Cade Tidwell (53) and Noah Williams (88) block Falkville defenders while Tristan Godsey makes a break for it. Photo by Bart Moss

By Bart Moss

For the FCT

The Falkville Blue Devils came into Friday night’s contest against the Phil Campbell Bobcats as a pre-season top 10 team in class 2A, and it was clear by halftime that ranking was justified.

The Blue Devils led the Bobcats 7-0 at the end of the first quarter.  The second quarter became a nightmare for the Bobcats. Phil Campbell fumbled the ball twice returning Falkville kickoffs giving the visitors great field position. By the time the dust had settled, it was 35-0 at halftime.

“We just couldn’t get anything going tonight,” Phil Campbell coach Ryan Swinney said.

“We didn’t tackle well, we turned the ball over too much, and every time we did something positive we would follow it up with a negative.

“Falkville is a very good football team and they are a confident team because they have had some success. They are not that much different than us. They are just confident and make the plays they have to make.

“We have to step up our aggressiveness and get some confidence. Confidence comes with wins. We need to win. Our players need a win. If we can get a couple of wins under our belt I think this team can turn the corner. We just have to go out and get it. No one is going to lie down and give it to us.”

Falkville scored their first touchdown on a two-yard run by Delvin Reed midway through the first quarter. Ryan Sullivan kicked the extra point to give the Blue Devils an early 7-0 lead.

Falkville scored the first of four second quarter touchdowns on another two-yard run by Reed making the score 13-0.  The touchdown was set up on two big plays by a 55-yard run by Patrick Knowles and 15-yard run by Garth Enochs.

Phil Campbell fumbled the ensuing kickoff leading to another Falkville touchdown with 7:01 to go in second quarter. Ryan Sullivan connected with Bryan Holmes on a 15-yard touchdown pass to make the score 19-0.

The Blue Devils added another score with 3:02 to go in the second quarter. Sullivan found Knowles deep in the end zone on a 33-yard pass to make the score 27-0 after a two-point conversion run by Reed.

The turnover bug hit the Bobcats again on the ensuing kickoff giving Falkville excellent field position. The Blue Devils wasted no time with Reed taking the first play from scrimmage to the end zone from the 25-yard line. Reed also added the two-point conversion to make the score 35-0.

Falkville scored on their opening drive of the second half on a four-yard touchdown pass from Sullivan to Enochs to give the Blue Devils a 42-0 lead.

The Blue Devils added at 27-yard field goal to make the score 45-0.

Phil Campbell got a spark late in the third when Peyton Thomas took over at the quarterback position and hit Joe Hardy on a 21-yard pass play. The Bobcats couldn’t capitalize however.

The Bobcats stopped Falkville’s next drive when Colton Baker intercepted a Blue Devil pass and returned the ball 40 yards to the Falkville 35-yard line. Thomas connected with Casey Galloway on a 15-yard pass. Galloway took the next play 21 yards to paydirt to get the Bobcats on the board.

The Bobcats added another score late in the fourth quarter on a two-yard run by Thomas. Hardy’s PAT made the final score 45-13.