CHATSWORTH — Entering Friday night’s game against Murray County, a winless Coahulla Creek team had 27 total points through six games.
The Colts stampeded over the Indians for 27 points in the fourth quarter alone.
Coahulla Creek (1-6, 1-4 Region 7-2A) charged to its first win, defeating Murray (1-7, 0-6 Region 7-2A) 36-0 Friday night.
“It was huge for us,” Creek head coach Drew Carter said. “They’ve been so close, and it’s just been missed opportunities or missed timing. It was finally clicking and we were making plays and just playing with confidence.
Coahulla Creek went into halftime with a 9-0 lead, but with a few missed opportunities that could have led to more points.
Tyler Douglas ran for a 4-yard touchdown to put Creek up 6-0 in the first, and Brett Pause hit a 25-yard field goal in the second, but Creek was stopped on a couple of other scoring opportunities, including on a fourth-down throw into the end zone as time expired on the half.
“There were just some miscues,” Carter said. “But we were able to get through that and get some momentum and make some plays.”
Once the third quarter started, the opportunities kept coming, and the Colts kept capitalizing.
A pair of personal fouls on Murray set up Creek with good field position, and quarterback Waelyn Baliles connected with Andrew Russell with a 12-yard touchdown pass. Murray’s Landon Souther picked off the 2-point conversion attempt.
Creek made it 22-0 when Baliles and Russell hooked up for a 22-yard touchdown with 6:22 left in the third.
Russell got a partial block on a punt that set Creek up at the 25, and Douglas got the edge and sprinted for his second TD of the night, a 25 yarder, on the next play.
Douglas toted in his third score of the night when he broke loose for a 24-yard touchdown to put the score at 36-0 with 1:44 left in the third.
Douglas totaled 12 carries for 125 yards and three touchdowns and also added six tackles on defense.
After going winless in its first six, Creek forced a running clock in the fourth quarter as it downed the Indians.
“We’ve got a bunch of young guys that have been grinding and they haven’t given up. They’ve continued to stay the course and now they’ve seen it finally pay off.”
While the Colt offense broke loose for its best game by far, the defense also did more than its part, pouncing on a couple of fumbles and holding the Murray County offense down.
The Indians were able to threaten on some early possessions and move the ball into Colt territory in the first half, but, as the Colt offense did its scoring in the second, the Indians didn’t cross midfield until a late fourth-quarter drive.
Coahulla Creek returns home to host Union County next Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Murray is off next week, then plays Rockmart at home on Oct. 25.