Florence @ Russellville 091126

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Now let's join the Falcons radio crew live from the stadium for pregame coverage. After a grueling, thrilling win last Friday night, the Falcons must turn their page quickly because waiting in the high weeds or the Golden Tigers, just waiting for the Falcons to let their guard down. It could happen tonight. Two 3-0 teams about to tangle. It should be a lot of fun. And welcome to the Florence Falcons football, the TNT Fireworks pregame show. Kevin Johnson, voice of the Falcons, glad to be with you. Broadcast 170 for me.

Can't believe how many I've done. Been a lot of fun with it. And most of those have been with my good friend, Mike Albertson. Mike, man, how many years have we done this together? It seemed like a long time. This is season 14 for me. Wow. Season 14. So I think I'm around the 150 mark. I'm not quite nearly as seasoned as you are. I've done 23 years of basketball, and I've done probably, I'd say, 18 of football, something like that, 19 of football. So it's a lot of fun. But listen, we've been a lot of places.

I've been here to broadcast before, but you all don't think have been here. So I was here in 2010, if I'm not mistaken, the last time these two teams played in Russell. Right. I mean, this is a new place, new environment for me, but it has been first class. We met Principal Norman earlier today, and just the hospitality carpets have been rolled out, and he said, hey, we're all family here. So it's been a beautiful time so far in Russell. Last Friday night, a 7-0 victory over Muscle Shoals, special grueling win, but one of those that this Falcons team has been waiting on for a long time.

What did you learn from that, do you think? Yeah, I think I learned about the grid of this team. There are many, many opportunities for both teams to score and gain a huge advantage, but this team just never quit, never gave up, and continued until they found that big play. Well, the Golden Tigers, you know, are licking their traps. I mean, if you look at everything, the way the calendar sets up, this is a perfect trap game for the Falcons coming here. We've all talked about it.

It's like, oh, no, oh, no. You can just see what a trap this is. It's palpable. You could taste it almost. It really is that perfect trap game. You just got over the hump and beat the rival that you hadn't beaten in many years, and, you know, that high emotion. Well, there's got to be an emotional dump at some point, and you're going to come back down to earth, and how do the Falcons respond? You know, very excited about their win last week, but did they adhere to that 24-hour rule?

Did they soak in that Muscle Shoals win a little bit too much? And we're going to find out tonight, but, you know, a well-coached team with a bunch of new energy and new players and things like that with a new system, you know, and coming in. And it's a system that our defense really doesn't see very often. So all the things are lined up for a possible letdown, and let's hope that doesn't happen. I'll tell you what, I'm still trying to get over that you worked in the word papable for a broadcast of high school football.

That's pretty impressive right there, my friend. Man, the dictionary's growing. It's those ACT and SAT words, man. I don't get to use them often. That's often. That's that New Jersey ending, I guarantee you, as we speak with Mike Albertson, our color analyst Kevin Johnson here on the call tonight, the TNT fireworks pregame show. And, Mike, Florence defense has sent a message in three games. We try to, you know, sort of tamper everything down, but, man, they have been pretty good. What makes them so good? I really think it's the control over the line of scrimmage.

That point of attack, being able to control it on both sides of the ball, really makes this team difficult to deal with on the defensive side, but on the offensive side, being able to open up some runs and things like that. When you can control the line of scrimmage, you can really dictate to the other team how that game is played. And the Falcons have done a good job thus far of making sure that happens. Coach Kenny Marson, the head coach of the Florence Falcons, he's no stranger to this coaching staff.

[5:00] As a matter of fact, he and Coach Daryl Higgins, the head coach at Russellville, were teammates at Coffey High School back in the day. Kenny Marson was a quarterback, and Coach Higgins, I believe, I'm sure, was a defensive back in return punts. So they've known each other a long time. They're friends. It's a good thing. But you know that this one's been on the calendar for a while. This one's been circled. This one's been talked about. You look at it. It's just there's no doubt about it.

How do you handle that this week? Either coach, to be honest. You know, I really and truly is keeping the task at hand. You know, this is, at the end of the day, just another game. You know, so you prepare the same. You really look at the other team the same. But, you know, Coach Morrison knows on the offensive side kind of where we need to get things moving and really work on. But also that defensive side. He knows that defensive coordinator from the other side.

We're going to have to attack things differently. And he knows their tendencies and things like that. But Coach Higgins, again, you know, really good coach. Knows the game a time or two. So this is going to be a chess match, I feel like, a lot of the time. And just, you know, throwing wrinkles and curveballs at each other the whole game and trying to see who bends and who breaks. Tremendous stadium here at Russellville High School. Great facilities at the beginning. We're trying to our right.

Incredible facilities to our left. They've done this for years and first class all around and what they've done and how they've treated us. But they did get some rain here today. But it's not raining now. Matter of fact, a little bit of sunshine peeking through. Here's the sun begins to set in the next hour. So it's good to see the sun come through a little bit. But there are dark clouds around us. We're hoping that we'll be rain-free tonight. And hopefully we can get this one in without any rain.

It should be a good one here at Russellville High School. Earlier this week, actually last night, I sat down with Head Coach Kenny Morrison to talk about tonight's game. In a brief conversation, here is our two-minute conversation about the big game against Russellville. Joined now by Head Coach Kenny Morrison. And, Coach, it's a big win last week for you. I know it's a big win for your team. And you've got to feel good where you are at least 1-0 in the region. Yeah, it was a great win.

Great win for our community. It's been a long time coming. I know it's been about a decade since we beat Muscles. But that was a huge win for us. And we've got to get past it and move on for this one. Yeah, because you're laying in wait as the tiger's in the weeds, as they say. And Coach Higgins over there does an amazing job. I know y'all are good friends. It's going to be a veteran coach against a veteran coach, but we're going to have two good teams against each other.

Yeah, he and I have been, you know, since high school. I mean, we played together in high school. A great person, great man. I mean, he does a phenomenal job. A heck of a football coach. And it's going to be a fun matchup. I told him today on the phone, we talked about it. I said it's going to be strange being across the sideline from him. You know, one day maybe we'll be on the same sideline. Who knows? Let's see if he'll share some of that gait with us tomorrow night.

Absolutely. Huge crowd for that one. So we speak with Coach Kenny Morrison. And, Coach, let's talk about your team. What do you want to see out of your team tomorrow night when you go against a really, really well-coached Russell team? I want to see us bounce back from a big win and get out there and get past what we did at most shows and compete and get after them, you know, just like we're 0-0, like we started the season. You know, we've got to come down out of the clouds a little bit and get ready to play some football here.

Just because you're a 3-0 in the season, still there's a lot to clean up. A lot, a lot. We've got way too many penalties. I think 8, 11, and 13, we're getting better, you know, minimizing those. But, you know, we've been pretty solid in turnover game. Knock on wood, don't want to jinx that. But we've got to tackle better. We're still missing some blocks and assignments. But, Coach Wisdom said in the lost pizza thing, if we got everything right, why would we practice? So we try to get better every day.

Still excited to play on Friday nights and games like this? Let's go. I can't wait. This is awesome. It's going to be a phenomenal atmosphere. And this is, again, why we got in this business for nights like this. Let's go. Indeed. That's Coach Kenny Marson, the Florence Falcons. You're listening to the TNT Fireworks pregame show. We're back in one minute. It's football time in Alabama. Our students are learning big American lessons. You can start with your God-given talents. And through practice, hard work, and sacrifice, you have the ability to become champions.

This is Congressman Robert Adderhall. May God bless all of our students representing our high schools during this season. And may God bless the United States of America. I'm Robert Adderhall, and I approve this message. Paid for by Adderhall for Congress. At North Alabama Bone and Joint Clinic, our show's roots run deep. We provide quick access and familiar, friendly faces so you never have to feel just like a number. From sports medicine to joint replacement, expert care happens right here at home. As UNA Athletics' choice for orthopedics and the trusted orthopedic team of the show's families for over 30 years, North Alabama Bone and Joint Clinic is here for you.

[10:00] Learn more at nabjc.com. Welcome back to the TNC Fireworks pregame show. Florence Falcons football, 93-9 score. You're home for Florence Falcons since 2004. Kevin Johnson, Mike Albertson, live from Golden Tigers Stadium here in Russellville, Alabama. And it's going to be a great night tonight. The Tigers look like they're going to be in all black, at least the black pants and black helmets. They could come out with the gold jerseys. They've done that before, but most of the time they do all black. Florence in all white, trimmed in blue, blue pants and blue helmets.

So it should be a good matchup today. And Mike Albertson, we saw many places last week that Florence needs to work on. And obviously after three games, the book is out. Other teams will see that as well. Oh, absolutely. You know, I think offensively we haven't done – we haven't really hit our stride yet. It goes without saying. We've been able to run the ball pretty well. But, you know, there have been – I mean, Muscle Shoals made us pretty one-dimensional. You know, we really couldn't get the ball up and down the field on them as far as getting the ball through the air.

We had several attempts, a couple drops here, a couple miscues, but really and truly we've just been able to run the ball. So the defenses are going to be able to key on that. And our secondary – the first couple of games were – was a little bit questionable. And they've really shored up some things and have done better, but really need continuous improvement on that side as well. You know, Mike, last week was a defensive stalemate. It's been a long time since I've been to a game and broadcast a game that was 0-0 to the last two and a half, three minutes of the game.

I mean, just a slugfest between Florence and Muscle Shoals. But tonight with this Florence-Russell game, it can be totally opposite. What do you sort of feel after seeing both teams in three games? What's your feel? Will it be a defensive struggle again or will it be a little more offense on the board? Yes. That's it. That's the answer. I think it's going to – after a hard-fought battle last week, we're going to be able to – you know, we've seen fast teams. We've seen athletic teams. We've seen – you know, we've seen some power teams, things like that.

So we've seen kind of everything that we're going to see aside from the wing team. And then on the flip side, Florence has probably had maybe some of the tougher matchups early on in this season, which might prepare them a little bit better for this game. But both teams are going to be well-coached, well-prepared. And this is going to be one of those slugfests that we might be talking about towards the end of the year. Let's welcome in our third member of the crew. He's a sideline reporter.

I promise you, folks, he works as hard as anyone on our crew getting ready because he has to get things ready up in the booth, go back down to the field. He's up and down the steps two or three, four or five times just to make sure his broadcast is good. We're glad to have Jeffrey Jones with us. J.J., how are you doing tonight, bud? I'm doing wonderful. Glad to be here. Good to see you, my friend. Good to have you with us. And did you survive last week, by the way?

That game that was unbelievable. Even after the game, the lake, all combined, you just had a lot going on. So, yeah, it was a great start to the Labor Day weekend. You know, set the tone for the weekend. Again, I had to – my nerves were shot, and I was getting texts all night. You know, after one game like that, there is no going home and going to bed, going to sleep. You've got to – you replay it in your head, and it's just an outstanding beginning to the Labor Day weekend, the long holiday weekend, and I just can't say enough good things about how we felt all weekend.

Okay, let's find out. What was the latest of the text messages coming in last Friday night after the game? Because mine, for me, at 1.30 in the morning, I still had the certain coaches that were texting me from Florence High School at 1.30 in the morning. So, there was a little bit of can't sleep excitement. I wanted to talk about a few things. Did you have a few of those? Yeah, there was – most of them were on the Florence side. You know, the other side across the river, they weren't very happy.

So, they weren't very – they didn't have the text fingers, you know, that they normally have. So, it hit them hard. It hit them very hard, and it was good to see it. You know, taking a loss last week, getting the team back up for this trap game here would have been very hard, very difficult. Now, we have some challenges ourselves because now we're 3-0, and these guys are starting to think, oh, we're pretty good, you know. And, you know, these are young gentlemen that, you know, you show up 3-0, you've got a little bit of a swagger during the week.

So, it's one of those things that you've got to keep everybody's head down. Basically, you've got to go the Lane Kiffin route and say, you haven't done anything yet. Well, that's true. That's a good point. You haven't done anything yet. You haven't done anything yet is right. Jeffrey Johnson, that's a good point. This Falcons team has to realize tonight it's an 0-0 game, really, between these two teams. I do want to ask you this, though. Have you ever heard the Falcons fans, as loud as they were last week in that game, that was a big, big effort, a 12th man type for the Falcons, for sure.

At an away game, I've never heard anything close to that. It was electric. It was electric. There's no doubt about it. Great to see us travel. You know, it was an easy travel across the river. But I think tonight it's going to be pretty similar. You know, the student body's on board and the faculty's on board and the whole town is on board. So, I know there's a lot of people that said they were going to be listening to us tonight and can't wait to get all the talk out of the way on the way home and all that.

[15:14] So, I think we're ready. Now, I will say this. I'm a little worried. You know, our defense is going to have to unlearn a lot this week. And we have not seen an offense like this. I've watched them on film. And they run that wing tee pretty darn well. Yes, they do. I'll tell you what, for you and I, we'll end on that one tonight because I think you've got to do some adjustments, some paddles, different things up here. Things are falling apart. We're in a very small booth.

It's very nice. But our broadcast is, it's made for two and we've got four. And it's pretty crowded here. So, we're trying to get everything done. So, forgive us if we get set up. But I'll tell you someone, it's got plenty of room tonight and he is in the 93.9 The Score studios. He's the best in the business. I promise you, James Moody will give us updates along with Blair Krieger throughout the night. So, James, my friend, take it away. Thank you, Kevin. Yes, we'll be keeping up with all the scores here and be relaying them on to you flying solo tonight.

But we'll be keeping up with lots of scores. We had one last night, John Carroll Catholic beating St. John Paul II 44 to nothing. Tonight, we'll be following games, including but not limited to Muscle Shoals in Austin. We've got Lauderdale County in Central. We have Sheffield, Calvert County, Hamilton, excuse me, Hamilton and Deschler. Bob Jones, Grissom. Waterloo, Hackleberg. Shoals, Christian. Mars Hill. Sparkman and Hazel Green. Red Bay and Bell Green. Tharptown and Vino. Hatton and Winfield. Also, Tennessee and Mississippi scores. Keeping track of the important Phillies Brave series.

They're in a delay right now. Keep up with the college football. We've got Villanova and Louisville, Rutgers and Boston College and Missouri and Kansas. So, we'll be keeping up with all that. And join me after the game for the AHSA statewide scoreboard show from 10 to midnight right here on 93.9 The Score. Now back to the stadium for more of the pregame show. Thank you, James Moody there at 93.9 The Score studios here at Russellville High School. The sun is now shining. That's good. But, boy, there's dark clouds all around the stadium.

Hopefully, we can get through this one tonight. And I'm hoping that maybe the rain is going away. The Falcon Band is across the way. The Big Blue Band. The Marching 100. The Russell Marching Inn. It's a festive night. It's the way it's supposed to be in high school football. And, you know, Mike, I want to jump on college for a minute because they are just talking about tonight that Rutgers game with Boston College. That's the red bandana game. And, you know, it reminds us of a great story from 9-11 of a young man that was a part of the Rutgers team and went on to be a hero during 9-11.

And I'm sure you're aware of it a little bit. Some others are. But it's great that these schools on this night remember a lot of those things, isn't it? Oh, absolutely. You know, the Northeast, you know, is very special to me. And especially that moment there. I was in college about 15 miles away during that time. And it was, you know, it was definitely a different time. And it's been different since then. But to remember the heroes, remember the stories of times past and never forget that day, absolutely.

I as well. And so if you don't know the red bandana story from Rutgers, you need to look it up. It's pretty phenomenal. And they're playing that game tonight because of the 25th anniversary. And that story is one of the great stories in sports. That is for sure. Kevin Johnson, Mike Albertson with you here. And Mike, this Russell team, they're 3-0. Hey, listen, Florence beat Muscle Shoals. Florence beat Jasper. Florence beat Pinson Valley. The Golden Tigers have had a pretty good resume as well. Oh, absolutely.

They're a big rivalry against Deshler. They took care of Deshler. They played against Mars Hill and broke their undefeated streak. You know, and, you know, they played those two really good teams. And then they played a Hartzell team to open the region. Hartzell's always a real disciplined, solid football team. And at Hartzell. At Hartzell, you know, not the easiest place to play either. And so they've really started off the season strong and brought in this Higgins era. And, you know, his reputation is being, you know, is being cemented each and every game so far.

So, you know, he's done a great job here, well-coached team, and Russell Bull's got a gem. Big thank you to Garner Pierce Auto, our courtesy vehicles on the road this season. Garner Pierce Auto took care of us. I believe that's an explorer we were in tonight. We appreciate them taking care of us on this trip, a short trip, not as long as usual, but we appreciate them taking care of us tonight. And they'll take care of you, too. Do you realize we're only just about three months away from the holidays, and we're talking about times for buying Christmas gifts.

