LFO stays hot at Haralson County

The LFO Warriors trailed by 18 points in the first quarter and were down 12 late in the third quarter, but stunned Haralson County with 29 unanswered points in the final eight minutes of the fourth quarter to pick up a 43-26 victory over the Rebels on Homecoming Night in Tallapoosa.

Treylon Sheppard, the state’s leading rusher coming into the ballgame (942 yards), followed up last week’s 373-yard performance against Adairsville by rushing 38 times for 302 yards and four touchdowns. Haralson County finished with 360 total yards, all coming on the ground.

However, LFO achieved nearly perfect balance on offense. The Warriors ran for 150 yards, while Malachi Powell threw for 148, including a pair of touchdown passes to Jacob King.

Sheppard scored on runs of 4, 60 and 3 yards in the first quarter to stake the Rebels to an 18-0 lead. King would catch an 8-yard pass from Powell to finally get the Warriors on the board late in the opening period.

Nathan Williams would score on a 1-yard run to cut the lead to 18-14 midway through the third quarter, only to see Sheppard respond with a 3-yard touchdown run and a 2-point conversion to give his team a 26-14 cushion going into the fourth.

But the Warriors would dominate the final period. King made it a one-possession game after catching a 25-yard touchdown pass with around eight minutes remaining and Williams would crash in from six yards out with just over four to go. He added the conversion run to give LFO its first lead at 29-26.

The defense would get into the act in the final two minutes of the game. Christian Vaughn would return an interception 15 yards for a score and Ruddy Ware would follow suit with a 35-yard pick-six in the waning seconds to cap the scoring.

Williams finished with 84 yards on the ground. Ware had 43 yards receiving, while Gabe Smith finished with 41 yards through the air. The LFO defense did its job by forcing three turnovers on the night.

LFO (4-1, 3-0) will be at home at Tommy Cash Stadium this Friday night as Adairsville comes to town for another crucial Region 6-AAA contest. It will also be Homecoming at LFO.