Thirty years of coaching and a tough 2009 season all came to an end in one game on Friday night.

The Upson-Lee Knights defeated the Jones County Greyhounds by a score of 28-14, ending their season with a 3-7 record, and sending defensive coordinator Nelson Hall off with a victory in his last game. After 30 years, Hall decided to hang up his coaching shoes after the victory on Friday night.

“We wanted to send Coach Hall off with a victory,” said head coach Tommy Watson. “He has been a big part of this program and this community, and he deserves to go out a winner.”

The Knights netted 296 yards rushing in the game, including eleven yards for a touchdown by Tay Matthews on the Knights opening possession. Matthews capped off an 11 play, 77 yard drive with his fifth rushing touchdown of the season from 16 yards out. After the Luke Paul PAT was good, the Knights were quickly out to an early 7-0 lead.

The Upson-Lee Knights played inspired defense during the entire football game, shutting out the Greyhounds in the first half of the contest. Upson-Lee forced a “three and out” with their first defensive stand.

Upson-Lee’s offense continued to roll on the next drive. The Knights’ reached the Greyhounds’ 18 yard line, but quarterback Tay Matthews had the ball knocked loose from his grip and Jones County recovered.

However, the Knights’ defense was up to the challenge yet again, forcing another Jones County punt. On the punt, Upson-Lee senior Logan Winkles penetrated the line and blocked the punt. After blocking the punt, Winkles recovered the punt on the Jones County 12 yard line. On the very first play from scrimmage Matthews scored his second touchdown of the game with a 12 yard touchdown run.

Matthews accumulated 159 yards rushing in the football game, which is a new school record for a quarterback. The previous record was held by LaQuentin Lamar, who had 149 rushing yards against Stockbridge in 2006. Matthews also completed five of nine passes for 75 yards on the night.

With 11:37 still remaining in the game, Luke Paul’s PAT was good and the Knights now held a 14-0 advantage.

The Knights’ defense would continue to dominate the Greyhounds in the first half, holding Jones County to only one first down and 36 total yards in the half.

Terrance Gore, who averaged over nine yards a carry and had accumulated almost 1300 rushing yards on the season was held to only 52 yards rushing by the Knights.

However, Gore did manage to find the end zone twice in the contest, with his first coming on Jones County’s first possession of the second half.

Gore capped off a 13 play 68 yard drive with a three yard touchdown run. The Greyhounds’ PAT was good, and the deficit was cut in half 14-7.

The Knights answered right back with a 10 play, 65 yard drive of their own, capped off by Donterrius Harris’ seven yard touchdown run. The Luke Paul PAT was again good, and the Knights’ headed to the fourth quarter with a 21-7 lead.

Jones County fought back. The Greyhounds needed to win this ball game to have a chance of reaching the state playoffs, and Terrance Gore did everything he could to see that they got there. This time Gore came around the right edge for a 26 yard touchdown run, and again the Knights lead was cut down to seven with the score 21-14.

As they had on the previous drive, the Knights answered back. Tay Matthews kept the ball on the veer option and jetted 55 yards before being called out of bounds at the Jones County five yard line. One play later, Montavious Skelton rumbled in from five yards out to seal the Upson-Lee victory and send the Upson-Lee seniors off with a win.

The 28-14 victory should be a huge plus for the team and the coaching staff to build on.

“It’s been a long tough season,” said Watson. “However, these last few games we have started to find ourselves on both sides of the ball. We have a lot of really good kids and players coming back next season. I know they will continue to work hard and get better, and I know we as coaches will continue to work hard and get better. We are going to get this program turned around and headed in the right direction, and I think tonight was a big step in that direction.”

The 2010 season and the future should be getting brighter for the Knights, as next year they will return the leading rusher Melvin Furgeson and their quarterback Tay Matthews. The only question left to figure out now is what region they will play in once the season starts.