Why not go ahead and start looking for that special car for that special someone? That's Garner Pierce Auto in Florence. And, John, we want to welcome you. John McDaniel, our statistician, welcome you in tonight. It's good to have you. And have you been in these games before where it didn't know if it was going to rain, might rain? Does it make a difference for you as a player a little bit? Well, Kevin, normally I would say no. With this turf field, it's a little bit different.

It's kind of a mix between the new field turf and the old AstroTurf. Good point. So the footing might change, but outside of that, there is really not much of a difference. The weather's not going to be a big deal. Certainly, as a defender, it's not going to play much factor at all, especially with the offense they're going to face. And maybe a few adjustments for the Falcons on offense might be a couple of less pass plays called. But I think if it does rain, it's going to move through pretty quickly.

[20:29] But looking forward to seeing how the Falcons can play here in a new venue that most of us haven't been to before. John McDaniel, our statistician. And, John, last week was a hard-hitting defensive game right down your alley. As a former linebacker at the University of North Alabama, I was sore. I mean, I was even sore when we left the game. And I didn't play. How do you take care of your body after a game like that? What's the big thing for you to tell athletes after you've been in a hard-hitting game like that?

Move. Ice and move the next day. You don't have to get very active, but you want to kind of stretch what you – it's counterintuitive. You want to kind of move around and flush some of the lactic acid that's built up after three hours of playing hard. And I'm a big fan of icing. Ice is a miracle remedy that you learn about in college you don't know in high school, those kind of things. But I have certainly been sore from playing a game Friday, and it's Wednesday or Thursday before you've got all the kinks out.

But you're certainly – when the adrenaline starts flowing on Friday night, you feel very – no pain. Yeah, I think it's a good – that's great insight right there from a former player. And tonight, as a defensive guy, you know what it's like to face the wing tee. I mean, we could sit here for the next 60 minutes and talk about trying to dissect it, but the fact is we're going to only have a 60-minute pregame show, so we're going to have a few minutes. But what are the keys, maybe the biggest keys for Florence in this wing tee offense they're about to face?

Yeah, I'm a little nostalgic about it because it's what was very popular when I was in high school. The offensive staff for Russellville won a few state titles with it when they were at Deschler in the time. And have managed to still do it. It dates all the way back to the 50s, Kevin. But to play against it is excellent. I discipline it because they're going to try to trick the defender to get out of place. They're going to fake the ball this way and go the other.

Guards are going to pull to be lead blockers for lots of the plays. They like to do a lot of trapping. Center blocks one way. Guard pulls around and blocks the other kind of to influence, sort of get people out of position. And they've coached it for a long time. They're really masters of it, to be honest. And there's a lot of adjustments that a good coach like Mother Shed and Higgins are going to be able to, you know, if you overload one side, they're going to come back.

They've got, I promise they've got a counter that we haven't seen. A few we have on tip of film. But they can certainly, they've got answers to our questions. It is interesting. This wing T offense has variations from offenses even years past before that about how to misdirection run the ball. But if you look at the spread offenses of today, there's still some variations of wing T in all the spreads. I mean, the wing T is still sort of a foundation for much of the offenses you see on Saturdays with colleges.

So it is a very special. But you've got to be out of discipline, as you said. I think it's a good point. John, this Falcons defense, very opportunistic, though, in three games. You know, you look at it in the offense, too. Turnovers have been on our favor so far. We have done a terrific job. This is one of the biggest factors that you're going to see. I'd say one of the two biggest factors in determining a winner and a loser, turnovers. Getting extra possessions. First game, we had one against Jasper.

We forced five. Last week, we had two. We're eight and two on the season. On the plus side. So a tremendous job by our guys. Anytime that you're giving your offense an extra shot at scoring, you're going to be much more advantageous at the chance of winning. And if nothing takes the wind out of a team's sails, like fumbling the ball and giving up a short field. Shout out to our good friends at Lost Pizza. They're listening tonight. Lost Pizza, hey, thank you so much. They fed the Falcon Radio crew before we left tonight.

They took care of us. They'll take care of you as well. We had a packed house there last night. But we had a great meal tonight as well. And, Mike, what did you get for Lost Pizza tonight? Oh, I wound up getting a Caesar salad. All right. Now, let's go. Your daughter Rain's been with us now. What did Rain get, by the way? You know? She wound up getting an Alfredo-based pizza. Oh, she went Alfredo. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I like that. Okay. We have a lot of fun with Lost Pizza.

We'll take care of you. Always a great atmosphere. Always great food. And I promise you, they're one of the best in the business. Thank you, Lost Pizza, for being a sponsor of Florence Falcons football. Countdown to kickoff continues. We're getting closer to kickoff here on the TNT Fireworks pregame show, back in one minute. Hey, Falcon fans. This is Keith at Cypress Creek Indoor Range. We know a great defense starts up front, and the Falcons start with Jaden White, your defensive tackle. Whether stopping the run or disrupting that quarterback, Jaden has the right tools, puts in the hard work, and has the right training to stop the offensive threat of opposing teams.

Let Cypress Creek Indoor Range provide you with the tools, training, and resources to defend your family. We're the biggest gun store in the Shoals, and the only indoor shooting range and training center to provide everything you need to have the best defense for your family. Cypress Creek Indoor Range is located at 5060, Highway 157, and Underwood, Petersville. On the web, cypresscreekrange.com, and on social media. Go Falcons! This is Miranda Haddock with the Florence Education Foundation. We would like to extend an invitation to our ninth annual Salsa Showdown on Saturday, October 3rd, from 2 to 5 p.m. at Singing River Brewery.

[25:54] Restaurants and individuals from around the shows will compete to see who has the best salsa and queso. Enjoy live music and a fun-filled day. For tickets and more information, visit our website at florenceducationfoundation.org. I would like to thank our Silver and Gold sponsors, Forsyth & Long, Bank Independent, Chick-fil-A, Cutter Construction, Essity, E.S. Robbins, First Southern Bank, Grigsby Properties, Johnson & Mayhand Dental, Long Lewis, Florence, River Bank & Trust, and United Community Bank. And a special thank you to our title sponsor this year, TNT Fireworks. Hello, my name is Debra Bell Passuer, and I'm an attorney with the law firm of Johnson, Passuer, Medley & Burchell.

Please don't call an out-of-town lawyer when you can call our law firm, which has over 100 years of combined experience in all areas of the law. Check us out first. Please call me, Leslie Johnson, Keith Medley, Adam Burchell, at 256-766-3131. We are proud to be a sponsor of Florence High School Athletics. No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers. Game day's coming, and your tailgate crew is counting on you.

That's why Lost Pizza Company, Shoals, put together the tailgate playbook, specialty pizzas, wing trays, and subplatters, all built to feed a crowd. It's why we're the go-to pizza place in Florence, Alabama, now bringing that same lineup straight to your tailgate. Order for pickup or delivery to UNA tailgate only. Call 256-415-8693 or order online at lostpizza.com front slash Shoals. From our playbook to your plate. 3-0 Florence against 3-0 Russell, the TNT Fireworks pregame show, as we're about 30 minutes away, just over 30 minutes away, from a big matchup here in Class 5A tonight.

Should be a fun one. Kevin Johnson, Mike Albertson on the call, our statistician, John McDaniel, and our sideline guru, Mr. Jeffrey Jones. Glad to be with you tonight. Mike, let's talk about our kiddo, the rookie, Kayon Williams. His play last week, name it, which one you want to talk about, because there was two that were just outstanding. You know, and he's really had some highlights. If you really look at the first three games, he's had some highlights where you go, whoa, this kid just moves different, you know, and you could tell that he's a special back that's really burst onto the scene.

He's quick, makes guys miss. He has spin moves and all sorts of moves that just – it's really, for such a young back, he's about as explosive as we've seen since a young man that you may have heard of, Armani Goodwin. He really is – I mean, has that breakaway speed as well, maybe not just quite as quick yet, but has really impressed thus far. I think that's a pretty honest statement right there, and I agree with that. John McDaniel Russell has a few offensive weapons of their own.

We've got to remember, not only is this a different offense as far as scheme, but they've got some talent. They've got some matchup problems, Kevin. First thing that jumped out on film was they have a tight end who is listed at 6'6", well over 200 pounds, and he appears legitimate that height, and he is a problem, goes up and gets balls in the air, super big catch radius for a high school player. Have some very quick running backs. They're very physical on their offensive line, and their wide receivers, while not – don't appear to be – they're listed in the 5'8 to 5'9 range, but they have good speed.

They're very effective blockers, and the moment you forget about them, they're past you in catching touchdowns. That's well put right there. It's two really good teams tonight. Russell, coached by Daryl Higgins, 110 and 27 in his career. That's right. When he was at Mars Hill, 110 and 27. I had three on, so he was outstanding at Mars Hill. And by the way, just a side note, I think the first year he was 0-10. I think it was an 0-10 season, so give him that – that's pretty impressive to see what he's done.

The program he took over at Mars Hill was bad. It was at the bottom. It is amazing what he was able to accomplish. It is, and I've said for a couple of the past year or two, I said they need to put his name on the stadium over there. He absolutely deserves it. He has four state titles to his name as well. But the Florence Falcons have a pretty good veteran coach, too, who also has a state title under his belt in Kenny Marson. And he was the head coach at Fayetteville High School in Tennessee and took a team that had struggled some and in two years went to the state championship.

He has done a good job at Florence, just at Florence alone, 28-19. He's taken the Falcons to the playoffs each and every year. And as I said, both these coaches, friends, graduates of Coffey High School, ties to Brawley Stadium. So it should be a fun one tonight, that's for sure. Florence and Russell will meet for the fifth time. They're 2-2 in the first four games. Last time these two teams played, 2011 here, Florence won at 35-18. Jeffrey Jones, I don't know if you can hear me down there or not.

You got me, J.J.? We've been having some technical difficulties. Let's see if we've got him. He's still close by. He's still working, getting all these things. We're trying to get his sideline. A lot of concrete and brick here has deflected to some, so we may not get a coach's interview. But I'll say this, what I was going to ask Jeffrey is, as I said, Florence won the last time here in 2011. Happened to be the final game of Alvin Briggs as head coach at Florence High School.

[31:16] We've gone on to the AHSAA executive director. So it should be a good one. Teams are breaking up now, getting ready to do punt formations and close to going to the locker room. Should be a good game here tonight. As we go to break tonight, we want to remember the 25th anniversary of 9-11 that forever changed our nation. Tonight, we remember the lives lost, the families forever affected, and the courage for the first responders and our brave soldiers that continually protect us day after day. May God continue to bless America.

This is Florence Falcon Football. We're back in one minute. Florence Utilities now offers new bill pay options. Sign up for paperless, auto pay, text pay, and more to make your life easier. When you go green and go paperless, you'll no longer have paper bills filling up your mailbox, and you'll be helping the environment. Sign up for text pay. Bill notifications go directly to your phone by text. Click the link and easily view and pay your bill. To take advantage of these convenient ways to view and pay your utility bill, visit FlorenceAL.org, front slash enroll, or call 760-6512 for more information.

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The first year these two teams tingled was in 2006 at the close of the regular season. The Golden Tigers had been ranked number one all season in Class 5A and were undefeated at 9-0. Meanwhile, Florence and Class 6A, and only in their third season as a school and a team, were 5-4 and had just clinched a playoff berth the week before. The Golden Tigers were a prolific team, an outstanding running game that had scored over 40 points in five of their first nine games. Meanwhile, the Falcons would be huge underdogs going into this game.

On that Friday morning in 2006, during our team breakfast, I gave the David and Goliath story to the team. At the end of the talk, I even said to each player, I have something for you. I gave each one of them a small, smooth stone to carry in their pocket to remind them all day long that they were prepared to face the giant awaiting them that night. One of our assistant coaches, Coach Peoples, had two young sons who were our ball boys, and on the way to school, he asked the boys if they enjoyed the team breakfast and my talk.

One of them said, yes, sir, Daddy. Tonight, when we see Russellville, we're going to throw our rocks at them. Needless to say, they had to give their rocks up a little bit before the game time. But the Falcons team of 2006 did not forget their stone. That night, behind an amazing defensive effort at Brawley Stadium, Florence upset the number one ranked team in the state. Still to this day, men from that team tell me that they still have the rock from the Russellville game. Tonight, Florence and Russellville renewed this series.

I'm not sure there is a David in this battle, but it does appear there are a few Goliaths in this region. Both teams are 3-0, looking to take a major step toward region play and a win tonight. It won't be easy for the Falcons, but some 20 years later, maybe this 2026 Falcons team can pull out their slingshot one more time and take down the Golden Tigers. Oh, and by the way, I still have my rock from that night as well. It's time to see who will remain undefeated after four games.

Florence and Russellville, it starts right now. Back here at Golden Tigers Stadium, Kevin Johnson, voice of the Falcons, glad to be with you tonight. Florence Falcons have gone to the locker room after warming up. It's a youth night here for the Golden Tigers. They've got a lot of kids walking around the track. Their team is still warming up. They don't wear their jerseys. They just wear helmets and shirts underneath and the pants there, so we'll see what jerseys they wear for sure. I know there are guys not dressed up wearing gold jerseys, but that doesn't always mean that the team will wear gold, so we'll keep an eye on that as well.

Mike Albertson, let's talk about the Florence Falcons. Nate Pride up front. We talk about Jaden White so much, and he's outstanding, but Nate Pride has started to flash. I mean, he's flashed big, and he's just a great running mate. What makes him such a great running mate with number 95? He commands his own respect as well, so it takes the heat off of 95 a little bit, but what's impressed me the most about Nate, not only his hard work and his effort during the game, but during pass plays, his ability to time things properly, to really disrupt the passing lanes and put his paws up and really knock down passes.

He's done that so many times over the last couple of years, but really and truly, he's his own animal, and you've got to key on him just as much as you've got to key on 95, and it just makes it more disruptive for that offense to have to deal with those two big guys up front. John McDaniel, our status addition, a former player on college level as well. What made you know when you were facing a good offensive line? What was the key for you? Well, first thing you always check, you always want to see how big they are, just because sometimes if they're super tall, they're just hard to see around just physically, even if they're not very good, but the first thing really is how well they work together.

[36:40] Do their team work well? Are they in sync? Good offensive lines hang out together. They go eat together. You always find all five of them together, and the reason is because that chemistry and camaraderie, it flows onto the field. They are able to double team. They know exactly what moment they're going to leave. The second really point is physicality. When they come off the ball, are they tough? Do they hit you? Do they stay on your blocks, and do they drive, or do they just kind of get in your way?

So which type of game are you going to have? As a defender, you want the ones who want to get in your way, the ones who want to rattle your chin strap. Those are fun, but they're harder to play against just in general. That's why our crew is the best crew, I think, in high school football. I'm a little prejudiced on that and biased, but, man, they give great insight. They know the game. They know the teams, and I appreciate all these guys and what they do, and Jeffrey Jones, you're one of that crew for sure.

It's been a frustrating night for you because there's 10,000 pounds of concrete and bricks all around. Are you going to be able to get on the air a little bit with us? Well, I will not be on the sidelines on the air tonight, unfortunately. There will be no interviewing coach. I will go down without headphones and do the coin toss, but too much concrete, too much, you know, sometimes it doesn't work out. It feels like we're at Wicks Family Field in Huntsville. Not next year, but the next year, I think it would be a good idea for us to set up in the stands on the away side, but that's okay.

I'm going to go down there and I'm going to watch the game, and I'm going to have some good intel and feedback at halftime. Is there less concrete across the way? I mean, it looks just the same, aside from this big deal. The enclosed concrete. Yeah, thank you. Enclosed concrete. I mean, I tried my best. It's so much static, I'd have the ear damage if I even kept my headphones on at that point. So, it's all good. You know, if you hear from me, I'll be up here in the booth.

We might try to trick you and say I'm on the sidelines, but I'll probably be up here. You'll make yourself around. I do want to get a close look at this offense, so I will have some, hopefully I'll have some good feedback for us, maybe between quarters and a halftime. J-Mac? If J.J.'s not going to be on air, it may be our most popular broadcast we've had all season. We could be. We've talked about that when he wasn't up here. That's okay. That's a possibility.

