Flomaton's Daquan Johnson rushed for 323 yards on 23 carries and scored three touchdowns to lead the Hurricanes to an 18-13 win over visiting Mobile Christian to put the Hurricanes on top of its 3A region as the final weeks of the 2019 regular season arrive.
Flomaton sits on top of the region standings with a 3-1 record, followed by Mobile Christian at 3-1, Bayside Academy at 3-2, T.R. Miller at 3-2, Thomasville at 2-2, Excel at 1-3 and St. Michael at 0-4.
Flomaton's run to claim the region title continues this Friday night when the Hurricanes host Thomasville and will wrap up region play on Oct. 25 at T.R. Miller.
Flomaton was coming off a 30-26 region loss at Bayside Academy but head coach Doug Vickery said his players quickly put the loss behind them and knew their goal to reach the playoffs and attempt to repeat as the 3A state champions was still within reach.
“When you lose, sometimes you get concerned that the players dwell on that too much,” Vickery said. “But we came out and practiced well early in the week. They knew they still controlled their own destiny. You never like to lose, but I do think it was a wakeup call.”
Vickery said he and the coaching staff had concerns playing Mobile Christian and the level of talent the Leopards would bring to Flomaton under the leadership of former Flomaton head coach Ronnie Cottrell.
“It's a huge win for us and our kids,” Vickery said. “It's really special for the coaches to beat a team that has the resources they have, the number of coaches they have and the financial backing they have. That makes it very special.”
“We may not have the resources they have, but our kids have heart and work hard,” Vickery said. “It's a great win for our kids and especially for the ones who have been here since the seventh grade working their tails off in the weight room.”
Although Johnson stole the news highlights, Vickery said the game was won by his defense, which Johnson is also a part of.
“On defense, we rose to the challenge again,” Vickery said. “We were more physical up front and swarmed the football. Our DB's (defensive backs) did a great job all night.”
Vickery said overall the team has gotten better, but may have taken a step back in its special teams work.
“I think we regressed a little bit on special teams and we have to work on it,” he said. “But I just didn't want to mess it up and give them something easy. Hey, but our kids understand that how they practice during the week translates to how they play on Friday nights.”
“They did a great job getting over the Bayside loss and focusing on the future,” he said.
Flomaton's miscues on special teams showed up on Mobile Christian's first possession. After Flomaton's defense held the Leopards on the opening possession of the game and forced a punt, the punt hit a Flomaton player and Mobile Christian had a first down at the Flomaton 23-yard line.
The short drive was capped when Nick Ellis scored on a 15-yard run. Jackson Chandler added the PAT and with 9:03 left in the first quarter, Mobile Christian led 7-0.
Flomaton answered on its first possession of the first quarter. After tarting at its own 20, Mobile Christian jumped offsides and Flomaton had a first and five at the 25. Johnson picked up a first down at the 43. Travon Brown carried the ball into Mobile Christian territory at the 36. Flomaton would pound its way toward the end zone and Johnson scored from 1 yard out with 4:10 left in the quarter. Tank Franklin was stopped short on a two-point try and Flomaton trailed 7-6.
Flomaton's defense held the Leopards on their next possession and after a punt Flomaton took over at its own 19 as the first quarter came to a close.
Johnson would give Flomaton its first lead with 5:33 left in the half on a 30-yard touchdown run. A two-point try failed, but the Hurricane led 12-7 at the half.
Flomaton received the second half kickoff and Alex Cash returned the ball to the 19. Johnson picked up a first down at the 37 and another first down at the 48.
The drive was killed when Johnson's pass was intercepted by Carson Massey and Mobile Christian had a first down at the Flomaton 40-yard line. Nick Ellis picked up a first down at the Flomaton 29 with 8:17 left in the third.
A holding penalty against the Leopards stalled the drive, but Jackson kicked a 49-yard field goal to cut Flomaton's lead to 12-10 with 6:31 left in the third quarter.
Cash returned the kickoff to the Flomaton 35 and facing a third and 9, Johnson went around left end for a 64-yard touchdown run. A two-point try failed, but Flomaton led 18-10 with 4:57 left in the third.
After swapping punts, Flomaton's Chance James lined up to punt again but a bad snap caused him to scramble and attempt a pass that fell incomplete, giving Mobile Christian the ball at the Flomaton 19-yard line with 7 seconds left in the third quarter.
Once again the Flomaton defense held and the Leopards settled for a 35-yard field goal with 11:10 left in the game to cut Flomaton's lead to 18-13.
Defense then took over as the game clock ticked down. Flomaton was facing a fourth and 3 at the Mobile Christian 41 with 1:32 left on the clock. A Mobile Christian defensive lineman jumped off sides to give the Hurricanes a first down and from there Johnson took a knee to seal the 18-13 win.
