The Blue Devils came into Friday night’s second-round matchup against Pickens County looking to get revenge for last season’s 34-15 loss to the Tornadoes. 

Pickens County got on the scoreboard first with a Javion Belle 48-yard touchdown pass to Kajaveion Byrd to take a 7-0 lead. 

Falkville answered with a scoring drive four minutes later. Christian Angulo punched it in from one yard out to tie the game at 7-7 with 3:38 left in the first quarter. 

The Blue Devils got the final possession of the first half, their drive stalling at the 22-yard line as time was running out. With two seconds left, Jordan Greenfield connected on a 40-yard field goal to give the Blue Devils a 10-7 lead heading into halftime. 

The Tornadoes took the lead back with 3:33 left in the third quarter with a JaCorian Cosby 48-yard run to make it 14-10. 

Falkville cut into the lead by forcing a Pickens County safety to make it 14-12 with 8:13 left in the game. The safety was set up by a bad snap that led to a fumble recovered by the Tornadoes in their own end zone. 

It only took the Blue Devils 35 seconds to retake the lead when Peyton Sallee hit Mikell Philyaw with a 25-yard touchdown pass. Angulo scored the two-point conversion to make it 20-14 with 7:34 left. 

Pickens County answered right back when Cosby scored from 38 yards out – his second rushing touchdown of the game – to give the Tornadoes a 21-20 lead with 5:56 left in the game. 

Falkville had one final chance, but the Tornadoes’ defense forced the Blue Devils to turn it over on downs with 1:45 left in the game. 

Angulo finished the game with 114 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. Sallee finished 10 of 20 for 68 yards passing and one touchdown. 

Pickens County (11-1) advances to the third round for a matchup against Spring Garden, which defeated Hackleburg 34-0. 

Falkville (7-5) now turns its focus to the 2020 season. The Blue Devils lose seven seniors from this year’s team, including Travis Ricks and Brody Lacey, who were anchors on the offensive line. 

Falkville will return running back Angulo, quarterback Sallee and wide receiver Philyaw.