No, he's the best sideline guy around. I will ask you this, Jeffrey. This stadium, though it has a lot of concrete brick and we're up in a concrete room, it is a great facility. And what stood out to you maybe being down on the field? So, we always like to tour the facilities, especially places we've never been before. You know, we've been to all these other places. You know, we've been to Austin. We've been to Bob Jones. We've been to Huntsville, you know, so many times.

Well, it's good and refreshing to get somewhere new. Now, I've played a game on this. I've played games on this field, and I've taken pictures on this field for Florence. But at the end of the day, they didn't have some of these facilities last time we were here. And, you know, now me and John got to, earlier today, go and tour their facility, their hospitality room and that sort of thing. They've got a nice little second story with some rocking chairs and whatnot for the coaches and families.

But one thing that they really, you could tell all their trophy cases, they had a lot of tradition. You know, everyone, you know, they had Chucky Mullins, a nice little tribute to him. Brent Calloway, you know, quite a few others that, and if you went on to play college ball from Russell, your picture is on the wall up there. And that's, you know, they take a lot of pride. There's a lot of history in this program. I mean, we've said it before. We'll say it again.

It's a lot of history with the Russell football team. So, I'm looking forward to tonight. I think it's going to be a great game. We're fouling in pretty slowly over there across the way. But, you know, it's, I'll tell you what, Russell, they're going to fill up this side. They're going to fill up the stands on this side. So, we've got to have a good showing on the other side as well. I'll tell you what, Jeffrey, I think if you sit in the middle of this Russell student section, I don't think they'll ever notice with that blue shirt and blue jacket on.

And I think you can be heard pretty easily. Just sit over here. Nobody will ever notice. I do have a young face, but I think they'd pick me out. I might not make it out of there healthy. Let's look at the Florence Falcons. Potential starting offensive line for the 3-0 Falcons. Coached by Kenny Marson, offensive coordinator, by the way, Cade McGuire, in one of our interviews last night on the Thursday night show from Lost Pizza, did a great job. Falcons come into this game averaging 280 yards rushing the game, 40 yards passing, 320 yards a game, and really putting up a lot of points, too.

So, an impressive start for the Florence Falcons for a 3-0 start. Let's look at the potential starting lineup, and it starts up front. Jacob Harper, 57, 5'11", 245 junior. He will be called on tonight to be the center, do a good job, and snaps are essential. He's done good all for maybe except one, but he got bailed out on that. But I think that's one of those learning lessons you learn from it. Hopefully, he'll do a good job tonight. Dre Moore will be one of the guards. He has been outstanding.

[41:42] The senior, 5'10", 255. And also, Armani Hernandez, as well, will beat the other guard. Number 68, 5'11", 270. Those two guards in that center up front, they have really done a good job on the interior part of the offensive line. They absolutely have. Early on in this season, we saw that there were steps and leaps and bounds ahead of where they were in the beginning of seasons of years past. So, this offensive line has done a great job thus far, and I'm looking forward to watching them continue to grow as a unit.

The two tackles will be Raymond Russell, the sophomore, 6'1", 280. Where's number 71? And Orlando Rounds, I believe, gets the start tonight. Where's number 65? You know, Orlando came in and filled in for a player that got injured a little bit, C.J. Bolin. C.J. got shook up, and Orlando has played well, and C.J. is still heating up. So, really, you've got three guys that you can put at tackle. That's good to have that depth right there. Oh, absolutely. You know, just any time that you're able to build depth, that next man up mentality and just being able to contribute when your number is called is so important, especially at the high school level that, you know, when coach has options, that's a positive thing.

It is. Now, let's look at quarterback, Costin Mahan, 6'2", 225, the sophomore, 21-50 on the season, 157 yards, two touchdowns. John McDaniel, I'm going to come to you right quick. He's really just been called on to manage a little bit, but that's what you want out of sophomore quarterback, take care of the football. First and foremost, you want to eliminate mistakes. We can deal with not big plays, missed passes, but the first thing you want to eliminate is turnovers, huge mistakes that lose lots of yards, and he has done a good job of managing that.

He throws the ball away when he gets out of the pocket and can't, doesn't have receivers. Hey, playing second down and 10 is great compared to second and 21 if you try to make a play and get sacked. So he's doing a great job with that. We'll worry about his development as the season goes. He doesn't have reps. Every play he's getting better, and it's getting – the game is slowing down, and he's playing better. I agree with that. I've got a feeling tonight might – could be one of his breakout nights.

That's just me personally. I think tonight could be his night to really shine a little bit, so we look forward to that. Sullivan Haddock will be one of his receivers. The senior, 6'3", 170, wears number 80. Nelson Elliott, the other receiver, 6'1", 170, a senior will play the eight-some. By the way, Nelson Elliott was one of our interviews last night, and on our games that we've done, our broadcast at Lost Pizza, whenever I did those broadcasts, the seniors that I broadcast with on Thursday night used to have good games on Friday.

Good game tonight as well, and keep that going on. Kevontae Green will be in there a lot, 6'3", 220, a senior. He has leads to the Falcons in catches, eight receptions, 69 yards, and a touchdown. You're also hearing there some John Carter Gillespie, 5'11", 165, five receptions, 30 yards so far on the season. Tripp Marsh will play some. Justin Kirkman, the sophomore, will play some. So lots of receivers interchangeable for this Falcon team, no doubt about that. And then the tight ends in H-back. Mitch Boyd will be one of those.

He wears number 20, 5'9", 195, a senior. And Kirkland Blank, 5'10", 200-pound junior, wears number 24. Those two guys are playing a ton. And as they play a ton, it's going to be important for them to continue to be a big part of this lineup because what they do is, as tight ends and H-backs, they really just take care of the football on that side as well. Also tonight, our running backs will be Kayon Williams. Kayon is 5'10", 180, a sophomore, wears number 10, 33 carries for 333 yards on the season and five touchdowns, not including a touchdown kickoff return that he had as well.

DeCarson Johnson will be in there a lot at running back, wears number zero, 42 rushes, 357 yards, two touchdowns, 5'10", 175. He is a senior. And by the way, just a little note, you might hear the name Ja'Kylan Williams, the sophomore. Ja'Kylan Williams will be wearing number 42 tonight. He's played running back as a youngster. And they said, you know, we want to give him a look. Had a good week of practice. Wouldn't be surprised to see him sneaking there for a play or two as well. He has great speed as well.

The kicker, Parker Greenhall, wears number 81, a senior. Parker Greenhall is going to win a game for this Falcons team before it's over with this season because he's a senior. He's proven himself already in three games with Mike. It's good to have a very good kicker that you can depend on. Oh, absolutely. I mean, we've had, you know, some great kickers as the years have gone on. We had the Charlie Graves game last year in Oxford. That's what I affectionately call it where Charlie Graves made all the scoring there for the Falcons.

Four field goals. Four field goals. And then the Falcons came away with the victory. But, you know, and we had Chandler Dixon. And we could go down the list of, you know, Falcon kickers. But Greenhall has definitely made it to where he's felt an impact already and made an impact on this squad already. Florence is averaging 34 points a game, giving up only seven a game as a defense in three games. It's Russell's averaging 28 points per game, giving up 18 per game. That right there tells you these are two really good teams who faced early on three really good opponents.

[47:02] So it'll be interesting to see how that plays out as well. Mike, not only players tonight have to control their emotions, but coaches too. You've got to stay focused in a game like this. You can't get caught up in the coach across the way. You've just got to do your job. Oh, absolutely. You know, it's one of those situations where, you know, sometimes the team takes the personality of the coach. And if the coach is losing his mind and really, you know, the other teams in his head, it's going to let the players know.

So Coach Morrison, he's been around the block. He's played in some, you know, big games. He's coached some big games. So he knows the task at hand is not only getting himself ready, but getting his coaches to kind of keep their head straight and focused. It should be good as well. We've been getting some people from Russell come by and telling us thank you. They've been great hospitality with us, coming by and checking us two or three times. We appreciate that. And, you know, let's be honest about it, Mike.

We've been a lot of places that we were kicked to the edge, to the side of the road to broadcast. They have rolled out the red carpet for us, and kudos to Russell. And that's Muscle Shows did last week as well. Oh, absolutely. You know, we've definitely been taken care of here. And, you know, Principal Norman Lear has come by personally. That was just who came in. And that was very nice of them and really feel welcome here. Countdown to kickoff continues here on the TNT Fireworks pregame show.

We're back here at Russellville Golden Tiger Stadium after this three-minute timeout. When you're in the mood for a sweet treat just the way you like it, Yogurt Mountain on Cox Creek Parkway has you covered. With 16 rotating flavors, 40 toppings, and a dozen sauces, the combinations are endless. So whether you want a simple treat or a decked-out dessert, just grab a cup and create your ultimate frozen yogurt concoction. At Yogurt Mountain, all of the flavors are kosher, most are gluten-free, and there are always non-dairy and non-sugar added options.

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Good luck to head coach Kenny Morrison and the Florence Falcons football team on building a special season to remember as Carbine Construction wishes you the very best this season. Remember, at Carbine Construction, we build trust, we build relationships, and like the Florence Falcons football team, at Carbine Construction, we continue to build. Get your popcorn ready if you're listening to this one. Florence and Russell, undefeated teams in Class 5A football. One of these teams will be 4-0 before the end of the night. Getting ready to tangle here at Golden Tiger Stadium.

Kevin Johnson, Mike Albertson, Jeffrey Jones, John McDaniel. Glad to be with you on the TNT fireworks pregame show. Let's look at that Falcon defense right quick. Up front, it'll be Jaden White, 6'3", 275, a junior. He leads the Falcons. He is a Division I player. Only a junior, as I said. He'll be talked about a lot. Nate Pride, we talked about a minute ago. Wears number 98, 6'2", 60, a junior as well. And then on the other side on this three-man front, A.J. Dixon. Only 5'9", but 240, a junior.

[52:30] Mike, to be the third guy on this team on the defense line, how about this? One fumble recovery, one block punt, one touchdown. Not bad. Not bad at all. He's done a great job aside from those two other monsters and really up front. They've been tough all year. Bo Burski, number 26, outside linebacker, 6'1", 205. He has 13 tackles on the season as a senior, seven tackles for losses, three sacks. Last week, he was all over the field, it seemed like. He certainly was. And, you know, he had an outstanding year last year, and you knew that he was going to come into this year as one of the leaders, and he's done that so far and just really has been a real bright spot here for the Falcons.

Jaden Martinez, the other outside linebacker, wears number 32, 5'10", 170, a junior. He also had 19 tackles and a fumble recovery on the season. The inside linebackers have really played well last week as well. Chase Winkle's number 19, the junior, 5'10", 180. He had an interception last week, returned it deep to set the tone early on for the Falcons. Jaden Irons, the other linebacker, number 23, 6'2", 215, a senior. Mike, these two are really doing a good job. It helps when you've got the defensive line in front of you. Oh, absolutely it does.

But you've got to play, you've still got to play the position to make tackles. You know, and they've done a great job. And, you know, it takes a lot of pressure off of the linebackers, you know, when the defensive line is as good as it is, you know, being able to make the quarterback move his feet and getting, you know, being able to shoot some real nice gaps there with the linebackers. It's been nice so far. Starting cornerback for the Falcons tonight, number two, Des Brown, who's been incredible, I think, for the first three games, 5'10", 175, a senior.

There's a photo I've got of him from the last play of the game last week. It looked like he was 12 feet up in the air trying to knock a pass down to end the game. So, he's got great leaping ability, good speed, and he's the shutdown corner, I think, before this year is over. He has really played well. On the other side, getting the start tonight, London Petty Poole, who's played a lot in the first three games. The cornerback will get a start. He's 5'8", 150 pounds, but he's got great quickness and great feet movement with his feet.

He moves his feet well, moves his hips well. So, the coaches really feel good about him starting. But you'll also see some others playing cornerback tonight. They're going to rotate some in there. So, you'll hear some other names like Jaden Allred will be in there some. Caden Ward may play some as well. So, we'll keep a couple of eyes on that. At safety, Landon Rayner, he'll be very important tonight, 6'165", a senior. John, as a free safety, you can't get caught looking inside or the cookies will run by you.

That's a great point. In the wing tee, that's certainly how it works. They're going to do a play action of the same action that you've seen on multiple runs. And the tight end, most likely, is always running towards the post. And he will run right by you. He's fast enough. He's certainly tall enough. And eye discipline, I mentioned it prior, is going to be a winning factor tonight. It's not just going to be a key to the game. That's going to determine how we play on defense.

And finally, the other free safety over there, or strong safety, excuse me, is Otis Sistrunk, Jr., number 6, 6'1", 2'10", a senior. Otis, my man, when he makes plays, he gets me excited. He was amazing on the interview last night. Did a tremendous job. Appreciate him so much being with us last night there at Lost Pizza. So, that's your potential starting lineup on defense as well. It's going to be a good one tonight. I can't tell, guys. I've sort of tried to check my radar, but it looks like maybe, fingers crossed, it's dark skies around, but I think it's starting to clear up maybe a little bit.

So, maybe we're going to take advantage of this. Usually, we'd have Jeffrey Jones on the sideline to give us that. JJ can't hear us during the first half. But I think maybe we'll get clear of the rain. We'll just keep an eye on it. It could be a couple of showers coming through, but they said, meteorologists did, that the rain should dissipate close to maybe when sun going down. So, we'll see how it plays out. John, it seems like it's still close to us coming this way now, right?

It looks like an updated one is not as promising. Maybe holds off just a little bit, maybe 30, 45 minutes, but there's a sail moving this way. We'll keep an eye on that tonight. So, we hope they're not having any delays, but we'll find out how that goes here tonight. So, across the way, captains for the Florence Falcons getting ready to come and have the toss of the coin in their road white uniforms. Checking on a couple of these there that I see across the way for Florence.

I believe I see number 20 as one of the captains, if I'm not mistaken, out there. That would be Mitch Boyd, who plays tight end some. I also see Dez Brown will also be one of the captains tonight. Can't catch the other two right off the bat. Number two. Yeah, I got Dez Brown on that. Number 22. Okay. Number 20. And number 88. All right. So, I think it's Locke Tejada will be number 88. And then number 22 tonight, captain, will be Austin Klotzbach. So, Klotzbach and Tejada will join Brown and Boyd as the captains tonight.

Meanwhile, Russell in their gold uniforms, but they're good numbers, black and white. So, you can see their numbers well. Thank goodness for that. Black helmets, black pants. Their captains coming out, including their quarterback, who we haven't talked about enough, Tripp Cleveland, a senior. He came out from basketball. He had played football, from what I understand. And we got him to come out, play football, be a part of it. He's turned into being the quarterback and has been an outstanding quarterback. He'll be joined by Kiefer Hallmark out there and a couple of linemen as well.

[57:51] We'll catch their names here. That's Romero Francisco. That's fun to say. And then also, Uriel Alonzo. So, the captains meeting at midfield. Falcons in the road, white, blue helmets, blue numbers. And the Golden Tigers in those gold jerseys with black numbers, white trim, black pants. Captains meeting each other. And here's the referee down talking to the captains. And let's find out what they say. All right, guys. My name is Jason. This is Jermaine. We're going to be working in the center with you guys tonight, okay?

You guys are captains. Captains for a reason. Help us take care of things, okay? Sportsmanship, first class. From the time we leave the huddle until we get finished, okay? Got a head. Got a tail. Got a head. Got a tail. What's your call? Tails. What did he say? Call is tails. It is tails. He's won the toss. Deferred. Deferred to the second half. Florence wins the toss. They're going to defer to the second half. That's great. You've got to hear Jeffrey Jones' voice down there at midfield.

Maybe we can just get him to stand at midfield all day. We can hear him the whole night. That would be good. Florence will defer to the second half. Russell will get the ball to start the first half. It's time. Florence and Russell, we're back in 30 seconds. At First Southern Bank, we always cheer for the home team. We are homegrown with deep roots, and we're invested in this community. With checking and savings accounts, mobile and online banking, and a mortgage department to help you with the home of your dreams, First Southern Bank is your neighborhood bank.

Sometimes a local financial institution with deep roots and a commitment to the community can provide just the banking services you need. We always root for the home team, because we are the home team. First Southern Bank. Equal housing lender. Member FDIC. One, two, six, one. Time to play the game. Time to play the game. Standby for kickoff. It's game time. Florence Falcons football is brought to you by Florence Utilities. Florence City School. The law firm of Johnson Pesher, Medley, and Birchall. The North Alabama Boney Joint Clinic.

