North Paulding won the last time they faced Etowah and things went their way on Friday too. The Wolfpack came out on top against the Eagles by a score of 33-20.
Darian Smith
| 09/19/25 vs North Cobb | 56 |
| 09/12/25 @ Cherokee | 68 |
| 09/05/25 vs South Paulding | 85 |
| 10/03/25 vs Etowah | 109 |
North Paulding found their leader in sophomore Darian Smith, who rushed for 109 yards and a pair of touchdowns on only 12 carries. Those 109 rushing yards set a new season-high mark for Smith. The team also got some help courtesy of Kingslee Simpson, who picked up 58 receiving yards and two TDs.
North Paulding was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 312 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Etowah only rushed for 109.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to North Paulding's defense and their seven sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Grant Henderson and Paul Dabbelt, who racked up four sacks between them. Henderson is becoming a predictor of North Paulding's success: when he posts at least one sack the team is undefeated (and 1-2 when he doesn't). Another thorn in Etowah's side was Levi Hilty, who picked up a sack, made six total tackles (2.0 for loss), and defended one pass.
When it comes to explaining why Etowah lost, don't look at Zeke Douglass. Despite the final result, he threw for 194 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and also rushed for 91 yards on only ten carries. Douglass' longest rush was for an impressive 54 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total. A healthy portion of Douglass' aerial production (118 yards to be exact) went to Walker Hughes.
North Paulding is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 5-2 record this season. As for Etowah, they now have a losing record of 3-4.
Coincidentally, North Paulding and Etowah will both be playing Wheeler the next time they take the field. The Eagles will host the Wildcats at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, while the Wolfpack will head out to face them at 7:30 p.m. on the 17th.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
