Historic win for Falcons

FLORENCE - Florence has never had to prepare for a second-round playoff opponent in its brief school history.

It will now. With Lamonte Thompson and Beniquez Brown leading the way, the Falcons broke open a tight game in the second half and now will go to work Monday trying to come up with a game plan to beat Gadsden City next Friday night.

Thompson scored three times out of the wildcat formation and Brown added two more scores as Florence (9-2) beat the Cougars 37-19.

"It's an honor to be the first Florence team to win a playoff game," said Thompson, who had the game's key play when he bolted 60 yards for a score to open the third quarter. "We've worked so hard from the start of the season until now, another week of practice is great."

Thompson finished with 119 yards and touchdown runs of 1, 60 and 3 yards. Brown had 124 yards and one score and he also ran a 2-point conversion.

"It feels great to be a part of this win," Brown said. "We've worked hard now for about 15 weeks to get this far."

Florence coach Alvin Briggs said he's happy his team gets to play for at least one more week.

"I'm glad we are still getting to practice," he said. "We've got to get ready to face a great Gadsden City team next week."

Florence led 15-13 at the half, and then Briggs put the game in the hands of Thompson and Brown, and they delivered.

Running out of the wildcat formation, Thompson took the snap and went left through the line. Two cutbacks later and he was in the end zone, giving the Falcons a 22-13 lead.

After turning away Clay-Chalkville from inside the FHS 20, two big plays broke the game open for Florence. Facing a third-and-21 situation, Bryce Curtis flipped a short swing pass to Brown, who raced 29 yards for a first down. Florence a nearly identical play to the other side of the field on the next snap, with Damien Simmons picking up some blocks on the outside for a 36-yard touchdown play. Brown ran the 2-point conversion for a 30-23 lead with 5:21 to play in the third quarter.

Curtis threw for 193 yards even though he rarely even tried to throw past the line of scrimmage.

"They never adjusted to our screen passes," Briggs said. "Bryce did a great job of getting the ball out to them early and letting them a decision to go with it."

Brown credited Florence's offensive line with making things easy for him.

"I think I've got the best offensive line in the state in front of me," he said. "They did a great job getting downfield and making some great blocks."

Thompson's final TD - a 5-yard run - gave the Falcons a 37-13 lead with 5:14 to play.

Clay-Chalkville added a late score for the final margin.

The Cougars (8-3) took an early 6-0 lead on Y'Latio Jones' 10-yard run, but Florence recorded a safety when Brown tackled Jones on a quarterback sweep in the end zone.

The Falcons took the lead for good at 8-6 on Thompson's 1-yard run, and then pushed the lead to 15-56 when Brown took a backwards pass and ran 5 yards.

Clay-Chalkville cut the lead to 15-13 at halftime.

Gregg Dewalt can be reached at 740-5748 or gregg.dewalt@TimesDaily.com.