TNT Fireworks. Yogurt Mountain. Whataburger. Singing River Dentistry. Village Discount Drugs. Hugo's Mexican Restaurant. Irons Electric. Cypress Creek Indoor Range. Lost Pizza. Henniker Johnson & Layden Insurance. Carbine Construction. First Southern Bank. And Warehouse Tackle. Now let's go to the press box for tonight's game. Here's the voice of the Florence Falcons, Kevin Johnson. Region play. Undefeated teams. Both in 5A. Both exceptional teams. And Florence will be kicking off, going right to left. As we begin this one, Taurus Davis will go deep for Russell. He is always dangerous. He scored four touchdowns last week.

Darren Jones has exceptional speed. He may be the fastest man on the field tonight. So Greenhall, if at all chances can put this one away, it will help a whole bunch for sure. This one has been talked about a whole lot. Russell feels like they can pull one off tonight if they can win this one. It shakes this region up big time. If Florence can win it, hold your hat. So we'll see what the Falcons can do. Greenhall approaches the ball. We're listening to Florence Falcon football.

This is Paul's for station identification. The voice of the Florence High School Falcons. W-Y-T-K-F-M. Rogersville. Athens. Decatur. The Shoals. 93-9. The score. First and 10 for the Golden Tigers from the 28 going left to right towards the scoreboard if you're familiar here at Golden Tigers Stadium. Cleveland will go under center in this wing tee. Davis will be the lone back in the backfield. And I'll bring a man in motion. Going good to the belly right in the middle. And Davis got run rim. 30-35 to the 38 down to the 40.

Power play right there a little bit. And just ran right off the right side. And a gain of 12. And you see, Mike, there are going to be a handful right now. They certainly are. And he burst right through the hole. And he got into the secondary. And once you get to that second level, you know that that was a successful run. And it was first down for the Tigers. That's a trendsetter right there. Cleveland will have a wing to his left. Wide receiver right. Two backs in the backfield this time.

Now they're going to shift around. Going to look to run the power to the left again. Trying to get outside. Cuts up not much run room that time. The Falcons were there and stoned him for no gain, really. They might give him one at the 40, too. He was hit by a host of Falcons, including Nate Pride, who cleaned him up. Nate Pride came in there. And he delivered a blow. And he was really excited about that one. But the Falcons held serve on that play quite well.

[1:02:52] Weston Whitaker was the tailback on the run right there. Jones will check in. No score. 11-02 and counting here in the first quarter. Russell will have second down and nine from the 42. They can throw the ball well. Jones wide to the left. Wingback right. Tied in right. Two backs in the backfield again. Now they're bringing the tight end to the motion to the left. Play action. He wants to throw. Cleveland rolls to the left. Pressure coming. Gets rid of it. Wide open in the flats and dropped it.

Started to run with it too soon. A man from Florence was coming up. It would have been a tough gain of two or three. But it worked out on the play. Flag has been thrown. Let's see what that's for. I'm not sure if it's in the secondary or where it's been thrown. It was in the area of holding. So we'll hold and see what this is. And already the official with the ball in his hand is facing towards Russell. We're ready to walk it off. But decision time.

Do you want third and nine or do you want second down and 21? That's what Kenny Morrison is thinking about. He's going to say decline it. He's going to trust his defense to get one stop on third and nine. That's a tough call right there, Mike. That certainly is a tough call. You know, right at this point, you really have them third and long. They do have playmaking ability where they can bust one to wind up getting a first down. So taking a third down chance is pretty solid here.

Carter Clement wide to the right. Under center again. Cleveland is wing two. They shift out of it to the right. Going to look. Going to play action to the left. Once the throw wide open down the middle. He's got Clement open. Catch it at 25, 20, 15, 10, 5, and touchdown. On third and nine, they bring in a wide receiver. He just ran it right down the field. And he was wide open by 10 yards. And nobody would have picked up this guy. One receiver out, really. I didn't even see another receiver going.

And then he too. And it was an easy throw right there, Mike. That was the one look that they had. That was what they were going for. And, you know, they found it right away. Safeties got caught with all that eye candy. Safeties got caught looking inside and got blown up. And just a beautiful execution there by Russell. PA temp, T attempt coming. High snap gets it up. Did he sneak it in? He just sneaks it in. New score. Russell leads Florence, 7-0. 10-33 to go.

Falcon football back in 30. Hey, guys. This is Mark down at Warehouse Tackle. So we offer the best fishing tackle and outdoor supplies in the Shoals area. We're located on 417 East College Street. Our phone number is 256-980-0951. And you can find us on the web at www.warehouse-tackle.com. Come and see us. We're proud to be a sponsor of Florence Falcons football. And we wish Coach Morrison and the team good luck to you in your season. Back here at Florence Falcons football. And it didn't take the Golden Tigers long.

10-33 on the clock. And they take it down and score 7-0. That last drive from John McDaniel. Three plays, 73 yards and a minute 22 off the clock. As you said, big explosive play. Cleveland, Clement, excuse me. Clement just came in. You can tell he had some speed. Carter Clement, the junior. And he was wide open as wide receiver. And nobody picked him up. And 7-0. And now you've got to be alert because the Falcons line up at the 46. So they're about 14 yards away. I don't like that.

Because I've got a feeling you might see an onside kick from this Russell team before the night's over. They're going to try to win a possession here or there, I think. Getting ready to boot it away. Short kick. Going to be taken about at the 30 to the 33. It's Elliott. And he'll go down around the 34. So they kick it short. Turn it to the 34. And that's where Florence will have it first. And T and Traylon 7-0 after the touchdown by Clement. And the extra point by Mojica.

Garcia, I think, is how he goes by. That's 7-0, 10-28 to go. And the Falcons offense for the first time will come onto the field and try to answer here. Mahan will be the quarterback. Costin Mahan, who have goals become wide left along with Kevontae Green. Two backs in the backfield, including Williams and Johnson. Play clock at 21. Now they shift to an eye set under center. Don't see this often. They're going to look to hand it off off the right side. They're going to lock out a running room.

Nope, not much. Get at the 35 and gain of one. Flag on the play. Let's see what the flag is for. Try to sneak one there on the inside give. But it wasn't there for Johnson. And bring a second down. And we'll call it 10, depending on the penalty call here. And I think it's going against the Golden Tigers. And they're going to march it off. And it may be a big one. Let's see. 5, 10, might have been even 15. So maybe a chop block on the defense there. And a 15-yarder marches out to the 50-yard line there.

That's a big penalty right there, Mike. Yeah, especially, you know, on the very first play there. You know, giving the other team 15 yards is not advisable. But Falcons around midfield already. So at midfield. Facing second down. Our first down and 10. Just at midfield. Trailing 7-0. With 10-04 to go and counting. Mayan still has two backs in the backfield, including Johnson to his right. Williams to his left. This time looks to pass. Quick out. Got it to Green. Green down the right side line. Breaks up tackle.

[1:08:14] Stays on his feet. Flipped upside down. But he gets about eight or nine right there. And jumps back up. That's a gain all the way down to the 43. That's good early on to get Green involved in this offense. And get Mayan a nice pitch and catch early on to settle into this game. John, I feel like that might be a place where Florence could expose Russell a little bit on the edge. Dave, he is certainly a matchup problem. His size, catch radius is just his physicality at the position.

It's hard for them. It's hard for anybody to match. It's hard for these guys to match. Kirkland blanket, tight end left. Quick snap. Going to leave Williams off the right. Got a hold to the 40. Hit hard. Stays on his feet. Trying to bounce away from another, but can't. He'll get maybe two yards and enough to get the first down and move the chains. He got stuck for the first time and bounced like a pinball trying to run out of it. But it'll be enough to be a Falcon first down.

Yeah, Williams very rarely gets hit pretty hard there. He definitely took a hit, but kept his feet moving. Kept his momentum going forward enough to get him a first down. Braxton Duncan's the one that came up and stuck him. 9-25 and counting here in the first. Trayland 7-0, but Florence in Russell territory. Blank will move to the right side. One back, three wide receivers to the right. Mahan going to leave with the back again, trying to bounce outside. He's paid, and that's Johnson off the 4-5 to the 30.

Inside the 30 to the 25. Flag on the play right in front of the Russell bench. That should have been a second flag, I felt like, because they threw Johnson down about four yards out of bounds. But they're going to get the holding call. And any time you run to the home side, it's not going to be a good thing sometimes. Well, it would take somebody seriously having some vision impairment not to see that one on any side of the field. That was an egregious hold there on the Falcons.

And anybody could have called that. I mean, you heard both sides, both sides of the stadium calling that one before the flag came out. 9-0-9 to go in the first. Florence trails at 7-0. Golden Tigers scored on their first possession on a long pass play from Cleveland to Clement. Now Florence moves back to the 50. They'll face first and 20 now at the 50-yard line. Three wideouts for Mahan. And flag before that, and then another penalty against Florence, moving a little early. And you can hear this Russell crowd's loud and into it.

It's a big crowd from Florence across the way as well. But early jitters early on. And Mike, just to be honest about it, it's been a while since the Falcons have been down 7-0. Yeah. The last time they were, though, they did score right away. And it was only for a matter of a couple minutes. And the Falcons took that game away when it was against Jasper. They weren't down 7, but they were just down 1. But, you know, the Falcons have a chance to respond here. Gooseby wide left.

Elliott and Green wide right on the first and fifth 25 play. Going to leave it with Williams off the left side looking. Not a whole lot of running room right now. The Golden Tigers up front are winning that battle. It's actually Johnson on the carry. No game. A little surprise right now how much Russell is winning that line of scrimmage. And let's be honest about it. Florence has come out a little flat, and Russell's come out really on fire. We talked about it in pregame. And the opportunity for the letdown or trap game is absolutely there.

And all symptoms are heading in that direction. The Falcons better wake up because this team is ready to play. Justin Kirkman in wide receiver left. And the slot is Gooseby. Shotgun formation going to run to the right. Johnson cuts back across the middle, but not much running room there. The only game is two or three. And it brings up third down, and most of Franklin County to go with 8.19 to go here in the first quarter. So the penalty hurts. Florence moves them back after they got into the territory of the Golden Tigers.

And now on a passing down, they'll go four wide outs. Elliott will come into the game along with Gooseby. And Kirkman will go wide to the right, I believe. Three wide outs to the right. One back in the backfield continues to be Williams. Play clock at 8. Four-man front. Now Williams will go in motion. And they're going to run the quarterback draw off the right side. And, man, get what he can. He gets stuck pretty hard at the 50. Pushes far, though, to the 47. And, Mike, one of the things I see early on that I did not really see as much on film is how hard this Russell team comes up and sticks you.

It is a hard-hitting team. You know, look, there's no secrets out there. Coach Higgins knows how to coach football. And these boys are absolutely ready to play, and they're answering the call right now. Back deep will be Davis. His coaches are telling me, don't field it. So I saw some coaches say, don't do it. Maybe they're saying play safe. Greenhall to boot it away. Good snout. Greenhall takes his time. Gets a high-hanging kick. Going to be fair, caught, and taken at the 16-yard line to make it the 17-yard line by Davis.

And the Tigers lead at 7-0 and have the football. And this Falcon defense better get ready because they're going to see every trick that's in the book for Daryl Higgins and his staff. They certainly are. And, you know, they've already seen one and got burned pretty badly. So, you know, being able to learn from that experience and really keep to your assignment is going to be important. Don't forget, tomorrow, Alabama Crimson Tide football on the road in Lexington, Kentucky. You'll hear that game right here on 93-9.

[1:13:30] The score tomorrow afternoon should be a great matchup. First and 10 for the Golden Tigers. One wide receiver right. Two backs in the backfield. Under center is the quarterback, Cleveland. Cleveland going to look to throw. Wants to throw the outpatter. Now he's in trouble having to look to roll. He just flips it over the head of the one intended receiver. Incomplete. That's a better job by the Falcons right there. Nowhere to go with it. Hallmark was his intended receiver. Yes, and, you know, we saw they went right back to a similar play there.

It wasn't the same formation, but there was a streak right down the middle, right in that side, and then the safeties caught it right away. Kevin, it's the same combination of routes. It's a flag, a drag, and a post. They'll switch up who's running which, but it's always the same three, and they do a great job of keeping guessing which ones are going to do what. Second down and 10 to go. Under center again, Cleveland, the quarterback. Brings the man in motion to his left. Give it right up the middle, and the belly play.

Hit at the gain of a 30. He breaks the tackle and stays on his feet and got to the 25, excuse me. Gain of about seven or eight. And Davis is a handful. Now, I didn't know how strong he was, but we've hit him a couple of times, and he breaks tackles. Even the opening kickoff, he did that. That's maybe what his strength is, is breaking tackles. Yeah, and early on, and we saw it early on in the Muscle Shoals game as well. It takes the Falcons a minute before they start sticking people.

I don't know if that's a preparedness thing or getting in game flow, but we missed a bunch of tackles last week as well. Russell will bring into the game Samuel Wilson, the senior. He is huge there coming in. They've got some beef in there. Nine on the play clock. They're still making substitutions here and still in the huddle. They may have to call a timeout, the Golden Tigers, on this third one down play, and they will call a timeout. With 6.17 to go here in the first quarter, Russell leads at 7-0.

No Falcon football is back in 30 seconds. It's football time in Alabama. Our students are learning big American lessons. You can start with your God-given talents, and through practice, hard work, and sacrifice, you have the ability to become champions. This is Congressman Robert Adderholt. May God bless all of our students representing our high schools during this season, and may God bless the United States of America. I'm Robert Adderholt, and I approve this message. Paid for by Adderholt for Congress. Back at Golden Tigers Stadium with the big Tiger emblem at the middle of the field.

Black end zone with Russellville spelled out in gold letters on both ends. And right now, the Golden Tigers lead at 7-0 and face 31 at their own 26. They are so early on, they are a handful. And they've got a big offensive line, too, at times. They can come in there. They've got some height, some size. So quickly to the line of scrimmage under center is Cleveland. One by Castile Davis on this third and one play. They're going to run the power off the edge, and he slipped down and fell.

I don't think he got it. He's going to be short. He slipped down right at the 25, and thank goodness he did. He might have had a hole there, Mike. Yeah, he went to cut, and you saw his leg fall out from under him, and it was just lucky or glad to see him come up because it did not look good from here. Darrell Higgins does not waste any time. He puts his punt team out there on this fourth and one play. Now, the quarterback, Cleveland, is the punter.

Back deep is Gillsby. He'll stand at the 40. But you don't need to jump off sides, and you need to just hold your water, as they say, and watch everything. Florence has nine on the line of scrimmage on this fourth and one play. Snap back to Cleveland, and he will punt it away. Gillsby's going to let it hit. Not a great punt. Not great. It takes a Golden Tiger roll, though, and it really took a Golden Tiger roll. That thing has wheels on it. It went about another 15 yards.

It hit at the 50 and rolled all the way down to the 32-yard line. So a big break for Russell there. Gillsby did the right thing. He couldn't get to it, and it was too short of a punt. But the roll just favored the Golden Tigers. It took one of those nasty rolls. It had that forward momentum once it hit and just kept rolling. And so it was an unfortunate bounce there for the Falcons, but they have possession with 5-23 in the first. 5-23 in the first.

7-0. Florence trails Russell, but they'll have the ball. Mahan will be the quarterback with one back in the backfield. Going to leave it right up the right side and looking for a little run rate. I mean, this time spins out of one and gets a little more run rate to the 39. That's Johnson. DeCarson Johnson spins and gets about six or seven. Better looking offense off the right side than we've seen in that first drive right there, Mike. Well, absolutely, you know, and DeCarson Johnson made a nice cut in there to pick up some extra yardage and made a man miss.

So being able to have a second and shorter than we've had is definitely important. Kirkman wide right. Gooseby wide left. Two tighty and set. Blank can come back to the left side. Again, it's going to be Johnson right off the left. Got to follow his block. It's got outside to the 40, to the 45. It's got great speed to the 50. Down the sideline, 40 to the 35, to the 30. And pushed out of bounds on the 20-yard line. The first big play of the day, DeCarson Johnson comes sprinting down the left sideline, and the Falcons are knocking on the door.

[1:18:49] That was a great run there by the Falcons. Great job to get around the edge, and then it was just a foot race. And while he didn't find the pylons, he found a lot of green space and made it down to the 20. Kevin, I think that was the number 65 rounds was his lead blocker on that play and really blew up in a hole. He pulled and kicked out the defensive end. Terrific job. He was making his rounds as he led Johnson down the field to the 20.

