gotchanewsdaily.com 
NORTH AUGUSTA 14, STROM THURMOND 7
JOHNSTON — North Augusta head football coach Richard Bush tells his players all the time about keeping a next-play, next-man-up mentality.
He wants his players to be ready whenever their number is called, no matter the situation.
That includes an adverse one the Jackets faced Friday night.
On the road. At Class AA No. 2 Strom Thurmond. Up by a touchdown with 5:34 to play and with the Rebels at midfield. With the star backfield of senior quarterback Corey Tillman and junior running back Michael Doe gingerly walking the sideline, both out of the game due to injury.
The Jackets’ defense stepped up the way it had all night, with linebacker Alex Powell picking off Bri’Shaun Lee on first down to give the Jackets the ball right back 15 seconds later.
Now it would be up to the sophomore backfield of Collin Tillman and Jayden Hatcher behind the Jackets’ young offensive line.
Strom Thurmond never touched the ball again.
The Jackets took advantage of yet another Rebels penalty to pick up a valuable first down, and from there their youngsters were able to run out the clock on a hard-fought 14-7 win.
“It says a lot about those guys. It says a lot about Collin. It says a lot about Jayden,” Bush said. “How about Nick Grant making some big plays tonight on offense? That’s big. That’s what we need. Offensive line played well at times, especially late in the game. That’s what it’s going to take to win ballgames. Winning’s hard. I say it all the time. Winning football games is hard. People don’t realize that. I was proud of the way the guys fought tonight. They played well. Good enough to get the win.”
Corey Tillman threw a pair of touchdown passes before leaving due to injury, a 6-yarder to Hakeem Lawrence with 30 seconds left in the first half to tie the game and a screen Grant took 28 yards for what stood up as the game-winner with 7:01 left in the third quarter.
Other than that, it was just about all defense. Both defenses took center stage Friday night, combining to hold the quarterbacks to 13 completions on 34 attempts while forcing nine punts and four turnovers.
Powell’s pick capped a streak of nine consecutive drives North Augusta (3-1) kept Strom Thurmond (2-1) out of the end zone – four by punt, two by interception, two by turnover on downs, one by the end of the first half.
“Defense played great. They played great. They made stop after stop after stop,” Bush said. “Alex Powell played unbelievable. That’s what we need, and that’s what you expect out of a senior. He played great. Super proud of him. Super proud of the defense. I just can’t say enough about those guys.”
The biggest binds the Jackets’ defense faced were early in the game. The Rebels got on the board first with Lee’s 21-yard touchdown pass to Jay Sewell on fourth down with 2:39 left in the first quarter, then sent North Augusta’s defense right back onto the field by recovering the ensuing – but not onside – kickoff.
“If it looked like it was planned, I appreciate it,” Rebels head coach Andrew Webb quipped. “That was just the good Lord shining down on us right there.”
The Jackets’ defense was up to the task, forcing the Rebels to punt – only to have to return to the field again on their own 9-yard line after that punt was muffed.
Again, they had an answer. Ty Burke picked off Lee and raced downfield, putting the Jackets in plus territory.
Just the way their defense responded throughout the night, so did the Rebels’. They held the Jackets scoreless for all but 30 seconds of the first half, including a Kaleb Simpkins pass deflection when North Augusta had fourth-and-goal from the 6. And they continued to fight in the second half, against North Augusta and against their own self-inflicted wounds – the Rebels committed a dozen penalties, several negating first downs.
“I think, most importantly, I just told those guys in the locker room I know what kind of team we’ve got. We’ve got a team that’s going to fight, and we fought from start to finish,” Webb said. “Fighting for our standard is something that I’m proud of. We fought our absolute butts off. At the same time, North Augusta beat us. Hats off to them. They beat the Rebs tonight.”
The part that made North Augusta beating them sting more was how the Rebels hurt themselves in the first half. Webb said their assessment in the locker room was that the score should’ve been 28-7 in their favor, but too many missed opportunities cost them.
“We left so many points out on the field in the first half because of penalties, penalties, penalties, penalties,” he said. “That all comes back to a lack of discipline. Regardless of what we think, it all comes back to discipline. So we’ll go work on that on Monday, and we’ll be better next week.”
Doe rushed for 118 yards on 20 carries before leaving the game after having his leg awkwardly bent on a tackle. He spent the last nearly six minutes of the game on the sideline along with Corey Tillman, who stayed down after a potential 46-yard touchdown pass was wiped out by a penalty and didn’t return.
The Rebels held the Jackets to 245 yards of total offense a week after they went for 446 in a win over South Aiken. North Augusta returned the favor, though, by limiting Strom Thurmond to 202 yards and keeping the Rebels’ powerful, multi-faceted rushing attack from taking control of the game.
“I love my defense, especially my linebackers and linemen. If I wasn’t broke, I’d take them all to eat right now,” Jackets offensive lineman Malcolm Gaston said. “Offensive line, I feel like we’ve come a long way. Me, I’m a returning starter from last year with me being the only sophomore. With them stepping up and me trying to be a leader, I love this team. I’m so glad I came up here.”
The Rebels also had to fight through a costly injury, as running back/linebacker Cam Blacks had to leave the game early with a leg injury and was on crutches by the end of the game. His status will be determined during the week, much like Corey Tillman and Doe, as the Rebels prepare for a home game next Friday against Emerald.
“We ain’t never going to be OK with losing. We’re going to work to get better,” Webb said. “But, I’m telling you, I’m thankful we were able to face adversity in Week 3 of the season and go ahead and figure out, this is what we can’t do and this is what we’ve got to do to fix it, rather than everything be smooth sailing and adversity hits in the middle of conference play or the playoffs when we haven’t had to face it. So I’m thankful for it, but proud of the Rebels.”
North Augusta, which was also without top receiver Connor Brown (broken collarbone) again Friday, steps right back into the Region 4-AAAA grind with a road trip to Gilbert.
“Luckily for us, we’ve played in two hostile environments (Strom Thurmond and Thomson), because I know that’s going to be one up there at Gilbert,” Bush said. “You’ve got to be able to win on the road if you want to do anything during the football season. I’m just happy to get the win on the road, and proud of the way our guys fought.”
