Columbia Star

1963        Celebrating 60 Years      2023

A.C. Flora squares off with Greenville



A.C. Flora’s Phillips Daniels

A.C. Flora’s Phillips Daniels

It took the A.C. Flora Falcons a while to get up to speed against Indian Land. Down 10-6 after two quarters of play, the Falcons scored 28 unanswered points to beat the Chiefs and advance to the second round of the 4A playoffs.

“ We’re excited and feel blessed to be here,” head coach Dustin Curtis said. “We’re always glad to get as many games as we can this time of year. Our players bounced back really well last week in the second half against a really, really tough Indian Land team.

“The slow start was not due so much to yards per play as it was to mistakes. We had two turnovers and a few costly penalties that kept us out of rhythm. We really like to stay on schedule and just didn’t do that well enough at times.”

Next up for A.C. Flora, 9-1, is one of the more must see matchups early in the playoffs. The Greenville Red Raiders, 8-2, make the trip to Memorial Stadium Friday, November 12.

“They are really fast across the board offensively and present a lot of problems horizontally and vertically,” Curtis said. “The quarterback can make all the throws, and he is very poised and confident. Defensively they are very opportunistic, really flow to the ball, and do a great job forcing turnovers. We need to use our experience at DB to not give up explosive plays, and offensively we must be tough up front but also balanced to keep them guessing.”

Greenville’s offense is averaging 37.5 points per game, while surrendering 17.3 points per game on defense.

The Red Raiders will face a potent A.C. Flora offense, which averages 35.8 points per game.

Quarterback Phillips Daniels surpassed the 1,000-yard mark with his performance against Indian Land. He has now completed 77-of-141 passes for 1,006 yards and 12 touchdowns. According to Curtis, Daniels will need to play well, protect the ball, and hit guys on their shot plays.

Chris Lofton has been the most productive receiver so far with 28 catches for 408 yards and four touchdowns. To date, A.C. Flora is averaging 122.7 passing yards per game.

The Falcons have averaged 239.2 rushing yards per game. Markel Townsend leads the way with 1,444 yards and 20 touchdowns on 158 carries.

The Falcon defense is only giving up an average of 10.7 points per game. Curtis is looking for his safeties to play well and not give up any deep balls.

Along with taking care of the ball and limiting the big plays, Curtis believes his team also has to win the line of scrimmage.

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