Terrance Dentry doesn”t need much.
Thanks to a breakout performance by the senior running back and a hungry effort by its defense, the New Hope High School football team regained some momentum at a critical time of the season.
Dentry rushed for 205 yards and three touchdowns, and New Hope used a blitzing and opportunistic defense to beat Oxford 38-27 in the Class 5A, Region 1 opener for both teams.
Dentry scored on runs of 38 and 53 yards before capping the scoring with a 1-yard run in the final minute to help New Hope improve to 3-2.
“Terrance Dentry had a great night,” New Hope coach Michael Bradley said. “The offensive line did a great job of opening up big holes. Terrance doesn”t need much. All he needs is a little crease, and he had a great night running the ball.”
The Trojans” defense also played well despite allowing 312 passing yards and four touchdowns to senior quarterback Guy Cameron Billups.
David Richardson had seven tackles and Kris Douglas had five and a half tackles, including two sacks and three tackles for loss, to lead the defense.
“Their quarterback is a senior and a three-year starter,” Bradley said. “If you give him time to sit in that pocket and relax like he did early, he is going to pick us apart. Our secondary is young and inexperienced, and we blew a couple of coverages. Every time we blew a coverage, he hit us big for a touchdown. We tried to mix up our defensive looks and put some pressure on him. We had some guys get to him, and I thought it made a difference.”
With New Hope leading 11-7 in the second quarter, Q Newby scooped up a fumble by Billups and raced 98 yards for a touchdown. Tanner Ryals” extra points gave the Trojans an 18-7 lead. The Chargers (3-2) lost three of four fumbles.
“We were hurting ourselves,” Oxford coach Johnny Hill said. “We had three fumbles in the first half, two in scoring position, that took points off the board. In the second half, we thought if we could stop them we could score. We just had to stop shooting ourselves in the foot. … Penalties killed us. Turnovers kill you, and not wrapping up kills you.”
Oxford responded, though, as Billups connected with Stan Ivy on a 45-yard touchdown play with 34 seconds to play in the half.
Dentry wasn”t done, though. Following a 17-yard return by Johnny Beamon, Dentry took the first-down handoff and raced 53 yards to help the Trojans regain the momentum.
“When you are humble, you are focused,” Dentry said.
New Hope answered Billups” third touchdown pass with a big play, a 60-yard touchdown strike from Zak Thrasher to Darius Petty.
“I was really proud of our effort tonight,” Bradley said. “I thought the New Hope Trojan effort that was there all last finally showed up, and that was what I was so proud of.”
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