PREP FOOTBALL: Florence hands Cullman 1st loss in lopsided region opener

Published 2:10 am Saturday, September 12, 2015

Florence's Kameron Davis, left, runs as Cullman's Wil Blaylock, right, attempts to tackle him Friday during a game at Braly Stadium.

FLORENCE — A week removed from a three-touchdown loss to its rival, Florence took out its frustration with its best display of the young season.

Kameron Davis ran for 167 yards and a touchdown, and the Falcons (2-2, 1-1) rolled past undefeated Cullman 37-7 in Class 6A, Region 8 play.

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Behind their no-huddle, hurry-up offense, the Falcons piled up 463 total yards, including 281 on the ground, and opened with 24 unanswered points to close it early. Cullman (2-1, 0-1), which entered off a bye week, managed just four first downs in the first half as it struggled against Florence’s speed and athleticism.

Florence struck first midway through the opening quarter, when quarterback Monty Turner connected with Xavier Hillman on a post route to complete an eight-play, 67-yard scoring drive.

Davis and Florence pushed the lead to 13, when the junior running back carried it in from five yards out.

Sophomore kicker Nathan Cobb was good on a 27-yard field goal midway through the second quarter to push the lead to 16. Turner added a 3-yard rushing touchdown and Davis ran for a 2-point conversion to make it 24-0.

Cullman got on the board with under two minutes left in the half, when quarterback Ross Crocker found the versatile Dawson Drake on a screen pass. The junior took it 13 yards to cut the lead to 17.

That was as close as the Bearcats would get. Florence took the ensuing kickoff and marched 54 yards in less than a minute. Isaac Holloway scored on a 2-yard run to put down any thought of a comeback.

The score remained the same until midway through the fourth quarter. Florence safety J’Marick Woods picked off an errant Crocker pass and carried it back 52 yards for the game’s final score.

“My hat’s off to Florence,” Cullman coach Mark Britton said. “They did a good job of taking us out of our game. It took some time for the kids to adjust to the speed of the game, so we got behind a little bit. We’ve got a long season ahead of us, but we can’t play one half of football. We’ve got to put two halves together to compete in our region. There are too many good opponents down the road.”

Crocker was 15 of 30 for 214 yards for Cullman, with one interception and one score. Junior receiver Caden Winn caught six passes for 130 yards.