By DAVID MILLER
Special to The Dispatch
One yard here, one yard there.
For the majority of New Hope’s 34-13 win over Amory Friday night, its defense conceded just enough on the ground for the Panthers to keep a positive ledger in the stat book.
The Trojans, powered by their three-wave defensive line, held the Panthers to 120 yards on 39 carries, the majority of which came late in the fourth quarter when the game was all but decided.
While the Trojans’ explosive offense has dominated the narrative of their 4-0 start — they’ve scored 34 points or more in each game thus far — the defense has held their last two opponents to just three yards per carry.
“Scouting them on film, 99 percent of the time, they’re slanting to the strength of the formation,” Amory coach Ben Ashley said. “We knew that. We just didn’t do a good job at times of blocking it.”
New Hope defensive tackle Bailey Long, at just 5-foot-9 and 250 pounds, is one of unique group of defensive linemen that includes shorter players, like Long and senior Bradley Hendrix, but taller, quicker players, like Payton Lane and Patrick Johnson.
The mix of players gives the New Hope fresh players throughout the game, first-year New Hope coach Kris Pickle said. Each group was effective Friday.
“As long as we slant hard like coach taught us, we’re hitting the play hard and they’ll have nowhere to go,” Long said. “Amory was trying to run the sweep and the iso, and run it down our throats. They just couldn’t get through.”
The first drive of the game, ironically, was when New Hope’s defense looked vulnerable. They gave up 20 yards on two carries to quarterback Zatorious Gates, but a stuff behind the line and two of Amory’s five false start penalties on the night nixed the drive.
Brenton Spann went to work, scoring on runs of 14 and 73 yards on the Trojans’ first two plays from scrimmage to take a 14-0 lead.
It was lights out from there.
Amory mustered just seven yards on its next seven plays, and Gates was picked off by Jeremy Newton for a 35-yard score to give New Hope a 21-0 lead.
“They got mad at each other, were upset, and became undisciplined,” Lane said of the Panthers’ offensive line. “They were all over the place.”
Amory managed an 11-play, 61-yard scoring drive with two minutes before the half, but New Hope carried a 27-7 lead into the break.
The Trojans’ defense forced three turnovers on the night, including an 77-yard interception return for a score by Darron Temple that was wiped out due to a holding penalty.
“There were certain things we picked up on film, but we preach effort above everything else,” Pickle said. “If we get 11 guys to the football, good things will happen. Finish plays and match intensity every week.”
The Trojans open district play against Clarksdale next week. Expect a few more wrinkles from the New Hope defense, Lane said.
“We’ve really just run a basic scheme, basic slants and stuff,” Lane said. “We’ve shown one or two blitzes here or there, but nothing over the top. It’s been a very base defense, just playing disciplined. I’m ready to open it up a little bit more, get some more pressure on the quarterback.”
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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