And now Kayon Williams in the tailback, and the Falcons move. A little much hearing too much stuff going on. He moved, and that's a five-yard penalty. Pretty obvious there. So you had first and 10. Now you have first and 15. And, oh, Mike, the first drive stopped because of penalties. This drive again, another penalty. Something we haven't seen as much in this offense. The penalty bug has hit this Falcon offense. The first two games, they had double digits in flags. They improved it a little bit last week.

But some of that discipline and giving extra yardage is not helpful. Three or two wide outs, two tight ends set on the first and 15. Williams off the right side trying to use his speed but can't get away. No, he stayed on his feet and pushed far to the 19. They had him dead to right at the 24, and he just has incredible balance there. He had incredible balance, and he put his hands in the turf to keep himself up and kept churning those legs. Found himself some balance again and wound up getting hit after a six-yard gain.

Four-fifteen and counting here in the first quarter. Florence trails at 7-0, knocking on the door. Second down and nine at the 19-yard line. Williams will stay in at tailback. Seventeen on the play clock. Ball on the right hash going to our left. Williams to the left of the quarterback, Mayhem, against a four-man front. Play action. Wants to pass. To the sideline and caught at the 15. Nice throw and catch right there. I believe that was Kirkman that brought it in. So there is Kirkman, the sophomore. I think you're going to see him a whole lot more.

His hands are incredible. He's going to be a weapon for Florence. He's as quick as lightning. The kid is super fast. He's got really good hands. He's one of those, you know, the future looks bright kind of wide receivers that we've got coming up. Third and five. The Falcons have to touch the 10, and here comes the Golden Tiger crowd on his third down play. 330 and counting here in the first quarter. Florence trails at by seven. Mayhem gets the snap. Going to look to throw again. Out pattern complete again.

That's enough for a first down right at the nine-yard line. Not sure if again, is that green? I believe it is. No, that's Jack. Check that. That wasn't green. Seven. Yeah, that was going to be Jackson Mays who come in, and a tremendous catch there by the senior. Tremendous hands, and that's enough for a Falcon first down. The pass was delivered a little bit behind him, and as he was cutting back, he just showed great concentration in being able to secure that one right at the sticks for a first down.

First and goal at the nine for the Falcons. One back in the backfield is Johnson. Now, check that. Williams right at the middle pushes forward to about the six-yard line. Gain about three or four. Williams has squatted down, so I thought he was zero. Brings up second down and goal at the six. Trailing seven-zero here with 248 and counting. We're in a very small visitor's booth. We're thankful for it, but it's hard to see, especially when they come down this left sideline and left side. Johnson will be the tailback.

Mayhand in shotgun formation. Play clock at 16. Lawrence trailing by seven. Had two wide outs to the left. Now the tight end will come left. This time Johnson off the left side, trying to use the speed. Got outside, trying to get to the five, to the three. Pushes forward close to the goal line. He's down around the one, depending on the mark. I think they'll mark him just inside the two, and he'll bring up third and goal just inside the two, and a nice push on that left side.

That was a nice push on the left side, and DeCarson Johnson found a nice little seam to cut into. Almost found his way into the end zone, but was stopped just short. Trill Morris seeing wide left. If they throw it to Morris in the corner of the end zone, John, you'll have to make the call. I'll do my best here. I'm going to stand up to you and get a little more look here. Third and goal under center will go. Now coming back with two backs in the backfield.

It's Mayhand. On the third and goal at the two. Mayhand going to lead with Johnson off the right side. Skip. Hop didn't get there. Got to the one, but that's all. And it brings up fourth and goal, and no doubt about it. Kenny Morrison's going to go for it. 1.30 and counting in the first quarter. Down 7-0. Could run the power play with the quarterback. Fourth and goal at the one. It's so close, Kevin. It's hard to still away from a quarterback sneak. And he is under center now.

It's Mayhand. Mayhand is going to sneak. He's pushed far. He's in. Touchdown fly. Big. Prima to 7-6 with 1-0-6, or 1-0-4 to go here in the first quarter. You know, Russell Bull's defense so far has shown some moxie and some promise. It's going to be a tough sled there for Florence. So that was a very nice drive that they strung together to go about 70 yards. Good snap. Good hold. Greenhouse kick is up, and it is good as well. New score. We're tied at 7 with 1-0-4 to go here in the first.

[1:24:09] It's a stock in football. Don't go away. We're back in 30. At North Alabama Bone and Joint Clinic, our Shoals roots run deep. We provide quick access and familiar, friendly faces so you never have to feel just like a number. From sports medicine to joint replacement, expert care happens right here at home. As UNA Athletics' choice for orthopedics and the trusted orthopedic team of the Shoals families for over 30 years, North Alabama Bone and Joint Clinic is here for you. Learn more at nabjc.com. Back here at Golden Tiger Stadium where Florence ties it up to 7-7.

Kevin Johnson, boys of the Falcons, let's go to our statistician on that last drive. Kevin, nine plays, 68 yards, four minutes and 18 seconds that came off the clock. Of course, finished with that one-yard QB sneak by Costa Mahan. Falcons tie the game. Overcoming a five-yard penalty, too. Impressive by the Falcons. Greenhalder booted away. Puts a foot into it. Will drive Davis back all the way back to the one. They say he's going to have a chance to run it back. Has great speed at the 20. He's hit hard at the 23 and goes down there.

The top of the wall was there, but he's knocked down at the 23-yard line. I thought he was in the end zone by a step. Jeffrey Jones, I don't know if you can hear me back there. He was right by you, but it was pretty close. Yeah, he was. I guess you could say he caught it and he stepped in the end zone and immediately the white hat just ran it. And so good speed by that young man right there. He hit it hard. And, you know, their defense is playing well.

Their defense is a lot better than I thought they'd be. And they've got some size. You know, this Todd Rogers kid on the left tackle, probably one of the bigger ones we've seen in a long time. 6'6", right at 300 pounds. Yeah, he's every bit of it, too. Carter Clement, Darren Jones are in at wide receivers. The tailback, I believe, is this time going to be Weston Whitaker along with Davis. Davis right at the middle. Hit at the line of scrimmage and he's not going to get anywhere.

Great job by A.J. Dixon. Read that one and said no more of that. Yeah, A.J. Dixon, he ran right at him. He shed his block and was able to get that ball carrier right at the line of attack. Second down and 10. That little trap play they run right there is what it is. And he stayed with it. This may be the last play of the quarter if it's not a pass or a penalty. Russell will try to build this c*** and make a short game.

Two backs in the backfield. One wide receiver left on second down and 10 for Cleveland. Quarterback wants the quick throw, quick out. And he's got it out there to Jones. Caught it at the 30-yard line. Knocked out of bounds. He'll be short of the first down. He gains about six, though. Well, they gave him more than that. They gave him to the 32. Well, they gave him to the 33. That was a very generous shot. They gave way more than I thought. Third down and one. And the clock's going to run out.

They said he was still in bounds. So the clock will run out. And that'll be the end of the first quarter. After one. Florence seven. Russell seven. This is Falcon football. We're back in one minute. Hey, Falcon fans. This is Keith. Cypress Creek Indoor Range. We know great defense starts up front. And the Falcons start with Jaden Wyatt, your defensive tackle. Whether stopping the run or disrupting that quarterback, Jaden has the right tools, puts in the hard work, and has the right training to stop the offensive threat of opposing teams.

Let Cypress Creek Indoor Range provide you with the tools, training, and resources to defend your family. We're the biggest gun store in the Shoals and the only indoor shooting range and training center to provide everything you need to have the best defense for your family. Cypress Creek Indoor Range is located at 5060 Highway 157 in Underwood, Petersville. On the web at cypresscreekrange.com and on social media. Go Falcons! Central leading Lauderdale County, 7-0. West Limestone leading Colbert Heights, 14-0. Muscle Shoals leading Austin, 7-0. Colbert County leading Sheffield, 7-0.

Hackelberg leading Waterloo, 7-0. Gadsden City trailing James Clemens, 7-0. Dessert leading Hamilton, 7-0. Athens leads Decatur, 7-0. Addison leads Phillips, 12-0. Morris Hill leads Shoals Christian, 14-0. Lexington leading Falkville, 14-0. And the Braves leading the Phillies, 1-0. Big game for the Braves there. We'll keep you updated throughout the night on that one as well here at Golden Tigers Stadium. Florence and Russell deadlocked at 7. The Golden Tigers scored early in the first three plays of the game. They hit a big pass play from Cleveland to Clement.

But then the Falcons answered late in the quarter with a long nine-play march down the field, 68 yards. Culminated on a fourth down in one play. Mahan sneaks it in behind that big offensive line. And we're tied at 7. The Golden Tigers will now go right to left. So they'll have the ball second down and one at the 33. And, Michael, second down and one, that's where you take a shot right here if you're Russell. Oh, absolutely. You know, this is one of those opportunities. It is third and one.

Oh, third and one. Excuse me. Okay. It is third and one. That's right. He had the incomplete pass. So third and one. Davis and Whitaker both in the backfield against a four-man front for Florence. Three-man front. Going to lead with Davis off to the side. And he pushes forward and got the first down, I believe. They'll give him the mark at the 35. That'll move the chains. Florence says they got the ball. But the official has blown the whistle. And Florence come out of here with a football and don't understand why.

[1:29:22] But nobody's come up. Is this a five-man crew, by the way? I'm just looking at this. One, two, three, four, five-man crew. Jeffrey Jones, I don't know if you can hear me or not, but I just realized it's a five-man crew for this game. Am I correct? He's walking around the edge. He's still walking around the edge. I heard the last of that. Let me count real quick. Yes. It is a five-man crew. It sure is. That's tough in a game like this. 7-7 over the first down.

The old ball coach with the old tricks. 35-yard line. Looked like the Tigers move. They want to pass. Roll to the right. To the right side line. Going out to the front and missed this man. Good defense there. That was much better defense by the Falcons. Looked like Sistrunk running step for step with the intended receiver. Out of the backfield. John? It was a great job. He really did a good job. He was on the out, and the receiver wound up cutting it up the sideline, and he was able to flip his hips and go with him and stay stride for stride.

A really good job I was. Second down and 10 for the Golden Tigers. Tied at 7. 11-15 to go in the first quarter. The play clock has not been reset, so Russell can take all the time they want. I don't understand that. Under the center again, Cleveland with two backs in the backfield. Watch for the Sally play here. Jumped up, fumbled, picked up, going back. It's on the ground. Berski tried to get it, but it's recovered by the Tigers. That's a 25, and they were going to run that Sally play right there, I believe, John.

That's that inside reverse after you hand it off, and boy, that was disastrous for Russell and nearly a big break for Florence. It was certainly going to be a trick play. They had two tight ends, which they don't normally line up with, so they were definitely doing something unusual that we hadn't seen much of on film. Loss of 8, 3rd, and 18. We're definitely having clock issues. Okay, there we go. Start again. 11-07. The play clock has not started again. The play clock has not worked in the past two or three times.

Wide to the right for the Golden Tigers will be Darren Jones, the speedster, on this 3rd and 18 play. Cleveland going to pitch it out to the left, try to get Davis loose, and he's not going to get there. He's knocked down to the 30-yard line. Great defense there. Boy, did Jaden White come down that line and make a play, Mike. He scraped along that edge real hard. He was definitely in pursuit, and that was just a big play by the big man. 4th and 14, and Cleveland, the quarterback, will punt it away.

Again, if you're Florence, you better be alert. You can't just assume they're going to punt this ball, and these outside guys on the edge, you've got to run with them and be alert at all times. Cleveland earlier had a shorter punt, but a good bounce. Good snap. He's going to punt it away. This one, a better punt. Going to drive Gulesby back to the 32. Caught it there. Spin out of one tackle. Stayed on his fate, 35, and a knockdown at the 37. So we get about a five-yard return, and it'll be first and 10 for the Falcons.

Tied at seven with 10.03 to go in the half. Don't forget, at the half, we'll have a Falcon moment with the cross-country coaches of Florence High School. What a season they've had already. They have a big meet tomorrow. Best of luck to them as they run tomorrow in Moulton, Alabama, against some of the best teams. And then also the athletic director of Florence High School, Meyer Miles, Coach Meyer Miles, will be with us at the half. So a lot coming up here on the TNT Fireworks Halftime Show.

Kirkman wide right. I believe that may be Morris wide to the left. Shot good formation. Isaac going to leave it with Williams. He's hit at the line of scrimmage. Spins forward. Spins forward and got two, three, four yards. How did he do it? He did it all by himself. He should have lost two, and he's going to gain four to the 41. Unbelievable. We talk about his speed. We talk about his elucidiousness. Man, his strength is really what stands out. It really is for such a young back, being able to, you know, make guys miss and drag some guys along the pile.

You know, it's just definitely one of those effort plays that doesn't come up on the score sheet. Gillespie right. Kirkman left on the second-down seven play. Again, going to leave it with Williams. He tries to bounce. Use his speed. Cuts up. Stayed on his feet. Got across the 40 to the 44. He's going to be short of the line to gain. He's about three yards short. Not getting the best spots over there on both of these. He carries. But he'll bring up third down and three at the 44.

The Falcons have to touch the 47 to get a first down with 9-10 and counting. Here on 9-11. 2026. Falcons look back to the sideline. The play clocks are not working. So they're having to keep it on the field. One man in the backfield with the quarterback, Mahan. Looks the pass. Throws the quick out. Complete at the 50-yard line and dropped, I believe. He didn't bring it in. Thought he had it. Couldn't bring it in. And it brings up fourth down. And Falcons have to put it away.

He had him. Maybe outside his right arm a little bit. It was an unfortunate drop there on a big play to get a first down. We're going to have to punt this one away and hold serve here on the defense. And the dangerous Taurus Davis will go back to return the punt. He is everywhere for this Golden Tiger team on fourth and three. Good snap to Greenhall. And he boots it away. High-hanging punt. And going to have to let it go. And it's a Falcon bounce inside the 20.

[1:34:36] Roll ball inside the 10. Down to about the 9-8-yard line and a great punt there by Greenhall with 8.37 to go. And that means that the Golden Tigers will have at least 92 yards to go here with 8.37 to go in. They're marking at the 9 now. They're moving up to the 9-yard line. We'll call it 91 yards to go with 8.37 to go in the first half. Tied at 7. So both teams trading punts. Let's see if this Falcon defense can once again come up with a big stop. Come into the game again.

The backs will be Davis. They look like Weston. Trying to see these black numbers on gold uniforms is not always the easiest thing to see. But we'll do our best. The writing is not bad, but it's not great. It's not great. Two backs in the backfield for Cleveland and the quarterback. It's a man in motion to the left. And he moved early. I thought, no, they're just shifting. Going to try to run the outside counter. And he's hit at the 10, get away from the 15, and pushed out of bounds at the 16-yard line.

Good job there by Landon Rayner who come up and drove him out of bounds. But a gain of about 6 or 7 there. Brings up second down. And we'll call it 3 to go. Yeah, it was a nice play around the edge there for Russell. They blocked it well. The Falcons kind of stuck with it. They tried to keep him inside, but he was able to bounce it outside and pick up some extra yards. Checking into the game for the Golden Tigers, Darren Jones, speedy wide receiver. He'll come out wide left on his second down and 3.

This is a place where they might take a shot down the field. Second down and 3 play. Two backs in the backfield for Cleveland and under center. This time ran the belly off the right side and got the first down, I believe, close to the 20-yard line. Tripped up there after a gain of about 3, but it should be enough to move the chains. Yeah, it was a simple belly play. They just wound up getting right past the sticks there. Easy call for everybody and moving the sticks for a first down.

8-25 and counting here in the first half. Jeffrey Jones, this offense for Russell is very methodical, but boy, they know what they're doing. Yeah, it's amazing. They've only had this offense since, what, April? And they're running it very well. They've got the personnel to run it, and these guys, they're not going to make many mistakes. He scored a touchdown wide right on this play, and the play starts a whistle, and it looked like maybe the Falcons moved, is what they're saying? They're saying they lined up.

Lined up all sides. Yeah, that's the old official right in front of the Russellville bench being able to throw that one. You see it all the time on road games, and I'm not saying that it wasn't an offsides. I'm just saying that it's just weird to have the same official always calls that one. That's like I said, there's an old saying when you're on the road, don't run the ball to the opposition side. You're going to get a call often go against you with eight minutes to go, and clock ticking tied at seven.

