Flomaton's Daquan Johnson rushed for 290 yards and threw for two touch- downs to lead Flomaton to a 44-21 victory over the visiting Thomasville Tigers Friday night which clinched a playoff spot for the Hurricanes with one region game remaining.
That region game this Friday night is at T.R. Miller. If Flomaton wins it captures the region title and will have home field advantage in the playoffs. If Flomaton loses the Hurricanes will drop to fourth place in the region and will likely travel to No. 3 ranked and undefeated Pike County in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs.
Last year when the Hurricanes faced T.R. Miller the stakes were a little higher – win and place second in the region and host an opening round playoff game – lose and be eliminated from the play- offs.
The Hurricanes captured the 20-13 victory over the vis- iting Tigers and rolled to the school's first football state championship with a 23-12 win over Piedmont at Jordan- Hare Stadium in Auburn.
It was senior night in Flomaton Friday and head coach Doug Vickery it was a huge victory for the Hurricanes.
“I thought we played really hard and I'm really proud of our coaching staff with the game plan they put in,” Vickery said. “It's the second win Flomaton has ever had against Thomasville and it put us in the playoffs.”
But Coach Vickery said he, his staff and players under- stand the significance of entering the playoffs as the top seed in the region vs. the fourth seed and especially the home field advantage.
“They've got a great foot- ball team and they've gotten better each week,” Vickery said of T.R. Miller. “Coach (Brent) Hubbard is a great coach and he's done a really good job with them. I expect a battle.”
This past Friday night against Thomasville, Vickery said Flomaton's ability to runthe football and control the clock was essential to the vic- tory.
“I thought we dominated up front,” he said.
Johnson also threw two touchdown passes on three attempts, which Coach Vickery said was huge.
“We don't throw the ball much but we've been working on it all year,” he said. “When you run it 30 times in a row it
can open up the passing game. Daquan did a good job of getting his feet set and hit- ting the receivers.”
Flomaton held Thomasville for a three and out on the Tigers' first posses- sion and began at its own 20 following a punt into the end zone.
Johnson picked up a first down at the Thomasville 37. Facing and third and 2 the
Hurricanes jumped and were backed up 5 yards. Facing a third and 7, Johnson broke free for a first down at the Thomasville 7-yard line. Johnson got to the 2, but Flomaton jumped again and the Hurricanes faced a third down from the 8.
After back-to-back time- outs by Flomaton, Johnson went around right end for an 8-yard touchdown. Tank Franklin carried the two- point try into the end zone and with 5:44 left in the first quarter, Flomaton led 8-0.
Thomasville received Flomaton's squib kick and began its second drive at its own 43. Quarterback Carter Hankins hit Javien Johnson for a first down at the Flomaton 41.
Hankins then hit Averian Malone for a first down at the Flomaton 3-yard line. Darian Grissom took it into the end zone from there and Grissom followed with a successful two-point run to tie the game at 8-8 with 3:07 left in the first quarter.
Flomaton again used its ground game to eat clock and march down field until Johnson hit Chance James in the end zone on a 36-yard touchdown pass. Flomaton's two-point play failed but the Canes led 14-8 with 11:13 left in the first half.
Thomasville was able to move to the Flomaton 47-yard line but Flomaton's Alex Cash stuffed a screen pass for a loss and forced the Tigers to punt.
Defense dominated the rest of the first half and Flomaton took a 14-8 lead at intermis- sion.
A holding penalty on Flomaton on the second-half kickoff gave the Hurricanes the ball at the Flomaton 16- yard line. Johnson picked up a first down at the 34 and with the Canes facing a fourth and 1 at its own 43, Johnson picked up the first down at the 46. Franklin then carried for a first down to the Thomasville 44 and Johnson carried for another first down just inside the Thomasville 10-yard line.
Franklin would later score on a 6-yard run. Flomaton's
two-point try was no good, but Flomaton led 20-8 with 6:36 left in the third.
Flomaton would stretch the lead to 28-8 with 1:27 left in the third quarter when Franklin scored on a 5-yard
run. Franklin then carried the two-point try into the end zone.
On Thomasville's next pos- session, Johnson intercepted a pass and returned it 60 yards for an apparent touch- down but an illegal block call
against the Canes' gave Flomaton the ball at Thomasville's 43-yard line as the third quarter ended.
Johnson later scored on a 31-yard touchdown run and then carried the two-point try into the end zone to give Flomaton a 36-8 lead with 10:48 left in the game.
Hankins hit Ryan McCreary on a 22-yard touch- down pass with 9:57 left in the game. Thomasville's two- point try failed and Flomaton led 36-14.
Flomaton was forced to punt on its next possession and Thomasville took over at its own 24.
Franklin intercepted a tipped pass and Flomaton was back in business with the ball at the Thomasville 25-yard line.
Franklin would later score on a 4-yard touchdown run and Johnson carried the two- point try into the end zone to give Flomaton a 44-14 lead with 3:44 left in the game.
Hankins hit Malone on a 15-yard touchdown pass with 2:04 left in the game and Jacob Homer kicked the PAT to make the final score 44-21, Flomaton.
On the night, Flomaton picked up 431 yards rushing on 57 attempts and hit on two of three passes for 67 yards for a total offensive effort of 498 yards.
Flomaton's defense held Thomasville to 66 yards rush- ing on 13 carries. The Tigers hit on 11 of 23 passes for 147 yards for a total offensive effort of 213.
In addition to Johnson's 290 yards rushing, Franklin also rushed for 129 yards on 24 carries.
