The last time Apalachee High School lost a regular season game, most of its current backfield was still playing in middle school.
The Wildcats were handed their first regular season loss in nearly two years at the hands of the Flowery Branch Falcons, who are playing their first season as a member of region 8-AAAA after several standout seasons in Class AAA.
The Falcons (3-0) out-gunned the Wildcats (1-1) 52-35 in a game which featured contrasting offensive styles.
Apalachee High School’s Stanley Williams compiled big numbers against Flowery Branch Friday. The Wildcats will return home this week as they host Salem in another Region 8-AAAA contest at R. Harold Harrison Stadium. Photo by Jessica Brown
Wildcats fall in shootout Flowery Branch
AHS scored all of its touchdowns on the ground while the Falcons utilized their aerial attack to score four of their seven touchdowns off the arm of their quarterback Austin Brown.
Brown’s main weapon was junior wide out Casey Osborne who caught five passes for 183 yards and three touchdowns. Osborne wasted no time in fact in getting points on the board when he received a screen pass from Brown and went 39-yards to score on Flowery Branch’s first drive.
Both teams scored touchdowns on each of their first two drives. Brown and Osborne connected on their second drive for a 36-yard touchdown while Wildcat Alex Camp scored Apalachee’s first two touchdowns, the first for three yards and the second for 32 yards to start the second quarter.
The second quarter may have turned out to be the turning point in the game. Following Camp’s touchdown at the beginning of the period, both teams failed to score for most of the quarter. Osborne broke the ice when he caught a 39-yard touchdown, his third of the night, with just 24 seconds remaining in the first half, giving the Falcons a 21-14 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff, Wildcat Stanley Williams fumbled the ball and the Falcons retained possession at the Wildcat 6-yard line. Junior half-back Jeremy Haley capitalized on the mistake and scored a six yard touchdown with just 9 seconds remaining in the half.
“We couldn’t hold them enough times and we couldn’t get our defense off the field and get our offense on the field enough,” said AHS head coach Shane Davis.
The Wildcats lost the game despite rushing for 520 total yards. Camp had 200 yards on 17 carries, Williams added 218 yards on 14 carries and Zay Henry finished with another 120 yards on 16 carries.
Both defenses had problems with the opposing team’s offense, but what helped Flowery Branch were Apalachee’s own mistakes, 10 penalties totaling 100 yards as well as five turnovers.
The Wildcats had three touchdowns, all of which were 70 yards or more, called back on late penalties.
“They [penalties] were legit, just boneheaded plays by our kids,” said Davis. “The frustrating thing about it is that all of them happened behind the play, two of them were actually 40 yards behind the play.”
One of the three negated touchdowns was a 99-yard kickoff return by Williams. who would later have a 73-yard touchdown called back in the fourth quarter.
“We just gotta correct the mistakes, and when we get back to practice we have to go hard,” Williams said. “We’ve got a lot to improve on by next week."
Henry also had an 80-yard touchdown negated by a holding penalty early in the third quarter.
Williams helped the Apalachee cause when he flew past the Falcons defense for a 40-yard touchdown with 7:17 remaining in the third quarter.
The Wildcat sideline gained some hope off the feet of Williams when he scored his second touchdown of the night, going 83-yards to pay dirt and bringing the Flowery Branch lead to just 35-28.
The Falcons answered with a 35-yard field goal off the foot of Will Monday. A Wildcat fumble (two plays after Williams’ called off kick return), put Flowery Branch back up in scoring position as the third quarter expired.
Haley then scored his second of three rushing touchdowns on the first play of the fourth quarter, going 44 yards and giving his team a 45-28 lead.
Following an Apalachee touchback on the ensuing kickoff, Camp jolted straight through the Flowery Branch defense for an 80-yard touchdown, his third of the contest.
Haley finalized a long night of scoring for the Falcons when he got his third touchdown, going seven yards for the score and bringing their lead to 52-35 with 9:57 remaining in the game.
“We definitely have to stiffen it up in some areas and probably get conditioned a little better, the cramping is still an issue for us,” said AHS senior lineman Shaun Hill. “We just have to work a little harder."
The Wildcats had a 13-game regular season winning streak snapped by the Falcons, placing Apalachee in a two-way tie for third, while Flowery Branch moved to the top of the region standings.
