Lauren Estes

Morgan Countian

The Falkville Blue Devils were able to pull away in a 24-21 victory over Phil Campbell Friday night in their home opener.

The Blue Devils and the Bobcats remained scoreless after the first quarter in Burl Vest stadium.

FHS was able to get on the scoreboard first following a five-play drive at the 5:43 mark of the second quarter after Falkville quarterback/kicker Ryan Sullivan connected a 24-yard field goal to give Falkville a 3-0 lead before going into the half.

Although both teams secured good field position, steady defensive holds kept the scoring drives faint. The first touchdown score came in with 7:01 to play in the third quarter. After a five-play drive, Sullivan made his way into the end zone on an eight-yard quarterback keeper. Sullivan also added the PAT to put the Blue Devils up 10-0.

Less than four minutes later after a defensive stop, a six-play drive created great field position, and Sullivan scored on a three-yard keeper and once again connected on the extra point attempt. FHS then led Phil Campbell 17-0.

Nearly six minutes later at the 10:21 mark, the Bobcats battled back and put eight points on the scoreboard following a six-yard carry by quarterback Peyton Thomas for a touchdown. Their two-point conversion from Thomas to Noah Williams was also successful .

FHS’s Tyler Robinson picked off a Phil Campbell pass to set up the next Blue Devil scoring drive. In the first play, Caleb Vinson carried the ball 47-yards for a touchdown. Sullivan added the extra point, and Falkville led 24-8.

The Phil Campbell squad was not finished offensively and took advantage of Falkville defensive miscues. Thomas connected to Tristan Godsey on a 52-yard pass play for a touchdown, but their two-point conversion failed, bringing the score to 24-14.

The last score of the game came with 4:11 to play as Thomas found Godsey again on a 40-yard pass play for a touchdown. Colby Baker added the PAT.

A hail mary was batted down in the final seconds of the game by a host of Blue Devils to secure the first win of the season for Falkville.

Falkville head coach Joel Schrenk said he was thankful to grab their first victory of the season and they plan to better individual assignments this week before they play Decatur Heritage Friday.

“We won tonight, that’s what matters,” Schrenk said. “For two and a half quarters, we played great defense. Then we had 2-3 blown coverages, a lot of missed tackles and we just have to get better at our assignments. If we would have not had the poor tackling towards the end and the blown coverages, it would have been a different game. Hats off to Phil Campbell. They came in ready to play. Our team also will be praying for their player who was injured tonight in the game.”

Falkville will play Decatur Heritage  Friday at Priceville at 7 p.m.