Hester’s first home game back at Tattnall soured by George Walton as Trojans lose 30-7

Things felt good as the pregame ceremonies unfolded before the Tattnall Trojans’ showdown with the George Walton Bulldogs on Friday night. The game was set to be special one: program icon Barney Hester’s first home game since returning to Tattnall as head coach this season. 

Tattnall renamed its football stadium in Hester’s honor. The Trojans legend had his family — not to mention a long, multi-generational line of former players — take the field before kickoff for the dedication announcement. A nice crowd gathered as hot dogs were slung from the concession stand and band tunes drifted from the bleachers.

But the pleasant atmosphere did not last, as Tattnall’s youth and lack of control in the trenches were too much to overcome in a 30-7 loss to the Bulldogs and their stellar rushing attack.

The Trojans fell to 0-3 on the season with the loss, with each of those losses coming by 21 points or more. Hester’s triumphant return to the school where he dominated as a head coach from 1982-2012 — he won an eye-popping 11 state titles and 18 region championships at Tattnall — has not gone as planned.

The team showed flashes of talent, including one lengthy touchdown drive in the third quarter that exemplified the offense’s potential in the option game, but could not figure things out on a consistent basis.

“We’re young, but that excuse is gonna be over with soon because we’ll have played four games,” Hester said. “We’re close. We’re really close. No, we don’t have a lot of speed, but we play real hard. I’m proud of them, but we have to be more consistent.”

Tattnall’s offense looked meek on its first drive and, after a three-and-out, the Trojan defense allowed George Walton to score on a breezy six-play, 44-yard drive. Zach Wolf’s touchdown and a subsequent two-point conversion made it 8-0 Bulldogs early.

It was fitting, as Wolf would go on to torment Tattnall on the ground. He scored two rushing touchdowns and also threw for a 58-yard score on an unexpected fake-punt play in the fourth quarter.

“He’s a good player, they’ve got a lot of them. They’re balanced well,” Hester said of Wolf. “We’ve got a lot of things we need to focus on. We need to get better at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, and we’ve got to grow up a little.”

Tattnall saw a bit more success on its next drive thanks to some decent runs from quarterback Tate Morris but could not sustain the momentum.

The teams then traded empty drives, and it looked like the Trojans would stop the Bulldogs two possessions in a row when they forced a fourth-and-13 at the Tattnall 32-yard line, but George Walton managed to convert it with a long pass and punched in its second touchdown only two plays later as the demoralized Trojan defense crumbled.

The biggest break Tattnall got in the half came with less than 30 seconds to go, as the Bulldogs were knocking on the door at the 5-yard line after a lengthy drive. 

But instead of scoring for a third time, George Walton fumbled the snap and allowed Tattnall’s Andrew Pecorilli to recover it and keep things at 15-0 going into halftime.

The Trojans translated that momentum into a forced fumble on George Walton’s first possession out of halftime before going on their best drive of the night by far. Morris handled the ball very well — the drive was sparked by a nice run on the very first play in which his O-line shoved him about 7 extra yards, too — and eventually scored on a run from two yards out.

All of a sudden, it was a one-score game at 15-7.

“Well we were running the option, running it with speed back to the split inside. (Morris) was hitting some seams inside,” Hester. “We found a lot of success. He made some big reads and big plays.”

George Walton wasted no time gutting the Tattnall faithful, however. A massive kick return put the Bulldogs inside the Trojans’ 40-yard line right from the get-go, and they only needed two plays before AJ Dillard took it to the house from 20 yards out to make it 22-7.

From there, the air left Tattnall’s sails. While Morris made a few more nice plays, including some decent passes, the Trojans did not find their footing on offense again.

Aside from the fake punt, which caught Tattnall off-guard, the Bulldogs wound down the clock and finished off the 30-7 win.

Tate Morris finished with exactly 100 yards of offense, 59 of them on the ground. George Walton’s Zach Wolf finished with 113 yards rushing on 22 attempts, plus the 58-yard passing touchdown with a two-point conversion pass.

Tattnall will travel to Calvary Christian in Columbus next week, while George Walton will travel to The King’s Academy.