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Published: Friday, Aug. 17, 2012 / Updated: Friday, Aug. 17, 2012 11:44 PM

Helms leads Nation Ford to season-opening win

FORT MILL -- 

If Nation Ford junior quarterback Dalton Helms had any pregame jitters, he didn’t show it.

Helms came out of the locker room on fire to open the game, putting in a memorable performance in his first official start under center as Nation Ford beat Forestview 38-0 to open its 2012 football season.

Helms went 21-28 for 255 throwing three touchdown passes and running in two more, including a 70-yarder.

“It was more excitement than jitters,” Helms said. “I knew what I had around me. We played as a family. I had a lot of faith in my receivers.”

Nation Ford has beaten Forestview the past two years to start the season on a good note. The Jaguars, who were opening their season as well, had hoped to spoil things for the Falcons this time but it was business as usual.

Falcons head coach Michael Allen said a lot clicked with his team over the past week.

“We challenged them this week to perform,” Allen said. “We ended up playing at a higher pace.”

Nation Ford played the majority of the game in a hurry up offense, using a no-huddle offense to move the ball without much trouble.

Nation Ford scored to open the third quarter on its first drive on the first play as Helms hit senior AK McCoy on a short pass that McCoy turned into his second touchdown of the game.

With about four minutes in the third quarter, Nation Ford had a drive that didn’t result in a touchdown, but senior Corey Condron was able to get the Falcons a score on the drive after hitting a 23-yard field goal.

On the final drive of the third quarter for Nation Ford, Helms hit senior Dijuan Ussery for a 25-yard pass to put the Falcons at the one-yard line, where Helms would take it in himself on the next play.

In the first half, Nation Ford marched down the field from the 22-yard line with about three minutes left in the first quarter. The drive got them near the goal line, but time expired before the Falcons could score.

Senior Daniel Jackson had a huge 32-yard run to get into Forestview territory on the drive. Helms led the offense flawlessly as he connected with McCoy on a couple occasions, the second one producing a touchdown to give the Falcons the 7-0 lead to open the second quarter.

At one point in the first half, Helms was in such a zone that he had 12 straight completions. Helms went 17-23 for 143 yards in the first half.

Forestview came back down the field and attempted a 26-yard field goal after the Falcons were able to stop a pretty good drive for the Jaguars.

Helms again led Nation Ford on its first real series of the second quarter, but this time it wasn’t with his arm, but his legs. Helms’ first run of the game was a 70-yard sprint resulting in another touchdown for Nation Ford.

Right before the end of the first half, facing a third and 15, Nation Ford again pulled a rabbit out of its magic hat as Helms hit Ussery as the clock ran out. Ussery did a good job dodging defenders to get into the end zone to put the Falcons up 21-0 at the half.

Both teams started the game slow offensively as each school’s defense came out on the attack.

Forestview started eating up the clock on its second drive of the game. The Jaguars were pounding the ball despite showing the spread on several occasions. Sophomore Montavis Rogers did the majority of damage with a first down run of 10 yards as the Jaguars started at its own 15-yard line. 

However, after a 16-play drive, Nation Ford made a fourth down stop just outside the red zone. After that it was all-Falcons, all the time.

Nation Ford 38, Forestview 0

Nation Ford 0 21 17 0 38

Forestview 0 0 0 0 0

Scoring Summary

NF – Dalton Helms to AK McCoy three-yard pass (Corey Condron kick)

NF – Helms 70-yard run (Condron kick)

NF – Helms to Dijuan Ussery 30-yard pass (Condron kick)

NF – Helms to McCoy 70-yard pass (Condron kick)

NF – Condron 23-yard field goal

NF – Helms one-yard run (Condron kick)

Team statistics

NFHS;FHS

First downs;15;12

Rushes – yards;16-139;33-107

Comp-Att-Int;21-28-0;15-30-2

Passing yards;255;130

Fumbles-lost;2-1;6-0

Penalties-yards;12-90;7-60

Individual Statistics

Rushing – Forestview: Montavis Rogers 11-56, Logan Bradley 7-(-22), Bishop Ford 12-61, Moe Neal 2-18, Kameron Timmons 1-(-6).

Nation Ford: Daniel Jackson7-58, Dalton Helms 4-69, Andrew Barr 1-15, Taylor Hemphill 2-(-6), Marques Coleman 1-2, Riley Hilton 1-1.

Passing – Forestview: Logan Bradley 15-26-0 179, Kameron Timmons 0-3-2 0, Mykelti Armstong 0-1-0 0.

Nation Ford: Dalton Helms 21-28-0 255

Receiving – Forestview: Mykelti Armstong 3-21, Bishop Ford 2-28, Calvin Johnson 4-29, CJ Bumgarner 2-19, Moe Neal 4-33.

Nation Ford: Dijuan Ussery 5-76, AK McCoy 6-100, Riley Hilton 6-59, Andrew Barr 3-10, Daniel Jackson 1-10.

Records: Forestview 0-1, Nation Ford 1-0.