WATKINSVILLE — North Oconee football overcame a rough start in Friday night's annual Hog Mountain Bowl, defeating their down-the-road rival Oconee County for the third year in a row, 21-10.
"I thought we showed a lot of growth and maturity to overcome some of the things that were going on early in the game," North Oconee coach Tyler Aurandt said. "Defensively, I thought we played really, really well. To get some goal line stands like we were able to do, and keep them out of the end zone, it was huge for the momentum, and then the blocked punt, that was such a big play in the game that gave us another chance to get a touchdown right there before the half.
"Proud of the kids. It's hard, when you don't have a lot of time to prepare, and you play so quick. There's some things we've got to get cleaned up, but super excited for them, happy for them and we're going to enjoy this one."
Lots of dropped passes, several interceptions, a blocked punt and a turnover or two. That sums up the events of the night for the Warriors and Titans alike. Both coaches acknowledged that there's still a lot to learn and perfect before the season really gets rolling.
"We feel like we have a good football team," Oconee County coach Ben Hall said as he began walking inside to both corral his team and escape the sudden onset of rain. "We had three mistakes in the first half and ultimately, it was the difference. It changed the momentum, and they capitalized, we didn't. They stopped us on the goal line, long drive, they score, we have an opportunity to capitalize on a turnover and we didn't do it."
North Oconee scored three touchdowns.
One came from senior wide receiver and Georgia 3-star commit Landon Roldan with under two minutes in the first half to go — he managed to recover the ball midair after juggling it off his fingertips, proving exactly why UGA wants the speedster (often compared to Ladd McConkey) on their roster.
Another came from junior running back Maddox Brice, who was also responsible for an interception off senior quarterback Titus Watkins aiming for senior running back Caiden Wood.
"It's my first year actually playing in the bowl game," Brice said. "Super hype, super amazing, all the vibes were there, and it was super fun. Last year I was cheering from the sidelines just waiting for my turn."
The final score came from senior running back Justin Curtis in the fourth quarter.
"We ran the ball down their throat," junior quarterback Harrison Faulkner said. "Kind of unexpected. We thought we were going to throw it a little bit more, but we got the win so we can't complain."
Faulkner has taken over the starting quarterback roll after Max Wilson graduated last spring. He said he feels good, that Wilson prepared him adequately, and it sure looked that way watching him connect dots to his teammates so precisely.
Next week, North Oconee will travel to Dalton and Oconee County will travel to Clarke Central.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: North Oconee football three-peats Hog Mountain Bowl despite rough, early mistakes
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