Canes beat Tigers, take region title

Flomaton High School captured its first region title with a 20-12 victory Friday night at T.R. Miller to give the Hurricanes the top spot in 3A's Region 1 and home field advantage in the playoffs that will begin in two weeks when the Canes host Opp in the opening round of post season play.

Flomaton will wrap up its regular season tonight (Thursday) at Southern Choctaw in a non-region game. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Flomaton had a 20-0 lead over T.R. Miller early in the third quarter and fought off a Tiger comeback in a game that wasn't decided until the Tigers turned the ball over on downs with 38 seconds left on the game clock, allowing the Hurricanes to take a knee.

"I thought we played really well in the first half," said Flomaton head coach Doug Vickery. "In the second half we got a little tired and had some penalties that kept drives going for them. But overall, I thought we really played well."

Flomaton used its normal squib kick on the opening kickoff and recovered the ball to give the Hurricanes a first down at the Miller 42-yard line.

Daquan Johnson picked up a first down at the 29 and facing a second and 1, Miller jumped offsides to give Flomaton a first down just outside the 15-yard line. Tank Franklin carried to just outside the 5 and Johnson picked up the first down at the 4. Johnson would later score on a 2-yard run. A two-point try failed, but with 7:57 left in the first quarter, Flomaton led 6-0.

Miller went three and out on its first possession and was forced to punt. Flomaton was able to pick up one first down before having to punt on its second possession.

A dropped pass by the Tigers on third down forced another T.R. Miller punt and Flomaton took over at its own 29. Johnson picked up a first down at the 50 on the last play of the first quarter.

On the first play of the second quarter, Johnson hit Chance James on a pass for a first down at the T.R. Miller 14-yard line. Johnson took it into the end zone from there. The two-point try was no good, but with 11:20 left in the first half, Flomaton led 12-0.

Both teams swapped punts for the remainder of the half and Flomaton took the 12-0 halftime lead.

A second-half kickoff into the end zone gave Flomaton the ball at its own 20-yard line and on the first play of the third quarter, Johnson broke free for an 80-yard touchdown run. Franklin carried the two-point try into the end zone to give Flomaton a 20-0 lead with 11:47 left in the third.

T.R. Miller was able to reach the Flomaton 24-yard line but on fourth down Nick Turner broke up a pass in the end zone and Flomaton took over at its own 24.

A crackback block killed Flomaton's next drive and the Hurricanes were forced to punt.

Miller took over at Flomaton's 47-yard line and began marching toward the end zone. Miller reached the 12 and was then stuffed for a 2-yard loss before quarterback Blake Jernigan hit Darius Webb for a 14-yard touchdown. A high snap on the PAT spoiled the PAT, but with 3 seconds left in the third quarter, Miller had cut the lead to 20-6.

Mid-way through the fourth quarter Johnson intercepted a Jernigan pass but Flomaton was called for defensive holding and Miller's drive stayed alive with a first down at the Flomaton 40. On fourth and 5 at the 35 Flomaton jumped offsides and the penalty moved the ball for a first down.

Jernigan then hit Gage Mims on a 30-yard touchdown pass. The PAT kick was blocked and Flomaton had an eight-point lead at 20-12 with 6:45 left in the game.

An onsides kick by Miller went out of bounds and Flomaton took over at its own 40-yard line. After picking up one first down inside Miller territory, Flomaton was forced to punt and Miller had the ball at its own 16-yard line with 3:51 left in the game.

The Tigers picked up a first down at the 30. But an intentional grounding call against Jernigan put Miller in a second and 15 situation.

Jernigan would later scramble for a first down at the Miller 43 with 1:39 left in the game. Miller would pick up another first down at the Flomaton 46 but Jernigan's fourth down pass fell incomplete giving Flomaton the ball with 38 seconds on the clock.

On the night, Flomaton rushed 31 times for 243 yards and connected on one of two passes for 35 yards for a total offensive effort of 278 yards.

Miller rushed 35 times for 108 yards and hit on five of 20 passes for 66 yards for a total offensive effort of 174.

Johnson led the Flomaton rushing attack with 192 yards on 23 carries. Franklin had 61 yards on 18 carries.