CARY - With three seconds left and faced with second-and-goal on Green Hope’s four yard line, Green Hope linebacker Ian Callahan blitzed and took down ball carrier Rondell Gainous to preserve a 13-7 win over Apex Friday.

Green Hope (4-2, 2-1 Tri-Nine) made several big defensive stops late in the game to help keep the Cougars winless in conference play.

Apex (1-4, 0-2) has lost four straight since they won at Riverside to open the season.

“We figured they were going to run it. They’ve been killing us with the run game,” said Falcons head coach Kwame Dixon.

Apex freshman quarterback Ian Boyd burned the Green Hope defense all game long. Boyd ran for 86 yards in the first half, and had 134 for game.

“He is a very talented freshman,” said Dixon. “We told our guys, we have to tackle their quarterback. Even with me emphasizing that, he was able to elude our kids and make them look silly.”

With 5:21 left in the game, Green Hope’s Zack Doernberg’s 34-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Gainous. Jordan Betts’ run of 40 yards put the ball at the Green Hope 39 yard line, but Apex fumbled with 4:28 left.

The defense held and the Cougars got the ball back with 1:56. Starting a the 11, Apex moved to the Green Hope 4-yard line with six seconds left. Callahan’s tackle came after an incomplete pass.

“We were expecting them to run the ball, with them having a freshman quarterback,” Dixon said. “They did a great job running the ball, and it’s back to the drawing board for us.”

Green Hope’s Chris Tutwiler threw for 101 yards in the first half, but the Falcons found themselves down 7-3 at halftime. John Nassif ran for a 1-yard score early in the third to give Green Hope its only touchdown of the game. Doernberg would later add a field goal on their next position just several minutes later. His field goals proved the difference as he connected on 2-of-3 in the game.