“We’ll watch it and take the good away from it. We’ll regroup and we’ll go back to work,” Davis said. “That’s what you’ve got to do if you want to be good and you want to be the best then you’ve got to overcome some obstacles and we’re going to go do it.”
The Wildcats will look to start another long winning streak this Friday when Salem visits R. Harold Harrison Stadium for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff. The game is another Region 8-AAAA contest.
Brown’s main weapon was junior wide out Casey Osborne who caught five passes for 183 yards and three touchdowns. Osborne wasted no time in fact in getting points on the board when he received a screen pass from Brown and went 39-yards to score on Flowery Branch’s first drive.
Both teams scored touchdowns on each of their first two drives. Brown and Osborne connected on their second drive for a 36-yard touchdown while Wildcat Alex Camp scored Apalachee’s first two touchdowns, the first for three yards and the second for 32 yards to start the second quarter.
The second quarter may have turned out to be the turning point in the game. Following Camp’s touchdown at the beginning of the period, both teams failed to score for most of the quarter. Osborne broke the ice when he caught a 39-yard touchdown, his third of the night, with just 24 seconds remaining in the first half, giving the Falcons a 21-14 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff, Wildcat Stanley Williams fumbled the ball and the Falcons retained possession at the Wildcat 6-yard line. Junior half-back Jeremy Haley capitalized on the mistake and scored a six yard touchdown with just 9 seconds remaining in the half.
“We couldn’t hold them enough times and we couldn’t get our defense off the field and get our offense on the field enough,” said AHS head coach Shane Davis.
The Wildcats lost the game despite rushing for 520 total yards. Camp had 200 yards on 17 carries, Williams added 218 yards on 14 carries and Zay Henry finished with another 120 yards on 16 carries.
Both defenses had problems with the opposing team’s offense, but what helped Flowery Branch were Apalachee’s own mistakes, 10 penalties totaling 100 yards as well as five turnovers.
The Wildcats had three touchdowns, all of which were 70 yards or more, called back on late penalties.
“They [penalties] were legit, just boneheaded plays by our kids,” said Davis. “The frustrating thing about it is that all of them happened behind the play, two of them were actually 40 yards behind the play.”
Apalachee High School’s Zay Henry adds to the Wildcats’ rushing total Friday night against Flowery Branch. AHS finished with more than 500 yards on the ground. Photo by Jessica Brown
“We just gotta correct the mistakes, and when we get back to practice we have to go hard,” Williams said. “We’ve got a lot to improve on by next week."
Henry also had an 80-yard touchdown negated by a holding penalty early in the third quarter.
Williams helped the Apalachee cause when he flew past the Falcons defense for a 40-yard touchdown with 7:17 remaining in the third quarter.
The Wildcat sideline gained some hope off the feet of Williams when he scored his second touchdown of the night, going 83-yards to pay dirt and bringing the Flowery Branch lead to just 35-28.
The Falcons answered with a 35-yard field goal off the foot of Will Monday. A Wildcat fumble (two plays after Williams’ called off kick return), put Flowery Branch back up in scoring position as the third quarter expired.
Haley then scored his second of three rushing touchdowns on the first play of the fourth quarter, going 44 yards and giving his team a 45-28 lead.
Following an Apalachee touchback on the ensuing kickoff, Camp jolted straight through the Flowery Branch defense for an 80-yard touchdown, his third of the contest.
Haley finalized a long night of scoring for the Falcons when he got his third touchdown, going seven yards for the score and bringing their lead to 52-35 with 9:57 remaining in the game.
“We definitely have to stiffen it up in some areas and probably get conditioned a little better, the cramping is still an issue for us,” said AHS senior lineman Shaun Hill. “We just have to work a little harder."
The Wildcats had a 13-game regular season winning streak snapped by the Falcons, placing Apalachee in a two-way tie for third, while Flowery Branch moved to the top of the region standings.
“We’ll watch it and take the good away from it. We’ll regroup and we’ll go back to work,” Davis said. “That’s what you’ve got to do if you want to be good and you want to be the best then you’ve got to overcome some obstacles and we’re going to go do it.”
The Wildcats will look to start another long winning streak this Friday when Salem visits R. Harold Harrison Stadium for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff. The game is another Region 8-AAAA contest.
Trackbacks
Trackback specific URI for this entry
No Trackbacks