Northeast defense dominates Dublin in critical 20-0 home win

As he walked toward the locker room, the rain having subsided, Dublin head coach Roger Holmes had a little smile, that of a veteran head coach who wasn’t happy but wasn’t stressing.

“I’ve had my (butt) whipped before,” the Irish head coach of 24 years said. “Yep.”

Nevertheless, it’s still always a surprise when the Irish are the ones who get handled, rather than the handlers.

Northeast’s defense turned in a dominant performance from beginning to end as the Raiders blanked Dublin 20-0 on what became a rainy Thursday night at Thompson Stadium in Macon.

The game started dry, and ended with barely a sprinkle, with some solid rain in between. But figuratively, it was a lovely spring evening on the beach for the Raiders after holding Dublin’s elite wing-T offense in check.

Northeast Head coach Jeremy Wiggins said it was his defense’s best night since a 26-20 win over Haralson County in the second round of the 2021 playoffs.

“That’s how we prepared for Haralson County,” said Wiggins, who used a scout team quarterback some during the week. “Their single wing, and this wing-T. We have to bring the boys in on Sunday when (teams) do that.

“It takes a lot of discipline. Nobody can run the wing-T like Roger Holmes.”

Northeast took over sole possession of first place in GHSA Region 2-A Division I at 5-0, improving to 5-1 overall with its fourth straight shutout.

“Really?” senior linebacker Tailen Sampson asked with a measure of shock. “Four shutouts? Man. We’re the best defense in our region, and we proved it tonight.”

Dublin was last shut out in 2022, and it happened twice that year, to the same team. Metter won the regular-season meeting 12-0, and then 18-0 in the second round of the A-Division I playoffs.

Thursday was the Irish’s biggest shutout since falling 26-0 to Laney during the 2013 season.

“Defensively, they haven’t backed up a whole lot,” Holmes said. “We get the ball in the red zone three times, and their defense bowed their neck and handled us up front at times.”

The win was a sign of progress for Northeast, which lost 17-7 in Dublin last year, staying close on the scoreboard despite the Irish controlling the line and stat sheet. The Raiders had chances late to score, but couldn’t punch it in.

This time, Northeast put Dublin in the rare early hole.

Freshman quarterback Jordan Wiggins calmly threw left to Kortnei Williams, who usually catches passes from opposing quarterbacks from his safety spot. Williams was uncovered and sped down the sideline for a 48-yard score on the game’s sixth play.

To nobody’s surprise, Dublin moved like Dublin does on its first possession. Dontavius Cannon reeled off 17 yards on second and 15 as the Irish moved inside the Raiders’ 15-yard line. But on fourth and 1, Jamarcus Knight was smothered trying to go wide for a 6-yard loss.

“We moved the ball early,” Holmes said, “They changed defense, went to a different front, made it a little tougher on us.”

Dublin wasted a prime opportunity on its next possession, taking over on the Raiders’ 19-yard line after a defensive stop and 10-yard punt. But a fumbled snap on first down at the 6 was recovered by Sampson.

Neither team could sustain much offensively for the rest of the half, Dublin developing a threat on its last possession only for Northeast to bow up right after the Irish crossed midfield, the half ending with them back on their own side.

The battle of pooch kickoffs finally paid off for somebody when Dublin simply failed to mobilize and cover the kickoff to open the second half, 35 covering it at Dublin’s 26. A sack and penalty sent the Raiders backward nine yards.

No problem.

Scottavian Thomas made a superb adjustment in the end zone to coverage and a slightly off-target pass, curling inside to make the catch while hitting the turf. Demontae Dunn’s kick made it 13-0 with 10:47 left in the third quarter.

Rarely is that anywhere near enough against Dublin, but it was more than enough Thursday night. Northeast added a 41-yard scoring pass to Bam Glover in the final minute of the third quarter.

The Irish managed only six second-half first downs, showing some spark when Bennett Lake took over at quarterback and ran more. On the first 11 plays with Lake, who transferred from Dublin to FPD and back, the Irish gained 68 yards. Then they lost 18 yards on four plays after reaching a first and goal at the 3 in the final minutes. Sampson blasted through the line twice, first for a 10-yard sack and then on a rushed incomplete pass on fourth and goal at the 21.

Northeast held Dublin to under 100 yards in the second half and to 215 yards in total offense.

“We were locked in the whole week,” Sampson said. “We were ready.”

Jordan Wiggins completed 13 of 19 passes for 227 yards and three touchdowns as Northeast avoided turnovers. But it was a defensive win, starting with linemen Harold Simms, Isaiah Stubbs, Amari White and Chad Manuel but covering all three levels.

“We had to get back to the wing-T from last year,” Sampson said. “We have some new faces on defense, so we had to get them used to how they do it. Our young group came in and stood up.”