RALEIGH - To look at the records and the recent outcomes for Athens Drive and Holly Springs, conventional wisdom would've said Friday night's game might be a tough one for the Jaguars.

Athens (3-2, 3-2 Conference 2) came in having lost two straight in conference play, while the Golden Hawks were riding a five-game winning streak to open the season.

But that's why they play the games.

The Jags scored five times in the second quarter to take a two-point halftime lead and never looked back on their way to an 8-6 upset of visiting Holly Springs.

"This win is big for us," Athens coach Paul Brown said. "This is a tough stretch in our schedule with Middle Creek, Apex and Holly Springs - and Holly Springs might be the best one. We lost to Middle Creek and Apex, so this win is big."

After a defensively dominated first quarter that yielded just one goal apiece, the second quarter was ruled by offense. In the first seven minutes of the period, the two teams combined to score six times.

Four were Jags' goals. John Padden, Daniel Haupt, Dylan Haupt and Daniel Hughey all found the back of the net to give Athens a 5-3 lead with 5:02 left in the first half. Patrick Citron scored his second goal of the game with 3:01 left in the quarter to pull Holly Springs to within one, but Daniel Haupt's second goal of the period restored the Jags' two-goal advantage.

"We capitalized on our man-up situations in the second quarter," Daniel Haupt said. "We're really working on that a lot in practice."

In the third quarter, Athens locked the Hawks down on defense. The Jags kept Holly Springs (5-1, 4-1) out of the net and added a late Ryan Richardson goal to push the lead to three at 7-4.

"It boils down to turnovers," Hawks coach Nick Holota said. "The team that commits the most ends up on defense too many times. And we turned it over too much."

Holly Springs' Sterling Tarr scored with 9:50 left in the fourth quarter to make it 7-5, but Athens answered quickly with a Scott Frider goal to keep the Hawks at bay.

Alex Dantzler did score midway through the quarter to pull Holly Springs back to within two once again, but the Hawks could get no closer. Dantzler finished with a game-high four assists.

Hughey led the Jags in assists with two.

With Holly Springs falling from the ranks of the unbeaten, Apex now stands alone atop the Conference 2 standings at 6-0. For Athens, the win pulls it just a game behind the second-place Hawks.

"This is a definite confidence booster for us," Daniel Haupt said. "We feel like we can win in this conference and this can really get us going on the right track."