Perhaps the key to victory Friday night for the Apalachee High School Wildcats can be found in the fact the team did not panic.
Even after falling behind 10-0 at halftime, the AHS football team responded in the second half with 27 points to emerge with a four-point win.
“It’s always so tough in our region,” Wildcat coach Shane Davis said of his team’s 27-23 win. “It’s always good to win on the road, especially at a place where it’s tough to play. I was very proud of the way we came back. Panic never set in.”
On the first series of the second half for AHS, the Wildcats moved 77 yards in nine plays culminating with a 23-yard scoring run by Eric Tanner.
The host Jaguars would answer that score, however, and move back in front 17-7. That score didn’t seem to rattle AHS, however, as the offense once again moved down the field. Zay Henry and Monterian Smith would both score touchdowns for a 20-17 lead, the first of the night for the Wildcats.
With the game still in doubt, the Wildcats would score what turned out to be the winning points on an eight-yard run by Tanner. The score was partially set up by a fourth and sixth conversion by Smith.
Smith, who has only recently become part of the AHS program, rushed for 125 yards on 12 carries. A transfer from Monroe Area, Smith has added punch to the Wildcat rushing attack which already featured Tanner and Henry along with quarterback Clint Ashe.
Cedar Shoals added a 71-yard touchdown pass late but Rakim Peters recovered the onside kick attemp to seal the Region 8-AAAAA victory.
“Our defense played extremely well,” Davis said. “We gave up a few plays here and there, but overall we made some big steps on that side of the football. A big play was holding them to a field goal on their second scoring possession. We almost blocked it, but it is still a big difference being down 14-0 and being down 10-0.”
Davis also credited the adjustments made by offensive coordinator Joel Miller and the offensive staff at halftime.
“We knew we weren’t out of it at halftime,” Davis said. “We just couldn’t get anything going consistently in the first half. Coach Miller made sure we got on track in the second half.”
AHS returns home this week to face Salem High School.