It brings up first down and five. One wide receiver, Jones, wide to the left, two backs in the backfield. Looks to pass, wants to throw to the left, down the field, going to go route. Trying to get out there to Jones, and he caught it at the 40-yard line. Now he didn't have to drop it. Now it's why. Do they say? I'm playing on Dez Brown, who was step with step with him. I thought it was excellent defense, not because I'm a Falcon, but I didn't think it was anything egregious.

It wasn't anything egregious. There's always some jockeying for position with a wide receiver in a corner. Was there contact? Sure, was it beyond the limits that it should be, maybe. But, you know, that's one of those coin flip calls, and on the road, you're going to have that flag thrown more often than not. And the pass was right in front of the Russellville bench once again. So veteran coaching staff understands the importance of little things like that. Checking in the game for the Golden Tigers. Clement will come in at wide receiver.

Davis is still your tailback. And again, with this play clock not working, boy, they can just milk that clock all they want. 7.43, though, the clock stopped. Two wide receivers. Clement, I think, wide, or Jones made wide right, one wide left. Going to leave with this trap, almost fumbled it, but he got it back and got it to the 45. They had trouble on the exchange, but Whitaker got it and gained four or five yards. And right now they've got the Falcons on the heels on the defense.

They're going left, they're going right, they're going over the top. The trap play, that's what the wing tee does, doesn't it, John? Yeah, some of our defensive linemen, they're more keen to get upfield. They're going to have to play right on the line of scrimmage. If their lineman in front of them blocks down, they've got to be ready for that trap block. They're eating us up with that, and they're going to have to be a lot more disciplined to play it better. 7.07 and counting here in the first half.

Wing tee offense this time, going to pitch it to the right side, try to use speed, get outside. There should have been a block in the back right there, no call. We're going to gain about six yards on the first down. Chase Winkles got shoved in the back. He was coming up to make the play right in front of us, but no call, and it's going to be first down to the Falcons' 48-yard line. I think the turf gun monster got him a little bit, too.

[1:39:47] That was a blow, dude. He got hit hard. When he got up, he didn't act like he didn't look for any flags. I don't think he's going to look for many on the road tonight with 657 or 557. I'm trying to see it there. Yeah, six maybe is what it is, 657 to go here in the first half. In Falcon territory at the 48. We're tied at seven, but Russell now marching. Looked to pass again. Cleveland wants to throw right baseline, going one-on-one with this tall receiver out there, and they're going to throw another flag.

So they're getting the flag. That time it was a six-foot-six wide receiver, Jeffrey Jones. We talked about the size of some of these wide receivers, and that's why he got the call there. Golden Tigers, along with Clement. I tell you what, I wish I had a stopwatch up here to see how much time they get off with this play clock not working. 6.51 to go. Two backs at the 33-yard line. Cleveland puts a man in motion to his left. Going to give it off to the right side with Davis.

Cut it up and got hit at the 30-yard line. Spence Farge stays on his feet, and finally hog-tied at the 26. He'd still be running. He breaks the tackle. It was Sistrunk that hit him after a gain of six. Yeah, a couple missed tackles up front. It really, really almost caused that one to be busted. At the last line of defense, Otis Sistrunk wound up, you know, being able to wrap him up and take him down. Tigers marching at the 26-yard line, tied at seven with six-and-a-half to go in counting.

They're just now getting another substitute in. So, if I'm counting it, the play clock should have been down to about 10 right now, but they can take their time. Two backs in the backfield still. Wing back to the right. Wide receiver left is Jones. Under center, Tripp Cleveland. Brings this man in motion to the left. Going to run it off the left side. Power play. He's hit at the line of scrimmage and goes down immediately. No gain. That was that defensive line making a play, and that might have been White.

Jaden White said, no, sir. Now bring up third down and three. And time out on the field with 5.50 to go. We'll do the same. Florence and Russell will tied at seven. We're back in 30 seconds. Hello, my name is Keith Medley, and I'm an attorney with the law firm of Johnson, Passour, Medley & Virtual. Why call an out-of-town lawyer when you can call our law firm, which has over 100 years of combined experience in all areas of the law? If you have a legal matter, please call me or Leslie Johnson, Debra Bell Passeur, Adam Birchall at 256-766-3131.

We're proud to be a sponsor of Florence High School Athletics. No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers. Back here at Golden Tiger Stadium, Kevin Johnson, Mike Albertson, Jeffrey Jones, John McDaniel tied at seven. Midway second quarter, 5.50 to go. And, Mike, it's one of those games where Florence is really on the heels a little bit, but they've got to make a big play. It's third and three right here. You know, coming off of a big game against Muscle Shoals where you kind of felt like it was going back and forth, and at times the Falcons were on their heels.

This isn't too dissimilar from that situation, and the Falcons wound up continuing to fight and making some big plays, so we need one of those here. I know you don't do it often against the wing tee, but a blitz right here, maybe try to blow this play up, would be interesting. Third and three. Cleveland going to give – no play action rolling to the right. Blitz coming. He throws it across the middle, and it's complete at the 15. Hammered there by Otis Sistrup, but he caught it enough for the first down.

Otis tattooed him, but the play action was beautiful, and he catches it on the waggle play. And as John said, it's the same routes almost every time, and it was wide open, the second man. It was wide open. The linebacker came out, and while the quarterback was making his way to the edge, he had to kind of make a decision, and the safety had to crash in. In that little bubble there, he found that window to make that completion. It was a beautifully run play. Hawkins is the H-back on this first and 10 play.

Brings him in motion to the left. Going to run it left off the side, and he breaks back. We've got run room to the 10, to the 5, and Davis will score. He found the hole, and he puts it in the end zone with five minutes to go in the first half, and Russell takes a 13-7 lead, pending the extra point. So the Golden Tigers dialing up everything right so far. Garcia will attempt the PAT. And we see it. Taurus Davis is all that and then some. The Golden Tigers have assembled a really good team down here in the first year for Darrell Higgins.

[1:44:51] Snap good, hold good. Kick is up. The kick also is good. 14-7. Five minutes to go. This is Falcon football. We're back in 30. Game day's coming, and your tailgate crew is counting on you. That's why Lost Pizza Company Shoals put together the tailgate playbook, specialty pizzas, wing trays, and subplatters, all built to feed a crowd. It's why we're the go-to pizza place in Florence, Alabama, now bringing that same lineup straight to your tailgate. Order for pickup or delivery to UNA tailgate only. Call 256-415-8693 or order online at lostpizza.com front slash shoals.

From our playbook to your plate. Back at Golden Tigers Stadium, Kevin Johnson with the crew. Russell extends the lead to 14-7 here with five minutes to go in the first half. John McDaniel, the last drive for the Golden Tigers. Kevin, it was eight plays, 91 yards. It took three minutes and 36 seconds, and it was capped with a 15-yard touchdown run by the Tigers. Taurus Davis putting it in the end zone. Short kick, sort of sky kick. Now we're going to drive it back decently. Putting the scoops all the way underneath.

The Falcons will go in the end zone, and they're going to bring it out. It's going to be Falcons to the 10, to the 15, and brought down to the 15-yard line. I'll be honest with you. When that ball goes to the end zone, I still think it could be a touchback. I'm not sure about the real run. He touched it. He touched it first. Okay. So he did touch it, so he had to retreat and get it. So now the Falcons find themselves in a hole 85 yards away.

The Falcons will get the ball to start the third quarter, but right now they're down by seven, and they've got to go 85 yards against a pretty good Russell team. What I will say is the Falcons do get it to start the second half, so being able to control the clock here is going to be in the utmost of importance leading into the half. So Johnson will be the tailback. Two wide outs to the short side of the field. Now they're going to say a penalty. Now they're going to put it at the 20.

They're going to agree with me on that. It was a touchback. In high school football, if you muff it and it still goes into the end zone, it's a touchback, and that's a good job of the officials on that. I'll give them credit for Gatt and correcting that. I'm not sure it was the officials other than a coach getting in somebody's ear. First and 10 at the 20. Johnson, the tailback, going to get it off the right side, cut up the middle, found a little runaway, 25, stays on his feet.

Oh, he just tripped up at the 27, or he might still be running. Gain of seven there. That's a pretty good open field tackle coming up from the safety position for Russell. That was Ergel Drake, or he might still be running. Second down and three, 434 to go. Actually, second down forward. Can't get that extra yard holding this side. It was a seven-yard game, but they'll mark him at the 26, in my opinion, that is. To the right of the quarterback, Mahan, is Johnson, the tailback. This time, going to leave it off the left side.

Looking patient, got a little running room. Got to the 36, on his feet, breaks a tackle to the 35 and down to the 37. Oh, he was just a step away from taking that one down the left sideline. That's enough to move the chains. That was a nice run along the edge there to Carson Johnson, really just turning his legs, using his blocks, and really letting those blocks set. He took a little hesitation move before he cut it upfield, and it was just a great run there by the Falcon.

409 and counting in the half. I keep giving the clock because our statistician can't see the clock from where he is. It's such a small room. First and 10 at the 38. Up the middle again, Falcons with a little running room, but not much breaks to tackle. Those stays across the 45 to the 47. That was all Falcon running back right there. Again, Johnson bouncing off defenders, gains eight. He was hit at the line in scrimmage and would not go down. Yeah, very rarely do these Falcon running backs, do they get, you know, go down on first contact.

They really fight through that contact and continue to turn their legs. They wind up picking up some extra yardage. That was a big run there. One wide receiver to each side on the second down and two play. Mahan going to leave it with Williams. Williams bouncing outside, cutting. Stays on his feet. Got across midfield. Got the first down to the Golden Tigers 47-yard line. Marking down at the 45. He just continued to turn and continued to turn. And right now the Falcons doing it running up the middle.

And to be honest, have you noticed which way Falcons have run the football? Everything across the way towards the Falcon sideline. Just a note on that. There's something to these veteran coaches understand some of that. 315 and counting. Ball security is going to be a big thing. They appear to be really attacking the ball as the ball carriers get held up and other defenders come in and try to strip it. Mahan puts a man in motion to the right. That's Blank. Going to leave it with Williams again off the left side.

Got runner in to the 40. Stays on his feet. Knocked out of bounds at the 38. Give him about six or seven. And the left side has been good to the Falcons so far. Clock stops with 253 to go. Trailing 14-7 here in the first half. Knock on wood. The weather has stayed away. We're glad of that. You just did it, Kevin. No, I didn't do it. I mean, I'm just saying right now, I don't think it would come. Thanks for that. Blame me all the way. I'll take it.

[1:49:55] Second down and three. They all hung their heads. I don't believe in that. Second down and three. Pistol formation. Williams right off the middle. Got the first down to the 35-30. Stays on his feet to the 25. Dragging Tigers with him all the way inside to the 24. And that's Kayon Williams being Kayon Williams right there. Yeah, that was a great observation by John McDaniel just earlier about every single time that there's a guy engaged with the ball carrier. There's a secondary guy coming in and just trying to rip that ball away.

They're really looking for that turnover. And this Golden Tiger team plays a lot of different guys two ways. And because of that, that could be depth here. And a whistle and a timeout taken by the Golden Tigers. The Tigers have their tongues hanging out right now. They lead at 14-7. For the Falcons knocking on the door, Florence football back in 30 seconds. Two-thirds. Florence Utilities offers several ways to view and pay your utility bill. Log into your account to sign up for paperless, auto-pay, text-pay to make your life easier.

When you go green and go paperless, you will no longer have paper bills to fill up your mailbox and you'll be helping the environment. To continue receiving a paper bill and an electronic bill notification, sign up for text-pay. Add your email address to your account. Easily view and pay your bill by clicking on the link in the text or email notification. Visit FlorenceAL.org and select Utilities to register for an account. Or call 256-760-6512 for more information. Two minutes, 30 seconds to go in the first half.

Florence trails Russell 14-7. But the Falcons have marched down to the Tigers' 25-yard line. Knocking on the door. Behind the running game. And this Golden Tiger team just now getting back out on the field. Mike, maybe it's just me, but it looked like a couple of tired Golden Tigers right now. Let's see if this Falcon team can lean on them a little bit. First and 10 at the 25. Williams still the tailback. Mahan has him to the left in shotgun formation. It's a hot in motion to the right.

Going to run it off the right. Cuts back up the middle. Spins. Stays on his feet to the 20. Stays on his feet to the 15. All the way down to the 14. Let's get close to moving those chains again, depending on the mark. Jeffrey Jones, you're right there in the end zone. It's pretty close. Let's wait and see. Nope. Going to say first down. They will move the chains. At the 16, 15-yard line. 217 and counting. Now two wide receivers will swap. Haddock will go left. Elliott will go right.

Williams, pistol formation right behind the quarterback in shotgun formation. Golden Tigers, four or five men front. Williams off the left, up the middle. Spins on his feet. Bulls far. It gets about three or four to the 11-yard line. Under two minutes to go in the half. Russell has already used one timeout, maybe two, I think. Yeah, that's right. Our statistician, John McDaniel, tells us, too. Mike Albertson, don't go away from this run game right now. No, until they can prove that they can stop you, you continue to run it right down their throat.

I mean, it's really, if you're gaining four and five yards per carry, there's no reason to change. So the right of the quarterback is Williams. He goes to the left, looking nowhere to go, cuts back, stays on his feet, got to the five, drags a man forward and down to the three. Inside the three, there's a two. Move the chains again. First and goal for Florence at the 124 mark. Kevin, he just hid behind his offensive line on that play. He was right behind him, and a couple of defenders went past him and never saw him.

And across the way, the Falcon fans and students, the nest on their feet. Let's put this one in, Falcons. Down 14-7 with 114 to go. And Kenny Morrison, careful with his offense in time right now. Fistil formation again. Man in motion to the inside, now to the right. Again, it's going to be Williams. Off the middle, pushing forward, close to the goal line, depending on what they say. He's going to mark him at the one-foot line. That's okay. The clock will continue to run under a minute to go, and you've still got timeouts in your back pocket.

Perfect execution of the clock in the latter part of this second quarter. And as the Falcons continue to move on, I mean, we're under 45 seconds now. This is exactly what you wanted to do running into the half. Second down and goal at the one. I think it's Williams' time one more time. Let's see. Mahan in pistol formation with him behind him. Going to leave it with him again up the middle. He will dive into the end zone. Give him six. Touchdown, Florence. Kayon Williams, the sophomore, does it again.

What a great job there by the Falcons just being able to impose their will on this Russellville defense, be able to run that clock all the way down to 29 seconds left in this half. It was a really integral drive in this game so far to tie this one up. 80-yard drive and all on the ground. Good snap. Good hold. Get that kick up. Get that kick through. And it is true. And Florence ties it at 14. 29 seconds is going to have Falcon football back in 30. Craving authentic Mexican flavor?

[1:54:59] Dive into delicious at Hugo's Mexican Restaurant, 4160 Florence Boulevard, at the entrance to Kendall Garden. Start off with fresh tortilla chips and Hugo's famous cheese dip. Then enjoy mouth-watering tacos, enchiladas, and of course, Hugo's famous fajitas and more, all in a vibrant atmosphere. We're open Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday until 9 p.m. and until 9.30 on Friday and Saturday. Hugo's Mexican Restaurant, where every meal is a fiesta. See you soon at 4160 Florence Boulevard, at the entrance to Kendall Gardens. Back at the Golden Tigers Stadium, where the Falcons tie up the Golden Tigers 14-14 late in the first half.

That last drive, John McDaniel. 11 plays, 80 yards, 4 minutes 22, came off the clock and just finished off with a one-yard touchdown run. Ground and pound for the Falcons right there, and give that O-line a lot of credit. They were coming up to eat. They thought it was lost pizza across from them. They were putting it away. Greenhall to boot it deep. That one's going to be taken into the end zone, and that's a touchback, and that's a big touchback, and a good job there by Greenhall to put it all the way back.

So it'll be first and 10 for the Golden Tigers at the 29, 80 yards away. Don't forget, at the half, we'll have the athletic director of Florence High School, Coach Myra Miles, with us. Also, we'll later on have a Falcon moment as well, so looking forward to this. It'll be a big halftime show here, and the big blue band will entertain the crowd here as well with a Russell March in 100. KJ, do you think that they come out and take a shot to try to jump the momentum back since we get the ball?

I think he will take a shot, maybe at something, but we'll see. Looking at it right now, I don't see his speedsters out there, so I'm going to say no. I think his shot might be with that tailback number six, Taurus Davis, but I don't think he's going to take a shot down the field. Wing T formation, two backs offset, and they're going to run it with Davis off the right side. He's got way too much room coming around to the 25, 30, and he's loose, 40. It's going to be a foot race to the 50, down to the 40, and knocked out about at the 37.

