That's better

FLORENCE - Even with his team up by a touchdown at halftime against Buckhorn on Friday night, Florence coach Alvin Briggs continued to stress how important it was to come out strong in the second half.

Apparently, the Falcons bought into Briggs' speech.

Florence scored three touchdowns in just more than seven minutes to start the third quarter en route to an impressive 35-13 victory over the Bucks at Braly Stadium.

Jamarcus Jackson started the half with a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, and Shawn Southward broke two long scoring runs to put the Falcons (2-0, 2-0 region) in control.

"We always talk about the importance of the first five minutes of the second half," Briggs said. "We wanted to get good field position and then pound No. 27 (Southward) at them, but Jamarcus made the great kick return and gave us a big lift. It was good to see us come out strong like that to start the half."

Buckhorn (1-1, 1-1) led 7-0 early, but Bryce Curtis threw two touchdown passes in the first half to give Florence a 14-7 lead at halftime.

Jackson started the second half by breaking to his right and outracing the pursuit down the sideline to extend the Falcons' lead to 21-7.

"When I caught the ball I was thinking, 'Where do I go?'" Jackson said. "I was able to break it to the right and everything just opened up. All I could see was green in front of me. That really gave us the momentum, and then both our offense and defense came out strong. I was just glad to make a play and give us that momentum."

Florence's defense then forced a three-and-out, and the Falcons took over at the Buckhorn 47.

After a 4-yard gain by Curtis, Southward spun out of a tackle and raced 43 yards for a touchdown to push the lead to 28-7.

Buckhorn drove past midfield on its next possession before turning the ball over on downs at the Florence 41.

Southward went to work again, breaking a tackle at the line of scrimmage, cutting right and outrunning the defense for a 59-yard score to make it 35-7 with 4:52 left in the third quarter.

Southward scored on both of his second-half carries, and finished with 114 yards on six carries.

"Shawn didn't get many carries in the first half because we were just taking what the defense gave us," Briggs said. "But he made some big runs in the second half, and our offensive line opened things up for him."

Buckhorn got a late touchdown on a 2-yard run by Marquis Smith, but the Bucks were not able to get back in it after Florence's big third quarter.

The Bucks took the opening kickoff and marched 70 yards, capped by a 3-yard scoring run by Smith that put Buckhorn up 7-0.

Florence quickly answered when Curtis hitMarcus Williams over the middle for a 53-yard touchdown that tied it at 7-7.

Late in the first half, an interception by Fred Brown stopped a Buckhorn drive. Curtis then led the Falcons 60 yards in five plays.

A 30-yard completion to Jake Hall started the drive, and J.J. Jackson made a leaping catch in the corner of the end zone on a 5-yard pass from Curtis, sending the Falcons into halftime with a 14-7 lead.

Jeff McIntyre can be reached at 740-5737 or jeff.mcintyre@timesdaily.com.