Flomaton's Daquan Johnson ran the ball 17 times for 170 yards and scored three touchdowns to lead the Hurricanes to a 30-8 win over Excel Friday night in Flomaton's first region game of the 2019 season.
Flomaton will be back in region play tonight (Thurs.) when the Hurricanes travel to Fairhope to take on St. Michael Academy. It will mark the first regular season game of the season for the 3-0 Hurricanes away from home.
“I thought we played well, but we had some drives stall because of penalties,” said Flomaton head coach Doug Vickery. “We let them get outside on one punt return, which was just a lack of discipline on our part but those are some things we can work on and correct.”
“It was a big region win,” Vickery added. “It's always good to get that first region game under your belt.”
Although Flomaton will be taking on an 0-3 St. Michaels team, Coach Vickery said the team and coaches must stay focused Friday night.
“When you play away from home you get out of your comfort zone,” Vickery said. “It's important to stay focused and locked in. Your whole game-day experience changes when you have to travel.”
Flomaton opened the scoring Friday night on Johnson's 1-yard touchdown run with 7:14 left in the first quarter. A two-point try was good and Flomaton led 8-0.
Flomaton found the end zone again with 1:11 left in the first quarter on a 1-yard run by Travon Brown. Sam Smith carried the two-point try into the end zone to give Flomaton a 16-0 lead as the first quarter came to a close.
A big run by Excel had the Panthers knocking at the door early in the second quarter with a first and goal at the Flomaton 5-yard line.
But the defense stepped up and shut down the Excel offense and took over on downs at its own 6-yard line with 2:56 left in the half.
A big return on a punt put Excel back deep in Flomaton territory and the Panthers set up their offense at the Flomaton 8-yard line.
A 7-yard pass into the end zone put Excel on the board. The Panthers' PAT kick was wide left, but Flomaton was called for a personal foul. With the ball at the one and a half yard line, Excel went for two and made it to send the game into the half with Flomaton leading 16-8.
Penalties killed Flomaton's first offensive possession of the second half but the defense stepped up when Jaxon Singleton intercepted a pass and Flomaton had a first down at the Excel 31-yard line.
Tank Franklin had picked up an apparent first and goal at the 3-yard line, but a holding penalty had Flomaton facing second and 13 from the Excel 33-yard line.
Brown picked up a first down at the 20 and Johnson picked up another first down at the 11. On first and 10 from the 11, Johnson found the end zone. Damian Schreiner's PAT was blocked, but with 2:55 left in the third, Flomaton led 22-8.
After forcing Excel to punt, penalties again killed Flomaton's next drive. A chop block penalty against Excel killed the Panthers' next drive.
Flomaton put the game away with 3:53 left in the game when Johnson scored on 37-yard run. Franklin's two-point run made the final score 30-8.
On the night, Flomaton rushed 39 times for 272 yards and was zero for four passing for a total offensive effort of 272 yards.
Excel rushed 30 times for 170 yards and hit on two of seven passes for six yards for a total offense of 176 yards.
Flags were plentiful with Flomaton penalized seven times for 57 yards and Excel was penalized six times for 55 yards.