Well, unfortunately, I called it, but the Falcons didn't know it, and that's going to bow and put the Golden Tigers in position with 20 seconds to go down at the 36-yard line. Oh, you could see a hole on the right side and left side, and it was big time. You could drive a Buick through that thing. That was a huge hole, and he just had a lot of green space and took advantage, and, you know, it became a foot race, and luckily, Otis Sistrunk was able to run him down and close him down and get him out of bounds.

Now the Golden Tigers, with one timeout, they're going to bring their speedster in. Darren Jones, again, the play clock has stopped working, so they can sort of take their time, and a timeout taken by Kenny Morrison and the Florence Falcons will do the same. Hold on, Falcons fans, buckle up. 20 seconds to go. This is Falcon Football. We're back in 30. Thanks for choosing Whataburger. What can I get started for you? At Whataburger, each meal is made to order, so you can always get exactly what you crave.

If that's a Whataburger What-A-Meal, you got it. But if you're in the mood for something a little more you, like a Whataburger with grilled onions, crispy bacon, and creamy pepper sauce, go for it. March to the beat of your own drum. Bite into the beef of your own Whataburger creation. Whataburger, just like you like it. 1554 Florence Boulevard. The voice of the Florence High School Falcons. W-Y-T-K-F-M. Rogersville. Athens. Decatur. The Shoals. 93-9. The score. Florence and Rushville. It's not a defensive struggle. It's up and down the field right now.

Tied at 14. The Golden Tigers had to go 80 yards with 27 seconds to go. And they went about 50 of those in one play. They're at the 36th of Florence. One timeout left for the Golden Tigers. Two for Florence. Cleveland under center. Ball on the left hash. Two backs in the backfield. Wants to pass. No, he's going to leave with Davis. Excuse me. Off the side. Starts to stay. He's going to hit. And he stayed in bounds. If they'll do right. No, they're going to give him out of bounds.

They'll give him a gain of about two or three. And they'll mark him out with, what, 14 seconds to go. I thought the Falcons kept him in. Did their best. Did Jaden Irons and friends. But they're going to give him out of bounds. Second down and six at the 32. Garcia, the kicker. Decent high school kicker. I saw him in warm-ups. So we'll keep an eye on that. I don't think he has attempted a field goal this year. But I'd have to go back and check. Into the game, though.

The speech for Darren Jones. You always have to know where he is. And remember, they also have in there their tight end. Caleb Hawkins. I would think they'd take a shot to the end zone here. They've been running it into the boundary. That would be a good place. Second down and six. Cleveland rolling right, wanting to throw. Play action, wants to go throw. And now he's in trouble. He's going to be sacked. Brought down back at the 43. Get you a minute. They're begging for another second to put on the clock.

[2:00:12] Face mask is what Coach Higgins is begging for. But they say the official raises the football. He said, that's the end of the half. And I don't think Coach Higgins is going to get this big 10 officiating crew to put another second on there. So we'll see. Do we have an official, unofficial? The Falcons are already into the locker room. Coach Higgins is begging and pleading. But they said, bring on the bands. Bring out the halftime entertainment. I'm not so sure that this is one of those opportunities for Coach Higgins to get his team and this crowd fired up going into the half.

And you see him running off the field now. That's an old veteran coach move right there. That's not him begging for another second. That's him getting the crowd and all the energy on his side. We've got a good one at Golden Tigers Stadium. Tied at 14. This is Falcon Football. We're back in two minutes. This is Miranda Haddock with the Florence Education Foundation. We would like to extend an invitation to our ninth annual Salsa Showdown on Saturday, October 3rd from 2 to 5 p.m. at Singing River Brewery.

Restaurants and individuals from around the shows will compete to see who has the best salsa and queso. Enjoy live music and a fun-filled day. For tickets and more information, visit our website at FlorenceEducationFoundation.org. I would like to thank our Silver and Gold sponsors, Forsyth & Long, Bank Independent, Chick-fil-A, Cutter Construction, Essity, ES Robbins, First Southern Bank, Grigsby Properties, Johnson & Mayhand Dental, Long Lewis Florence, River Bank & Trust, and United Community Bank. And a special thank you to our title sponsor this year, TNT Fireworks. With locations in Tuscumbia, Florence, Muscle Shoals, Russell, Killen, Madison, and Athens, Singing River Dentistry provides the most advanced dental care, including same-day crowns and implants, in a compassionate and friendly atmosphere.

They excel in educating their patients and themselves about the benefits of keeping a healthy smile for a lifetime. The care of their patients is the center of their practice. They value their patient's time, trust, and total health. For more information about their practice or to request an appointment, go to SingingRiverDentistry.com. Hello, this is Kevin Arnold with Village Discount Drugs. We've been in the Shoals since 1979. We live here. We go to school here. Do you want to do business with someone local or a company from Rhode Island, Illinois, or Arkansas?

The large chains just don't reinvest in our community. The large chains don't sponsor Little League teams. And they certainly don't sponsor Falcon football. And don't just buy from Village Drugs, but support all our local businesses. Let these local businesses give you the service you deserve while keeping your local economy strong. So make the switch to Village Drugs, a local pharmacy, where we are the Shoals' problem solvers and people pleasers. Irons Electric has been family-owned and operated for over 65 years. Irons Electric is deeply rooted in the Florence High School tradition and is happy to be a part of many past projects, including the band room.

Irons Electric Company was voted the number one electrical contractor in 2023. Our professional team-owned staff and master electricians provide the expertise to make sure your project is installed per code to operate safely and flawlessly. From small residential jobs to large commercial projects, call Irons Electric at 256-766-3870. You won't be shocked by their reputation. James Booty and the 93-9 in the Score Studios with some scores. Lauderdale County leading Central 13-7. Bell Green leads Red Bay 13-0. Desher leading Hamilton 21-13. Athens leads Decatur 14-0. Priceville leading Lawrence County 8-6.

West Limestone leads Calvert Heights 21-0. Muscle Shoals leading Austin 16-0. Addison leads Phillips 39-0. Calvert County leading Sheffield 22-0. Hackelberg leads Waterloo 41-0. Morris Hill leading Shoals Christian 35-0, as is Lexington leading Faultville 35-0. Also, Wilson leading Elkmont 14-0. Hatton leads Winfield 6-0. Brooks leading Ardmore 14-10. Up in Tennessee, Wayne County leading Houston County 14-0. Loretta leading Scottsville 7-0. Lawrence County leading Spring Hill 7-6. The Braves are trailing the Phillies 3-1, Mizzou and Kansas tied at zero in college football. Louisville leading Villanova 31-10. Now back to the stadium for the halftime show.

Thank you, James Moody, the best studio host in the state of Alabama. Appreciate him in the 93.9 Discord studios. We're at the half here on the TNT Fireworks Halftime Show, where Florence and Russell tied at seven. Kevin Johnson with you. Now we're joined by the athletic director of Florence High School, the new athletic director, I should say, Coach Myer Miles. And, Coach, get your heart medicine for this one, right? Listen, I've been a nervous wreck all week and really all day, so yes. It's going to be a big-time game.

You've been a coach for many years in different sports. At halftimes, especially like in basketball, which you coached. Is there different approaches to teams depending on the score and the situation, how you approach the team at halftime? Oh, yeah. I mean, the first thing you do is you get with your staff and you try to figure out, you know, what are we doing, you know, messing up on? What are we doing really good? Then you have to make the adjustments, break out, and then go meet with specific, you know, kids in basketball, but specifically in football.

[2:05:19] I imagine that, well, I know in football we do the same thing here. We talk about it and then we go and meet with each position. So, you know, our coaches, I hope we're, you know, making a few adjustments as we need to do. But then we need to just keep our mind on what we're here to do, and that's to win this game. There's sports that are going on right now in Florence High School, including flag football, first season for across the board. How about that?

And you look up and your Florence Falcons are ranked number one in the state. What an honor. Listen, and I can't say enough about those kids and Coach Elliott and Coach Buckhalter, Jasmine Buckhalter, and then Coach Grant. They, you know, I watched the days they practiced, and I thought, oh, my gosh, we're going to get absolutely killed every game. And, boy, did they make me a believer quickly because we're so athletic, and that's what I didn't realize at that point. I didn't know these kids, but we're so athletic, and the coaches have just molded them in so many ways other than just the X and O component.

They are just doing a fantastic job and super proud of that. I mean, you know, number one in 5A is a big deal, especially for a first-year program. Incredible. And then you turn your cross-country team. How about number one in boys and number three in girls and big meet tomorrow down in Moulton? Oh, yeah. And, listen, that staff, when you talk about a staff now, Coach Schaefer and Coach, and Doc, we call them Doc. Coach Doc's what I call them. And I know they're coming up on an interview with you in a little bit, but, you know, what they have done, and those kids, and I've always said, if you want to see what, if you want your kid, your athlete, anybody to see what it means to exert every ounce of energy in you, go and stand at the finish line of a cross-country meet because those kids come across there, and number one, they're about to pass out and fall out, or they're absolutely throwing up.

I mean, it's, those kids are phenomenal, and what they are doing this year is, it's just outstanding, just super proud of everything they're doing. Speaking with the athletic director of Florence High School, Coach Myler-Miles, and, Coach, all sports are important because you've got so many athletes involved. Isn't it great to see the young people in Florence High School from 7th grade up to 12th grade attempting different sports, from swim team to anything else that you can imagine? It's really good for the school. Well, you know, the great thing is, is we really preach multi-sports, and, you know, there's no reason why every child can't play multi-sports because until they get to that junior year maybe, and if they really are very blessed in something, then I can see maybe specializing in something.

But what our coaches are doing this year across the board is just phenomenal. And, you know, last night at volleyball, oh, my Lord, the game, how that, we were down, we were on the fourth game of the match, 28-26, we were down six points in the deciding game, came back and won 15-13 against Russellville. And with those kids, listen, they've got a chance to be very special. They do. I'm just telling you, they, and they're not, they're not even near where they're going to be at the end of the year.

So, but across the board, it's just, we do want our kids, we want kids to be involved in more than one sport, and our coaches are just doing a phenomenal job supporting each other on that, too. How important is it to connect with the community? You look across the way, we're on the home side, it's just a sea of Florence people here tonight on the road. But how do you continue to connect with people to say, hey, the city of Florence needs to get behind all Florence athletics?

Absolutely. And, you know, and where I myself, I'll start everything with me is we have to do a really good job of reaching out in the community and get out and really, my whole thing, you've heard me say this before, it is important to me to get our alumni bases from Bradshaw and Coffey back involved, and I'm very excited about next week being homecoming. I've been getting calls from Coffey and Bradshaw graduates, and they're looking forward, they're doing big tailgates, and that's huge. Our community, our mayor, city council, you know, superintendent, board, everybody right now is clicking in the same way, so it's, you know, we've got to keep pushing to make Florence the best that it can be.

So I'm just really blessed to be in this position, but our fan base, you cannot say enough about them and what they're doing right now for us. Been doing this for 23 years. I'm telling you, I hadn't seen it like this in a long time. It's impressive to see. It helps when the teams are winning, obviously, but they're doing a good job, and it's good to see these fans out here. Coach, second half, go down here and cheer them on, and thank you for being our guest today, okay?

Absolutely, thank you for having me. Appreciate y'all, what y'all do. Y'all are phenomenal. Thank you. The athletic director of Florence High School, Coach Meyer Miles, a Hall of Famer. Glad to have her here at the half. The TNT Fireworks Halftime Show continues after this one-minute timeout. Getting the kids to practice on time. Remembering if it's your day to bring snacks. Making it to the game with a clean jersey. Why are simple things sometimes so complicated? Thankfully, with auto owners, insurance doesn't have to be one of them.

Auto owners works with independent agents who answer when you call, so you can worry about more important things, like whether your kid is going to run toward first or third base. That's simple human sense. In Florence, call Tyson Johnson, Luke Brown, Kirby Allen, Victoria Devaney, Brant Bishop, or Daniel Box with Hineker Johnson and Layton Insurance Agency. 256-764-8682. Carbine Construction is honored to be a part of building projects with the Florence City School System. We're also glad to cheer on the Falcons as they celebrate milestone achievements as well.

[2:10:23] Good luck to head coach Kenny Morrison and the Florence Falcons football team on building a special season to remember, as Carbine Construction wishes you the very best this season. Remember, at Carbine Construction, we build trust, we build relationships, and like the Florence Falcons football team, at Carbine Construction, we continue to build. Welcome to a Falcon Moment with Kevin Johnson, your host, and joined now by the cross-country coaches of Florence High School, Coach Lisa Schaefer and Coach Doc, as they call him, Paul Vaughn Herman. How are you doing, coaches?

We're good. Great. Glad to be here. It's in the midst of the season for cross-country. Y'all, no pun intended, hit it running, I'm sure, with so many players and so many athletes. But tell us, last week you had a big meet that you went to Georgia, Coach. It was a big deal. Yeah, we went to AT&T Stars Mill Invitational, which was in Fayetteville, Georgia, and we took six teams, or six, we competed in six races, and we won four of the six races. Wow. Wow, 31 teams, four of the six races you win.

You've come out with a lot of hardware. You had to come back thinking pretty good about your team. Oh, absolutely. We were very excited about our team this year. That's really exciting. Coach Schaefer, as we talk about it, too, obviously with your girls, you deal with them a lot and work with them. This past summer, you got to be a part of the North-South All-Star Weekend. That's a big deal. And to take one of your athletes with you as well. I did. That was very exciting for me.

I never expected to be invited to have that honor, but it truly was an honor to represent our school at the All-Star Race. Do you think that says a lot about the recognition of this program statewide now? I do. I do. We have had, for a while, we've been growing the program. For the past several years, we've seen it, you know, almost double in the past three or four years. And it's been really exciting to develop these young athletes and watch them grow and flourish. And one of those was our own Logan Kilpatrick, who was also representing the North All-Star Team.

And he did a fantastic job. I love to tell Logan's story because he came to us in his sophomore year, right? And he got injured before we ever started the season. A non-running-related event. Yeah, jumping at Sky Zone. He injured his leg and broke his ankle or something like that. And he didn't even race until the end of that season and did okay. That's kind of a mediocre performance in cross-country, but came back in track and trained all the summer. And then the next year, he has an All-Star-worthy season and was selected as an All-Star.

He was our number two guy on the guys' team. Tremendous story as I speak with Coach Lisa Schaefer and Coach Paul Von Herman. Coach Paul Von Herman, I ask you real quick about this team. The ceiling is really high for this team. Do you feel good about what's coming up? And what are some of the meets coming up for you? Yeah, we do. One of the goals, particularly that our guys had, was they wanted to straight up win at least half their meets this year. So this weekend, we have Chickasaw Trails Invitational, which is one of the most competitive races in Alabama for the season.

Five or 6,000 athletes there. The following, two weeks later, we compete at PR Ville, or Twilight at PR Ville, which is at John Hunt Park. There have been teams from New York, Texas, Oregon that come to that. And then the week after that, we're going to the Frank Horton Night Classic in Memphis. And we'll raise some of the best teams in Mississippi and Arkansas, as well as Tennessee there. Impressive that Florence High School, not amongst just the best in the state, the best in the nation, with cross-country, highly ranked, highly sought for this great cross-country team.

And, coaches, I know one of the things is you've got a lot of athletes. How many athletes do you have out right now? We currently have 85 team members right now. We started out with a little over 100, but as we trained all summer, some of them decided that maybe cross-country wasn't for them. Some had some health issues and were not able to continue. But we've had 85 athletes, 86, I think 86 athletes, continue on the team and only four coaches. That's a lot to manage. So, we are keeping our eyes and ears open for people who love running, who are passionate about running, who love kids and might want to jump in with us.

It's been an exciting journey, and we're just going to continue going up. Well said right there. Your last question I'll ask you this, Coach, is how important is it for young men and young women to be involved in cross-country? It's a great sport. It's actually one of the most challenging sports as an individual because we expect you to run six days a week. And that's whether you're at the beach on vacation or whether it's the weekend or whatever, or if it's raining. We expect athletes to continue to commit their time to the sport.

And so, if they come and they develop the habit of working hard, they carry that through life. Well, and congratulations on a great start. We look forward to great results coming up in the future as well. We're excited about it. And best of luck coming up as well, okay? Thank you, Kevin. Coach Lisa Schaefer, Coach Paul Von Herman, the cross-country coaches at Florence High School. We're back after this one-minute timeout. At First Southern Bank, we always cheer for the home team. We are homegrown with deep roots, and we're invested in this community.

