Southward sparks big region win

HARVEST - A missed extra point isn't normally the kind of play a defense looks for to swing momentum its way.

But given Florence's recent history on that side of the ball, it was willing to take anything it could get Friday night against Sparkman.

Having allowed 129 points in its last three games - two of them Class 6A Region 8 losses - one less point meant plenty to Florence, especially after the Senators took the opening drive 80 yards for a touchdown.

When the point-after clanked off the left upright, it seemed to jar the Falcons' awake. They allowed only six more first downs the rest of the way - two by penalty - in their 21-12 victory.

"It wasn't a bad thing, that's for sure," Florence coach Alvin Briggs said of the missed kick. "Anytime that happens, it gives you a little boost. (After that first drive), we played big as a team."

Speaking of playing big, tailback Shawn Southward fit the description. The senior rushed 22 times for 195 yards and scored twice for the Falcons (4-2, 4-2 Region 8), once on a 39-yard pass from quarterback Bryce Curtis and the other time on a 4-yard run.

"He's just a player," Briggs said. "He's one of those kinds of guys who just loves the game."

Before Southward got rolling, though, Curtis hooked up with Marcus Williams for Florence's first touchdown.

On the first play following a Sparkman punt midway through the second quarter, Williams took a slant pass 48 yards for the score. Bradley Addison's extra point gave the Falcons a 7-6 lead, which they took to the lockerroom.

On Florence's second possession of the third quarter, Southward took a shovel pass on second-and-16 and split the Senators defense for the touchdown and a 14-6 lead.

When the Falcons stopped Sparkman offense yet again early in the fourth, it looked as though they were ready to put the game away.

But Southward made his lone mistake of the night - fumbling at the Florence 40 - and the Senators recovered.

Two plays later, Justin Pearson scored on a 46-yard run.

"I felt I'd let my team down, and I wanted to do something to make up for it," Southward said.

He did so by helping stop Sparkman tailback Antwon Thurman on the ensuing 2-point conversion attempt.

Then he gained 42 of Florence's 77 yards on its next drive, culminating with his game-clinching 4-yard scoring run.