Ryan Hall completed 8 of 16 passes for 127 yards and three touchdowns to lead the North Gwinnett Bulldogs to a 39-17 win over the McEachern Indians Saturday at The Benz as part of the Kell-Hunter Classic.
Hall, a senior, completed touchdown passes of 25, 7 and 62 yards, with the longest caught by senior Erik Ronning with 6:12 left in the game, which made it 32-17 and all but put the game away. For good measure, the Bulldogs tacked on a defensive touchdown on McEachern’s next possession, when junior safety Jalen Gist stripped the quarterback and returned it 18 yards for a touchdown, bringing the score to its final margin with 6:02 left.
“I think it’s the mindset we have going into practice, going into the season,” Hall said of the team’s performance. “It’s what we’ve prepared for all year. We’re looking to go 1-0 every week and I think we showcased what we can do here, and made a statement.”
Bulldogs senior Tommy LaFayette rushed for 79 yards and a touchdown on nine carries, and Hall rushed 12 times for 69 yards. Ronning’s touchdown catch was his only reception and it was good enough for a team-high in receiving yards. Nick Bookman (41 yards, three catches) caught Hall’s other two touchdowns. Constantine Dallis drilled a 47-yard field goal to make it 17-6 in the third.
Bookman’s seven yard reception with 4:08 left in the third gave the Bulldogs their largest lead at 25-6, and with that the Indians would make one last run, with junior Zavion Harris catching senior Zah’lyn Bell’s 33-yard touchdown pass, and they’d follow that with a 2-point conversion, then a 21-yard Jon Rodriguez field goal to make it a one-score game, 25-17, with 9:31 left in the fourth.
“With the momentum shift in the third quarter, we really had to swing it around,” Hall said. “We knew we had to go face-first, right into them and get first down after first down. That was our goal.”
The Bulldogs went 8-4 and reached 2nd round of 7A playoffs, will compete out of 7-6A. They’re on bye next week and play again Aug. 30 at 6A’s No. 5 Colquitt County.
“Today was a good reminder to keep working hard every week and we’ll get our results.”
Bell led the Indians with 141 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries, and he was 12 of 24 passing for 125 yards and another touchdown.
The Indians went 7-5 last year, winning 3-7A and reaching the second round. Completing out of 3-6A, they’ll play at 6A’s North Cobb next week.
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