Falcons fall, look to regroup

FLORENCE - On a night intended to celebrate the careers of 26 Florence Falcons seniors, it was a lone senior from Minor who stole the show during Friday night's regular-season finale at Braly Stadium.

With a steady rain limiting the passing games for both teams, Minor quarterback Mckinsley Marbury rushed for 142 yards and a touchdown as the visiting Tigers edged Florence 7-6.

The win snapped the Falcons' six-game winning streak.

"Of course you want to win every game, but you especially want to see these seniors go out on a high note," Florence coach Alvin Briggs said. "Minor gave us chances to win this game, we just didn't capitalize. Now, we have to regroup and get ready for next week."

After a scoreless first half, Minor (6-4) got what would be the winning touchdown in the third quarter as Marbury led a 12-play, 89-yard scoring drive that spanned nearly 5 minutes. Marbury, who had 66 of the drive's 89 yards all on runs, scored on a 3-yard quarterback draw. Patrick Shepherd provided what proved to be the winning extra point.

Florence cut into the lead two minutes later, scoring on a 39-yard run by Beniquez Brown (86 yards on 14 carries), but a blocked extra point attempt left Minor with a 7-6 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

In a game dominated by defense and field position, Florence had two chances to win in the fourth quarter. The first ended with a punt and the second ended when Quinton Hill intercepted Bryce Curtis in the end zone with 40 seconds to play.

"This game is a huge momentum boost for us heading into the playoffs," Marbury said. "We needed to build some confidence, and winning in these conditions did just that. Florence played a great game tonight, we were just able to pull it out in the end."

For Briggs, the loss revealed holes the Falcons must plug heading into next Friday's playoff game against Clay-Chalkville.

"We have to tighten up if we want to win in the playoffs," he said. "We did some nice things out there against Minor, but we left too many points on the field. Tonight really gave us a good feel of what we need to work on heading into next Friday. If we can limit the mistakes, and take advantage of what our opposition gives us, we should be okay."

Florence's defense set the tone early when it stopped Minor's opening drive and forced a punt that put the Falcons deep in their own territory.

"It would have been nice to get points out of that first drive, but you can't dwell on what you don't get," Minor coach Randy Wood said. "The first drive really set the tone for the game. If we score there, it could have been an entirely different ball game. Instead, we had to punt and the game became back-and-forth with both defenses dominating the game."

Florence had the ball with a chance to take the lead with 10 seconds remaining in the half, but a 35-yard field goal attempt by Duncan McKinney was blocked by Earnest Cullen, sending the teams into the half tied 0-0.