Lauren Estes-Velez

Hartselle Enquirer

Falkville traveled to Birmingham Friday to take on the Tarrant Wildcats, who are 2-0 in region play.

Tarrant grabbed a fast lead and scored four unanswered touchdowns in the first quarter on the way to a win.

The Wildcats opened with a 29-yard run and a successful PAT early in the opening quarter. A short time later, they moved the ball 32 yards to find the second touchdown of the game. This time, Tarrant elected to go for two, and they Wildcats were true on their two-point conversion.

An interception thrown by Falkville led to the third consecutive score by Tarrant in the first quarter. However, the Wildcats came up short on their extra point attempt, still leading the Blue Devils 21-0.

The final score of the first quarter was a 19-yard pass play for a touchdown. The Wildcats missed their second consecutive extra point and went into halftime with a 27-0 lead over the Blue Devils.

Coming back after halftime, neither Falkville nor Tarrant were able to make it on the scoreboard.

Breaking into the fourth quarter, FHS was finally able to remove the goose egg beside the visitor’s title. Falkville’s Aaron Dove found Trustin Pylate on a 10-yard pass play for a touchdown. Marcus Klocek’s PAT was good, and the Falkville Blue Devils made their first scoring appearance late in game with seven points on the board.

Tarrant quickly replied with an 11-yard run for a touchdown. The Wildcats were unable to add the PAT but kept their lead, 33-7.

FHS fought back and scored one more touchdown before the final buzzer. Fred Walls found some running room and made his way into the endzone on a 20-yard carry. Klocek’s PAT was good, but Falkville would lose the conference game 33-14.

Noah Holmes finished the night with 101 yards on five receptions. Dove was 18/37 through the air with 229 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Jordan Pace managed five tackles and one assist, and J.P. Garrison finished with four tackles and six assists on the night.

Falkville Head Coach Joel Schrenk said the team battled hard but couldn’t ever get into an offensive rhythm.

“We got off to a real slow start,” Schrenk said. “Tarrant did a good job of taking away the run and putting pressure on our quarterback. We are still in great shape as far as the region goes; we just have to keep working on execution and focus.”

Falkville will host Cold Springs at home Friday.