CHATSWORTH – North Murray welcomed Pickens Friday night for their Home Opener and the first-ever matchup between the two Schools. The first meeting surpassed all expectations as the two teams combined for 104 points on the night.

To say Seth Griffin had a good game would be an understatement. The North Murray Senior Quarterback finished with 401-yards passing, 201-yards rushing, and accounted for 7 total touchdowns. Before Griffin, the last North Murray QB to have a 7-TD performance was Ladd McConkey in October of 2019 against Coahulla Creek.

Seth Griffin evading Pickens defenders.

Judson Petty got the scoreboard working first with a 5-yard rushing TD just 4-minutes into the game. The Dragons answered a few plays later. Pickens QB Sam Streicher hit Marcus Pike for a 56-yard TD. The next three Mountaineer scores belonged to Griffin. Griffin scored on rushes of 4, 13, and 29-yards in the first-half. For every North Murray big play, Pickens returned the favor. The Dragons got rushing TDs from Canaan Denson and Mason Powell. Powell would find the endzone again on the next series on a 39-yard pass from Streicher. The frenzy of scoring led to a 29-26 Pickens advantage late in the first half.

North Murray Offensive Line clearing the way early in the 1st quarter.

With under a minute left in the half, Griffin hit Skyler Williams on a long pass down to the Pickens 8-yard line. Griffin connected with Liam Rogers on the TD pass with just 7 seconds left before halftime. The Rogers Touchdown gave the Mountaineers a 33-29 advantage at the half.

The same cast of characters that made the first-half so exciting repeated their performance in the second-half.
On the opening possession of the half, Griffin hit Petty on a screen pass and he dodged Dragon defenders as he made his way 37-yards for the score.

Judson Petty scores on a pass from Seth Griffin in the 3rd quarter.

The Dragon offense, not to be outdone, put together a scoring drive of their own. A long Dragon drive ended with another Powell rushing TD, this one from 1-yard out. After a North Murray turnover, Pickens cashed in and took the lead. Streicher hit Isaiah Williams on a 21-yard screen pass for a TD. The Williams TD gave the Dragons a 43-40 lead with 4:45 left in the third. The Dragons pushed their lead to 50-40 before the end of the Quarter. A long Dragon pass play set up Kadyn Hampton on a short TD rush.

The fourth quarter belonged to the Mountaineers. Griffin added his fourth rushing TD of the night, this one from 15 yards out bringing the score to 50-47 in favor of the Dragons. Both teams traded possessions throughout the final stanza. The Mountaineers then found themselves with the ball with under 2-minutes remaining. Griffin and company went to work. A quick drive ended with a Griffin strike to Jadyn Rice from 26-yards out. Rice broke several tackles before diving into the end zone with just 55-seconds remaining. A Jafet Cuenca extra- point put the Mountaineers up For good at 54-50 and secured their first win of the season.

North Murray moves to 1-1 and will travel to Ridgeland next Friday. Pickens falls to 0-2 and will travel to Fannin next Friday.