The A.C. Flora Falcons and Brookland-Cayce Bearcats combined for a total of 115 points––64 of which came in the second half and 43 in the fourth quarter alone. They also racked up over 1,000 yards of offense. In the end, the Falcons ran away with a 72-43 win over Brookland- Cayce Friday, September 9.
“I’m glad it’s over,” A.C. Flora head coach Ken Floyd said. “ What can I say? Offensively, we’re juggernauts. We did a great job tonight. Carew Bates made all the throws. Brookland-Cayce had to make a choice in how they were going to play us. They were willing to give up some passes, and we took advantage of it. We were able to capitalize and execute at a high level, and I’m proud of that.”
Brookland-Cayce started its opening drive at its 20. Tanner Staton got the offense going with an 11-yard run on third-and-11. De’Shawn Washington followed with a 14-yard run and Naahzeikiel Mays added a 21-yard run to move the ball to the A.C. Flora 35.
Washington then ran four consecutive times for a total of 27 yards to get the ball to the Falcons’ 8. On the next play, Staton threw to a wide-open Jadyn Johnson for an 8-yard touchdown pass. John Allen Mower added the extra point, and the Bearcats a 7-0 lead with 7:57 left in the first quarter.
A.C. Flora started its first possession at its 36. Carew Bates found Chris Lofton for an 18-yard gain to the Brookland-Cayce 46. An 11-yard run by Noah Kelson and an 18-yard run by Markel Townsend moved the ball to the 17. Then penalties stalled the drive, resulting in a 29-yard field goal by Rodgers Thomas to trim the deficit to 7-3 with 4:07 left in the quarter.
The Falcons then forced the Bearcats into a three-and-out and took over at the Brookland-Cayce 40. Townsend had runs of 10, 11, and 8 yards and Lofton had a 5-yard run as A.C. Flora got the ball to the Brookland-Cayce 6. Carew Bates ran to the 1, before Townsend dove into the end zone for a touchdown. Thomas’s extra point put the Falcons ahead 10-7 at the end of the first quarter.
After a Brookland-Cayce turnover on downs, A.C. Flora began its next possession at the Bearcats’ 28. Bates found Jack Purdy for a 7-yard pass. Then Townsend finished the drive on the ground with runs of 11 and 9 yards and 1 yard. The final yard was to the end zone for another touchdown. Thomas added the extra point to extend the A.C. Flora lead to 17-7.
Brookland- Cayce regrouped on its next possession, which began at its 20. Will Young ran 35 yards to get into Falcons’ territory. A 1-yard run by Staton was followed with 16 and 8 yard runs by Washington. Staton then completed a pass to Jackson Thomas, setting the Bearcats up at the A. C. Flora 2. Three plays later, Young raced to his left for a 4-yard touchdown. Allen Mower added the extra point to cut the deficit to 17-14.
On the next offensive play, Bates threw a slant pass to Lofton who outraced Bearcat defenders 53 yards to the end zone. Thomas’s extra point pushed the lead to 24-14.
Then it was Brookland Cayce’s turn, starting yet another possession at its 20. Staton began with a 7-yard pass to Washington. Then Washington muscled his way for 2 yards and Staton picked up a first down with a 1-yard run.
Staton connected with Evan Golden for a 14-yard pass and Washington scampered 10 yards to get the ball into A.C. Flora territory. Later in the drive, Washington had runs of 2 and 9 yards, Staton added a run of 8 yards, and A.C. Flora committed a personal foul penalty to get the ball into the red zone. Washington finished the drive with a 6-yard touchdown. Allen Mower connected on the extra point to make the score 24-21 with 3:03 left in the second quarter.
A.C. Flora answered with a drive that began at its 19. Bates came out throwing with passes to Townsend, Purdy, and Lofton to move to the Brookland-Cayce 36. Bates then ran to the 28, and Townsend had two rushes for 18 yards to get to the Bearcats’ 10. A penalty against Brookland-Cayce moved it to the 5, before Bates ran around the left end and found the end zone. The extra point was no good, but A.C. Flora led 30-21 at halftime.
The Falcons tried to pull away in the third quarter. Their first possession began at their own 37. Five runs by Townsend set A.C. Flora up at the Brookland-Cayce 9. Then Kelson finished the drive off with a 9-yard scamper to the end zone. Again, the extra point was missed, but the Falcons lead grew to 36-21.
A. C. Flora’s Corey Westwood came up with an interception to end the next Bearcats’ drive. The Falcons turned it into points with an 8-play, 65-yard drive that ended with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Bates to Lofton. The extra point missed, and A.C. Flora led 42-21.
Bates added a 24-yard touchdown pass to Aiden Moseley toward the end of the third quarter to extend the Falcons’ lead to 48-21.
Then things got crazy. The two teams combined for six touchdowns in the final 12 minutes.
First it was an onslaught from Brookland Cayce, which got a 6-yard touchdown run by Mays to trim the deficit to 48-29 with 9:26 left in the fourth quarter.
Then the Bearcats recovered an onsides kick and converted it into points with a 35-yard touchdown run by Staton. Allen Mower made the extra point to close the gap to 48-36.
The Falcons responded with a 23-yard touchdown pass from Bates to Purdy. A.C. Flora added a two-point conversion to make the score 56-36.
Brookland- Cayce countered with a 40-yard touchdown run by Mays to bring the Bearcats within 56-43.
The Falcons halted the rally with a 15-yard touchdown by Townsend and a 5-yard fumble recovery by Eric McClain to set the final score at 72-43.
“Give Brookland-Cayce credit; that’s a heck of an offense,” Floyd said. “ Their quarterback is a good player. They have a big offensive line, and they have weapons all over the place. We knew it was going to be a challenge. We scored more than they did and that was the goal.”
A.C. Flora amassed 546 yards of offense with 364 rushing yards. Bates completed 12-of-13 passes for 182 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed for 53 yards and a touchdown on nine carries.
Townsend rushed for 205 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries. Kelson rushed for 100 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries.
Lofton caught six passes for 108 yards and two touchdowns. Purdy caught four passes for 60 yards and a touchdown. Moseley had one catch for 24 yards and a touchdown.
A.C. Flora improves to 3-0 overall and will host the Camden Bulldogs Friday, September 16.
“I’m happy with 3-0,” Floyd said. “We have a lot of work to do, though. Camden is going to be a heck of a ballclub. We will have to play our best game next week. Each week is the biggest game.”
Brookland- Cayce amassed 506 yards of offense with 397 rushing yards.
Staton completed 8-of-16 passes for 106 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. He also rushed for 60 yards and a touchdown on 11 attempts.
Washington rushed for 188 yards and one touchdown on 28 attempts. Mays rushed for 90 yards and two touchdowns on 10 attempts.
Johnson caught two passes for 33 yards and a touchdown.
Brookland- Cayce falls to 1-3 overall and will host the Chapin Eagles on September 16.
Leave a Reply