'Biggest win' for Falcons
By Lance Hyche
For the TimesDaily


FLORENCE -- The hopes of a postseason were slowly slipping away from the Florence Falcons on Friday night.They were on the short end of an 11-point game and backed up at their own 14 as the midway point of the fourth quarter quickly approached.But two quick scores from an offense that had been inept all night -- along with yet another key play from a gritty defense -- brought Florence back from the dead for an 18-14 win over Sparkman. At the end of the night it would be Sparkman's playoff hopes fading.The dramatic rally put the Falcons within a single win of the fourth playoff spot from 6A, Region 8. They will try to clinch a playoff berth next week at Grissom. Sparkman must beat Bob Jones next week and look for help to get in."Our kids deserve that one," said head coach Joe Hollis. "This is the biggest win for our program. We knew coming in we had to win two region games down the stretch and now that's down to one."
Hollis walked up to offensive coordinator Mike Hand at the start of the fourth quarter and made a simple request. "Don't leave anything on the page," he said.... more .... The first drive of the quarter began at the Falcon 14, with Florence trailing 14-3. Junior quarterback Josh Petty became a leader. He completed all five of his passes on the next two drives and Florence had its win.His 37-yard completion to Kyle Willis was huge on the first drive, and he later teamed with Chris Simpson for a 22-yard score. Both were third-down plays.
"Kyle made a big play," Hollis said. "He knows when he sees the quarterback leave the pocket, he's supposed to go vertical. He broke free."Petty said as the Senator rush began to get to him, "I just got out of there and looked up the field. I saw a receiver behind the defense and hit him."Petty was big on the next drive, too. He connected with Willie Jackson and Blake Watkins, and the score came on Shawn Southward's 5-yard run with 2:25 remaining.Drew Bullard's fumble recovery seconds later sealed the win. For the Falcon defense, it was the fourth fumble recovery of the game."Our defense played great; they kept us in the game all night," Hollis said. Sparkman tailback Jusmon Rivers fumbled 3 times and Sparkman as a team had 6 turnovers.

4th

Passing

• #2 McKinney 4-11 48 yards 0 TD 1 Int

Punting

# 22 Jusmon Rivers- 4 punts - 46,41,37,28

38 yard average.

Rushing

• # 22 Rivers 13-96 3fumbles lost
• # 5 Ryce 6-42
• # 27 Elston 6-19
• # 11 Burns 3-11
• # 42 Garrot 3-10
• # 37 Richardson 4-8 1fumble lost
• # 2 McKinney 5 - (-12)

Receiving

• #1#80 Brown 2-37
• 3 J.Brown 1-10 and a fumble
• #22 Rivers 1-1

Sparkman

Oak Mountain