CHATSWORTH- North Murray’s defense set the tone early in their Region 6-AAA match up against Sonoraville. A first play interception by North Murray’s Shawn Myers gave the large Mountaineer crowd a small taste of what to expect this evening. A stingy North Murray defense and an effective passing attack would lead the Mountaineers to their third win of the season.

After the Myers interception on Sonoraville’s first possession, Seth Griffin led the Mountaineer offense down the field quickly and a Judson Petty 2-yard rushing Touchdown gave North Murray the early lead. Sonoraville blocked the extra point so the lead stood at 6-0 Mountaineers. Griffin and the potent Mountaineer offense would continue on their next possession when they had another pass heavy drive that was capped by a short pass to Jadyn Rice who broke several tackles and evaded Phoenix defenders to find the pylon in the front corner of the endzone for the Touchdown. An Owen Hannah extra point would give North Murray a 13-0 lead to end the first quarter.

The next Sonoraville drive would feature long plays by Sonoraville’s Brant Bryant and rushes by Wyatt Springfield, but would end with a Petty interception in the endzone for North Murray. The Phoenix would get on the board later in the quarter when QB Jaxon Pate hit Springfield on a screen pass and he went untouched through the Mountaineer secondary for the score making it 13-7.

The teams traded punts, and with less than 2-minutes in the half the Mountaineer offense would drive the field again culminating in an 8-yard TD pass from Griffin to Michael McDade. Sonoraville would come up with their second blocked PAT of the game leaving the score at 19-7 in favor of North Murray at the half.

The defenses would own the third quarter as both offenses would struggle to gain much traction. Seth Griffin would get in on the defense play-making in the third quarter when he came up with North Murray’s third interception of the game as he picked off a Pate pass close to the endzone.

The North Murray offense began the fourth quarter on a drive that started at their own 12-yard line. The Mountaineer offense would once again drive the length of the field to pay dirt. The pass heavy drive led them down to the Sonoraville 4-yard line where Petty would carry it in for his second rushing TD of the game bringing the score to 25-7 North Murray. Griffin would hit Michael McDade on the 2-point conversion giving North Murray a 27-7 lead with just 7:11 left to play.

The Phoenix went to work quickly and made the remaining time on the clock very interesting. A quick drive downfield led to a Wyatt Springfield 6-yard rushing TD. Sonoraville would miss the extra point leaving the score at 27-13 in favor of North Murray with just 5:30 left to play. The ensuing onside kick was recovered by Sonoraville giving them the ball at midfield. After a few plays that included a long Pate run down to the Mountaineer 38-yard line, Pate would hit Tanner Hicks on a TD strike from 33-yards out bringing the score to 27-20 North Murray with just 3:40 to play.

The next onside kick wouldn’t be as successful for the Phoenix. The kick rolled out of bounds giving North Murray the ball at the Sonoraville 49-yard line with just 3:40 to play. Rushes by Petty and Devin Hunte would run the clock out and seal the deal for the Mountaineers.

Both teams will continue Region 6-AAA play next Friday night. North Murray moves to 3-1 (1-1) and will travel to Rockmart (3-1) next week. Sonoraville falls to 2-2 (0-2) and will host LFO (0-4) next week.