Hurricanes blow over Jay Royals

A stiff defense and an effective offense that capitalized on a few Jay mistakes on special teams helped lead the way for Flomaton to defeat the Jay Royals 27-0 Friday night in Jay for the season opener for both teams.

"You never know what's going to happen when you open the season with a rivalry game," said Flomaton head coach Doug Vickery. "We didn't have a lot of time to scrimmage in the preseason due to the rain."

"I thought we were a little sloppy on offense, but give the Jay defense credit," he said. "We left three scoring opportunities on the field in the first half."

Vickery said the Hurricanes had enough plays on offense to turn the game around.

"Our strength Friday night was defense," Vickery said. "They had trouble running the ball against our defense and the turnovers helped us out.

He credited defensive coordinator Carl Smith with having the defense prepared.

"We knew Jay was going to try and run the football," Vickery said. "So, our first line of defense was to stop the run."

Jay head coach Melvin Kersey said he was pleased with the effort his team gave, but said mistakes kept the Royals behind the sticks most of the game.

"Flomaton has a very good football team," Kersey said. "We knew that going in. But I felt like we got after it pretty good. Our special teams put us in a bind a couple of times. You just can't make those mistakes against a good football team."

Kersey said he felt the defense played well and kept the Royals in the ball game.

"Our backs were against the wall most of the night," he said. "We didn't execute well at times but those are things we can correct."

Jay travels to Cottondale this Friday night while Flomaton travels to Bratt to take on Northview. Both kickoffs are at 7 p.m.

Jay received the opening kickoff but couldn't generate any offense, forcing a punt from deep inside their territory. A snap over the punter's head gave Flomaton a first down at the Jay 6-yard line.

Quarterback Daquan Johnson hit Da'Shun on a 14-yard pass and Flomaton had the early 6-0 lead with 8:22 left in the first quarter. The two-point try was doomed when the snap went over the quarterback's head and the pass to the end zone fell incomplete.

Jay then turned the ball over and Flomaton had the ball at the Royals 16-yard line. But on third and 3 at the Jay 8-yard line Johnson was stuffed by the Royal defense, putting Flomaton in a fourth and goal situation from the 9. The Canes were flagged for illegal procedure after a timeout and the fourth down pass fell incomplete, leaving the score 6-0.

Jay was forced to punt on its next possession, but a personal foul against Flomaton gave the Royals a first down at its own 30.

Jay moved to the 39 but was forced to punt and a short punt gave Flomaton the ball at the Jay 46-yard line.

Flomaton began to drive as the first quarter came to a close with the Hurricanes leading 6-0.

Flomaton moved to a first and goal at the 7, second and goal at the five before Johnson scored. Johnson then hit Bailey Bass on a two-point pass play and Flomaton was up 14-0.

Jay fumbled late in the second quarter to give Flomaton a first down at the Jay 12-yard line with 1:22 left to play in the half.

An illegal block call against Flomaton backed the Canes up to the 37 but Devonta Bradley broke free for a run to the 5-yard line.

The Jay defense rose to the occasion and stopped the Hurricanes from finding the end zone, ending the half with Flomaton leading 14-0.

The teams swapped punts for most of the third quarter before Johnson broke free on a 60-yard touchdown run with 2:44 left in the third quarter. Flomaton was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after the touchdown and the PAT attempt failed sending the game into the fourth with Flomaton leading 20-0.

Flomaton added its final touchdown with 7:33 left in the game on a 58-yard pass from Johnson to McCall. Odom added the PAT to leave the final score at 27-0.