Flame blows past Tharptown
Bart Moss
For the FCT
A solid first-half defensive effort was not enough Friday night as the Tharptown Wildcats lost to the Shoals Christian Flame 38-19.
The Flame turned the ball over three times in the first twelve and half minutes but used a strong ground game in the third quarter to seal the win.
Shoals Christian piled up 439 yards on 42 carries. Dustin Covington had a huge night carrying the ball 16 times for 314 yards and five touchdowns.
Tharptown got on the board first after a muffed punt by the Flame when Kelby Hallmark connected with Trent Miller for a 30-yard touchdown pass. The Wildcats led 6-0.
The lead would be short lived as Shoals Christian scored on the very next drive on a 26-yard run to tie the game.
The score was tied at 6-6 at halftime.
Shoals Christian’s first two offensive plays of the second half were touchdown runs of 64 and 65 yards by Covington to give the Flame a 19-6 lead.
Hallmark connected with Miller again with nine minutes to go in the third quarter close the gap to 19-12.
Shoals Christian would roll off 19 unanswered points in the fourth quarter on touchdown runs of 6, 26, and 61 by Covington. The Flame extended the lead to 38-12.
Tharptown added their final score with 1:58 to go in the game on a 66-yard run by Jon Donner. Shawn Hines added the PAT to make the final score 38-19.
