By CHAD MATCHETT
Special to The Leader
A strong first half didn’t roll over to the second half for North Pulaski Friday night at Mills stadium.
The Comets scored three touchdowns in the third quarter to pull away from the Falcons after leading just 16-13 at halftime.
“We came out and had a good third quarter,” Mills coach Patrick Russell said. “I told the guys at halftime that we had to go out there and perform. We couldn’t let North Pulaski hang around and stay close because they play hard and I knew they weren’t going to give up.”
The Comets took the opening kickoff of the third quarter and marched 65 yards on just six plays to start the scoring frenzy. Carries of 14 and 19 yards by Bentrell Cobbs along with a 27-yarder by Tim Stigall helped set up a short touchdown run by Zae Jones.
Both Stigall and Cobbs ran for over 100 yards in the game, with Stigall leading the way with 187 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Cobbs also passed for two touchdowns in the win – both to Patrick Johnny.
North Pulaski had the first score of the game when quarterback A.J. Allen found Arlando Hicks over the middle for a 36-yard touchdown pass. After Mills answered with Cobbs’ first touchdown of the night, the Falcons came back with a 79-yard touchdown run by Jerald Blair. Blair finished the game with 168 yards on the ground.
Two fumbles in the first half stalled drives by the Comets. North Pulaski helped out the Comets by being flagged for over 100 yards in penalties.
“The kids played hard,” North Pulaski coach Tony Bohannon said. “They had some bad breaks out there, but they played as hard as they have all year.”
The Falcons had some success through the air as Allen tossed completions to Hicks, Huston Regan, Adolphe Stephens and Daniel Thurman in the third quarter. Thurman’s catch was a 30-yard touchdown that was called back on a holding penalty.
North Pulaski’s final score came on a 22-yard run by Darius Washington that cut the score to 36-19 early in the fourth quarter. A long drive by the Comets that ended with a touchdown pass from Cobbs to Johnny with 4:30 left to play put the game away.
North Pulaski will play host to conference leading Monticello Thursday night for the season finale.
