Falkville shines in region win

By By Clif Knight, Hartselle Enquirer
FALKVILLE – Falkville’s Blue Devils scored a go-ahead touchdown on the second play of the game and went on to shut out the Cleveland Panthers 19-0 in a 2A, Region 7 matchup at Burl Vest Stadium Friday night.
By winning the Blue Devils improved their season record to 4-4 overall and 2-4 in region competition.
Falkville performed well both offensively and defensively, The Blue Devils racked up 387 total yards with 194 of them coming in the air and 193 on the ground. On defense, they forced a pair of fumbles, intercepted a pass and forced their opponent to turn the ball over on downs four times.
The Panthers had 153 yards on the ground and 105 yards in the air but were never able to move the ball inside of Falkville’s 15-yard line.
Estes said a part of the game plan was to put quarterbacks Jeremy McNatt and Aaron Lee on the field at the same time after running back Dustin Jump came down with the flu earlier in the week. Jump was able to get in on some of the action and all three made big plays.
The Blue Devils scored their first touchdown with 11:33 left in the first period on a 52-yard pass play with Lee connecting with Trevor Mayor. Lee kicked the extra point to make the score 7-0.
Falkville scored again with 3:53 left in the first half on a two-yard run by Jump. His run capped a 56-yard drive in 10 plays. Lee’s kick for the extra point was blocked.
The Blue Devils closed out their scoring by marching 72 yards in 12 plays and getting in the end zone on a 12-yard run by McNatt with 9:15 left in the fourth period. A key play in the drive was a 37-yard pass from McNatt to Mayer. Lee was sacked on a two-point conversion and the score remained at 19-0.