through the air multiple times during the first half, the Tigers could not control North Cobb’s rushing attack. The game stayed within reach for the Tigers until the pouring rain left their passing offense limited. Once the rain became the major factor of the second half, North Cobb ran away with the ball game, scoring 28 unanswered points, 21 of which occurred after the first drop of rainfall.

Archer started the game firing on all cylinders, with quarterback Jordan Do completing his first six passes for 49 yards. Do finished the drive by keeping the ball for himself as he floated into the end zone after a 25-yard rush to give Archer a 7-0 lead.

North Cobb utilized its imposing offensive line for its rush attack and marched down the field with freshman Zach Belyeu capping the drive off with a 12-yard rushing touchdown to tie the game 7-7. On the following drive, North Cobb went to the run six out of the team’s seven plays which was capped off by another freshman scoring, giving the Warriors a 14-7 lead.

Archer promptly responded by airing out an 80-yard explosive connection from quarterback Do to star wide receiver Colby Anderson, who left every defender in the dust to even the score 14-14.

Following a barreling touchdown by North Cobb, Archer continued to find great success on third-down conversions which led to its final points of the night. In a trick play involving a double pass, Do found himself catching the game-tying touchdown to match North Cobb’s 21 points. This touchdown gave Do a rushing, passing and receiving touchdown for the night.

On the following drive, Archer’s air attack began to fail, with two overthrown passes, the second of which led to an interception. This interception marked the first turnover of the game for Archer, as well as the major turning point.

Due to two costly penalties by Archer, the Warriors found themselves in the red zone. Quarterback Nick Grimstead, using the read option, ran for a 12-yard touchdown with 18.9 seconds to go in the first half to put North Cobb up 28-21 giving the Warriors the lead which they never surrendered the rest of the game.

In the third quarter, the downpour of rain began severely impacting the game. The once hard-to-stop passing offense of Archer was forced to run the ball more and when opting to pass, they failed to catch long-distance throws due to the slick conditions of the football. The game-sealing mistake came when in punt formation, Archer’s special teams unit could not handle the elements, turning the ball over on downs on its own 12-yard line.

Before the game was through, Archer turned the ball over and only saw the red zone once in the second half, where it failed to convert a fourth down attempt on the one-yard line when North Cobb stuffed a trick play.

With 7:16 to go in the fourth quarter, the game was paused for a weather delay, and after a short conference between the referees and coaches, the game was called, resulting in a 49-21 victory for the North Cobb Warriors.

After the loss, Archer looks to bounce back in a matchup next week at home against Seckinger.