After suffering its first regular season loss in almost two years a week earlier, the Apalachee High School football team shook off the natural disappointment that comes with a setback of that nature and returned to its winning ways Friday night.
The Wildcats (2-1) defeated visiting Salem (2-2) 24-7 behind another strong ground attack. While the season is not yet half over, the win was key for AHS and its postseason hopes for 2010.
“It beats losing,” coach Shane Davis said. “I’ve tried them both and I like winning better.”
While the offensive numbers were not as eye-catching as the previous week, the Wildcats still managed to amass 228 yards on the ground. AHS also took advantage of Salem turnovers to reach the win.
The Seminoles had forced the Wildcats to punt on the game’s opening series but Tim Simonton would recover a fumble on the play giving AHS new offensive life. Two plays later, Alex Camp found the endzone from eight yards out for the first points of the contest.
Junior Drew House would recover another Salem fumble which would lead to a 14-0 advantage after a Zay Henry score.
Leading 14-0 at halftime, the Wildcats stretched their lead to 17-0 after a 48-yard field goal from Guy Hunt with 6:14 left in the third.
Salem would get as close as 17-7 after a touchdown with 5:54 left in the third but would get no closer.
Camp closed the door with a 2-yard run with 8:52 left to give Davis’ team a 24-7 cushion. The senior finished as the team’s leading rusher with 100 yards on 16 attempts.
“We played well although we could have played better in some areas,” said AHS quarterback Clint Ashe. “It was a good way to rebound though.”
Senior offensive lineman Nate Holton was also pleased to be back in the win column.
“We came with strong intensity because we were ready to get back on track,” Holton said. This does help us move on from last week. I thought we had the capability of scoring on every possession.”
Davis had praise for the Wildcats, who didn’t show any lingering effects from the Flowery Branch contest seven days earlier.
“I was proud of them,” the coach said. “We have a young group but they are resilient. You never want any one game to drag over to the next week. This team has a blue-collar mentality. They are always going to come to work on Monday regardless of what happens on Friday.”
Senior offensive lineman Tim Simonton described Salem as “big and physical” in the trenches.
“They went toe-to-toe with us,” Simonton said. “We can learn from this game and look at things we still need to do in order to improve.”
Davis said the battle for the top four spots in the region will likely go down the final game of 2010.
“It’s going to a fight to the finish,” the coach said. This is such a tough region. We have to go out every week and be ready to play, regardless of the opponent.”