[2:15:49] With checking and savings accounts, mobile and online banking, and a mortgage department to help you with the home of your dreams, First Southern Bank is your neighborhood bank. Sometimes a local financial institution with deep roots and a commitment to the community can provide just the banking services you need. We always root for the home team, because we are the home team. First Southern Bank, equal housing lender, member FDIC. Hey guys, this is Mark down at Warehouse Tackle. So we offer the best fishing tackle and outdoor supplies in the Shoals area.

We're located on 417 East College Street. Our phone number is 256-980-0951. And you can find us on the web at www.warehouse-tackle.com. Come and see us. We're proud to be a sponsor of Florence Falcons football, and we wish Coach Morrison and the team good luck to you in your season. Welcome back to the TNT Fireworks Halftime Show, where Florence and Russell tied at 44. Here we go again, folks. A tough game for Florence. Back-to-back weeks. Last week of Muscle Shows was scoreless. Now 14-14 here. Let's get the stats from Chick-fil-A.

Today, our good friend John McDaniel will bring them. The way they're supposed to be region games, supposed to be competitive, evenly matched. Maybe not they'd want it to be. No. The whole team tonight, Russell, will go to the Tigers' first half, 182 yards of offense. 19 rushes for 104 yards. Three for six passing for 78 yards. Eight first downs in the half. Three for five. Third down conversions. No fourth down attempts. One penalty tonight, 15 yards. No turnovers in the half. Two for two on their PATs. Time of possession, 10 minutes, 26 seconds.

Falcons, 179 yards of offense. We had 24 rushes for 161 yards. Three for four passing, but only 18 yards. We had nine first downs in the half. One for three on third down conversions. And no fourth down attempts. Big Bugaboo, six penalties in the half for 55 yards. A lot of that on one drive. No turnovers. Two for two on the PATs tonight. 13 minutes, 21 seconds. Time of possession in the half. Russellville got the ball to start the game in the first quarter. It took them three plays. And they hit a big pass play from Cleveland to Clements.

Something probably they saw on film. They went streaking down the right sideline wide open. And he hit him in stride. And it was 7-0 before you can get your popcorn and get seated in the stands. But Florence comes back and answers late in the first quarter with 104 to go in the quarter. This time a quarterback sneak on fourth down. Mahan bulled behind that big offensive line. Put in the end zone to complete a nine-play 68-yard drive. Greenhall's extra point is good. We're tied at seven. Russellville comes back.

Answers again. This time Taurus Davis gets loose from 15 yards out to complete what was a 91-yard drive. They took eight plays. A lot of that was on penalties, though, with five minutes to go in the half. Russellville led it 14-7. But the Falcons didn't blink. Matter of fact, they take the football and they march 80 yards and 11 plays in the last five minutes. And they get the score when Mr. Kayon Williams goes in for the touchdown from just a few yards out. And the Falcons are tied up at 14.

And that's where we are at the half. And, Mike, I've got my heart medicine ready. I think we're going to need it for this one. I think everybody else might as well. We knew coming in this was not going to be easy. And Russellville has done everything they can to make this a difficult game. Kudos to the Golden Tigers. Now can the Falcons answer. You know, we said going in it's going to be a tough sled because, you know, we're coming off that emotional win and a well-coached, well-oiled machine here in Russellville and being able to, you know, face them on the road.

This is one of those situations that, you know, this game being this close, as you get closer to the fourth quarter, if we don't stretch some things out, things might get real tight and hairy here. You know, both last week was defense. Which defense would blink first? Tonight, it might be which offense Jeffrey Jones blinks first. Which one has the big turnover early in the third quarter or fourth quarter? Yeah, there's been a couple times where we thought we might have got them by mistake. They had a couple big lost plays.

But, you know, they did put the ball on the ground, but we just weren't where we needed to be to get it. But it is a little bit different game, you know, tied up 14-14 right now. It is going to be a – we're going to have to – our defense is going to have to rest. You know, hats off to the defense. This offense that they're running, we – these kids have never played against this defense. It's so difficult. People don't realize if you haven't seen it. And Higgins has done a great job of implementing it and getting them on board.

He's got the right players doing the right things. I will say this. Coach Higgins lives in my neighborhood, and we see him – me and Caroline see him walking his dog almost every night. And this week we haven't seen him at all. It worried me. So, you know, I was wondering. I was like, he's either still got him in practice at 7 o'clock at night. Well, it's still a little extra film time. Yeah, he's got him in the film room. So, but we knew what we were coming up against.

[2:21:05] We've seen it for years. He's coached right down the street from us for years. We knew what he was about and how – but it's just – the part that amazes me the most about this is he has implemented this so quickly. Yeah. And that's not – it's not an easy offense to run, and he's got it. He's got them running it good. I agree with that. John McDaniel, the stats didn't lie. I mean, 182 yards to 179 yards, score 14-14. I said, which team blinks first on offense? You know, who can make that play to maybe go from a one-score game to a two-score game here?

Yeah, I think late in the second quarter, you saw what's our template for victory. Holding the ball, leaning on them as an offensive line. As you said, they have a few guys that go both ways, playing offensive defense, and being able to wear them down is going to be the key. We cannot give up any more long runs like we did in that last drive. We were completely out of position, and we're going to have to work on that a little bit. We're at the half.

Both teams coming out, warming up for their three-minute stretch here to warm up. Florence and Russell tied at 14. It'll be the Falcons football when we get ready to start the third quarter here. And, again, best of luck to all the teams playing in sports for Florence this week. A lot of big games going on. A lot of different things going on from swimming. Tomorrow, Mike, you'll be in Albertville with your son and the swim team. That's a big match for our meet for them. I know it's a young, young team, but they're having fun, and they're getting better every week.

They are getting better every week. They're putting the work in. If you ever watch any of these swim practices and just try to do one-tenth of what they do, you'd quit right away. They really are a tough little bunch, and they've gotten better each time hitting PRs and doing all sorts of other things, but really getting out there and competing, young bunch. You know, the cross-country team, you know, ranked number one. We just listened to Doc and Coach over there, and just, you know, I got to talk to one of their runners this week and just the amount of work that they're putting in and how, you know, expectations are high, but they're working to meet those.

They have six Division I players or athletes on the cross-country team. That's pretty impressive. Not Division II, Division I. That's impressive. Now, Charlie Hollinsworth, by the way, a new 5K record for school record. He had a 15-minute, 24-second 5K run, and then also just amazing all-around what they've done. Last year, Mary Mishner was the girls' runner of the year last year, so just a great team for boys and girls in swimming, in volleyball, and also in cross-country well. And looking here, the Florence Falcon football team, 3-0, trying to go to 4-0, but they're going to have their hands full.

We'll see if they can do it in the third quarter here. You're listening to the TNT Fireworks Halftime Show. Florence and Russell will tie it at 14. We're back in one minute. It's football time in Alabama. Our students are earning big American lessons. You can start with your God-given talents, and through practice, hard work, and sacrifice, you have the ability to become champions. This is Congressman Robert Adderholt. May God bless all of our students representing our high schools during this season, and may God bless the United States of America.

I'm Robert Adderholt, and I approve this message. Paid for by Adderholt for Congress. At North Alabama Bone and Joint Clinic, our Shoals roots run deep. We provide quick access and familiar, friendly faces so you never have to feel just like a number. From sports medicine to joint replacement, expert care happens right here at home. As UNA Athletics' choice for orthopedics and the trusted orthopedic team of the show families for over 30 years, North Alabama Bone and Joint Clinic is here for you. As the TMC Fireworks halftime show comes to a close, tied at 14, Florence will receive the ball here to start the third quarter.

Mike Albertson, your adjustments for Florence here in the third quarter. I mean, I think it's just continuation of doing what we had had success with. We ran the ball quite well. They're going to adjust a little bit, so we're going to have to mix and match. But being able to just continue to hammer in on that defense and give them adjustments and keys to look at in this second half, I mean, I think it kind of played out the way you would like in the first half.

Maybe not that big play early on, but being able to come away and tie it up before half and get the ball back, this is going to be huge. Different kicker. That always alerts me. A different kicker out there. That's not the normal kicker, if I'm not mistaken. This looks like it's Jose Tristan who will be kicking it away. He puts it on almost the left hash. I would be rabbit ears up if I'm Florence sideline on this big time. Have you seen him kicking any game prior?

I have not seen him kicking any game prior. Number 20 has been Garcia being the kicker most of the time. So, let's see what they do here. Falcons will be going left to right. I'm just thinking this is where you try to steal a possession if you're Russell. Tied at 14. But, no, he kicks it away. It's going to be down the field and taken by the Falcons at the 12. Bring it back to the 20 as a goal. It's going to be coming back to the right sideline. He's running the use of speed, but he's not going to get outside the 20.

[2:26:25] And he'll go out of bounds around the 22-yard line. Ran about 100 yards to get to the 22. And bring it first and 10 for the Falcons at the 22. And see if this Falcon offense can do something here. Would have liked to have seen him cut it up the field and try to make a guy miss. He actually cut back a few yards. I know he was trying to get the edge. But, at some point, you know, is the juice worth the squeeze? He just ran 60 yards to get to.

And that was tough. Jeffrey Jones, are you in the end zone with us by any chance? He's still working his way down there, so we'll catch him there. He might have had to get that second hot dog. The Russell Hospitality has got all our crew of hot dogs. And they all enjoyed it, except for yours truly. It might have been everyone either. We didn't miss mine. I think Jeffrey might have got two. First and 10 at the 22. I believe that is Johnson in the backfield. We'll check.

It is. Johnson off the left side. He's hitting the backfield and goes down. Got chased down from behind right there. That was great defense by the Golden Tigers coming up and making the play. And they chased him down. They knew what was coming right out the gate. They weren't, you know, they were going to keep, we were going to keep running until they stopped us. And they did on that play. They ran the blitz around the outside. And he went on block to be able to take him down from behind.

Lost two. Second down and 12 after Zade Hester makes the tackle. One back in the backfield, Steele Johnson. One wide receiver to the left. Twins to the right. Now, Blank will go in motion to the left. Look to give it inside again. Johnson got running around, pushed as far, but not much. He went into a pile of Golden Tigers. Gets about four to the 22, but it brings up third and eight. And early on, tied at 14 with 11 minutes to go. This is where you don't want to, if you're Florence, you want to make sure that you start making things happen.

And this Golden Tiger crowd is starting to get a little bit louder here. Been a little more aggressive early in this, for the Golden Tigers defense. Playing linebackers a little closer to the line. Like to get a swing pass, KJ. Look like it'd be open. Watch for Morris on this. Four wide receivers. Straight drop. Looking. Looking on the screen if you can, but they read it. Johnson was being held, and he can't throw it now, and he's going to be sacked back inside the five. They bring you down there, around the three-yard line.

No, he throws it. It's complete. How did he get rid of it? I couldn't see it, and Elliott caught it. Unbelievable. Spinning out of it, and Mike, it was an incredible play for Florence in the first down. Mahan was wrapped up, and he held him around the shoulder pads, and Mahan just pulled his weight off him and was able to break away. He kept his feet, and Elliott was wide open down the field. Costin just threw it as far as he could, and Elliott secured that pass.

What a broken pass turned into a great play. There is one corner of the end zone where I am blocked, and I'm literally blocked, and Mahan was in that corner. I couldn't see. I thought he was being sacked inside the five. Somehow he makes a miraculous play, and Florence is in Russell territory. First and ten. Give it to Williams. Nowhere to go. He breaks the tackle anyway. Jumps over defender and gets the first down. Flag on the play. He's around the ten. He's got ten yards at the 28, but let's wait and see what the flag is.

It's thrown where he usually is holding. And I believe they may bring this one back. Holding against Florence. If it comes for where the flag was thrown, it should be but about a five-yard penalty from the line of scrimmage. But no, they're going to make it about eight. So it was right at the first and 18, negating a ten-yard run. Hold your breath every time Williams has it, though, in his hands. He's pretty special. Yeah, it was a beautiful run there, and once he got into that second level and he made a guy miss, he had a couple extra steps there and got the first down.

Unfortunately, it was a callback. First and 18. Williams is still the tailback. Williams right up the middle. Nowhere to go. He spins away. He won't get much. That time, a host of Golden Tigers brings him down. They'll bring up second down in about 18. No game. So the Golden Tigers have adjusted their defense a little bit to the Florence run game. And as John said, a little bit more pressure, Mike. And I think that's where you're seeing the linebackers here. Yeah, early on in the game, the Russellville linebackers were moving this quick, and Florence made some adjustments, and they got worn down towards the second quarter.

So, like, this might just be freshness from the second half. Straight drop. Most of the throws. Going to throw the fade route down the sideline. Kirkman's out there. Can he get it? He catches it just inside the 15-yard line. First down, Florence. He brought it in. Mark him down. The officials over there marking it down at the 16. What a play by Justin Kirkman. That was a great job by Kirkman coming off the line. Beat his man deep. And Mahan just – it was a 1-v-1 play right there, and Kirkman won that one.

Austin delivered a ball there in the corner that only Kirkman can catch. That throw was perfect on the right shoulder right there on the outside, and Kirkman made sure he brought it in, got his feet in, and Falcons knocking on the door. What looked like was going to be a sack at the 2, a miraculous play by Mahan. A great throw by Mahan. Knocking on the door at the Falcons at the 16. Kayon got it off the left side. Spins going to get hit and going down this time.

[2:31:46] No game. Couldn't get anything going. No game. Maybe lost a yard or two. Again, you hear Drake Urgell coming in and making the play. He's a safety. The free safeties are starting to come up and make a lot of plays. Play action across the middle may be open here soon. Play action across the middle used to kill us when that same D.C. played for us. So, you know, that's just something to be said. That's where they leave those holes open in that defense. Kayon Williams stays in the game, I believe, on second down and 12.

Left goes Tripp Morris. Where's number 15? He's 6'3", a sophomore. And before the snap, timeout by the Falcons. We'll do the same. 8.06 to go here in the third quarter. Falcon football returns after this 30-second timeout. Hey, Falcon fans, this is Keith at Cypress Creek Indoor Range. We know great defense starts up front, and the Falcons start with Jaden Wire, defensive tackle. Whether stopping the run or disrupting that quarterback, Jaden has the right tools, puts in the hard work, and has the right training to stop the offensive threat of opposing teams.

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Face second down, and we'll call it 12 to go. They have to touch about the seven-yard line. The ball is now at the 18 or 19-yard line. I'm going to call it the 19. It's the second, and we'll call it second out of 11 from the 18. Ball right in the middle of the field, going left to right. Kirkman, who caught the big pass earlier, to the left. One wide receiver. Two backs. Going to play action. Look to throw. Down the middle. He's got a man. One. Back over the middle.

You just called that maybe two minutes ago. Well, maybe so, but, you know, it was one of those things where they kept bringing the safeties up and give Coach Cade McGuire, with eight minutes to go, a lot of credit to say, hey, it's open, and he found it. Greenhalter tried to attempt the PAT. Snap good. Hold good. Kick up. Kick good. New score. Florence, 21. Russellville, 14. Come back and see us in 30. Hello, my name is Debra Bell Passuer, and I'm an attorney with the law firm of Johnson, Passuer, Medley, and Burchill.

Please don't call an out-of-town lawyer when you can call our law firm, which has over 100 years of combined experience in all areas of the law. Check us out first. Please call me, Leslie Johnson, Keith Medley, Adam Burchill, at 256-766-3131. We are proud to be a sponsor of Florence High School Athletics. No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers. Eight minutes to go into third, and Florence takes the opening second-half kickoff.

John McDaniel, they put it in the end zone. Yeah, it's a great job to open the half. Seven plays, 78 yards, three minutes, 49 seconds, came off the clock. 17-yard touchdown pass, Mahan to Kirkman. And, boy, this highlight, Costin Mahan was amazing in that drive. Here's the green-off kick. This one's going to be returnable. Nope, not going to be returnable. It's going to bounce all the way down and finally picked up at the one. He picks it up. He's in trouble. They got him back at the one-yard line and bring him down at the four.

That ball died at the one like a Jeffrey Jones three-wood right there. It usually rolls, but I'm not going to give it too much of a hard time there. That's okay. I know Jeffrey Jones, his golf game. I promise you, there's three-pointer. His three-woods died. Trust me, I've seen it. 7.57 to go, but that's a big play. That ball was destined for the end zone. They're going to give him J.J. Are they going to give him the five-yard line? They are going to give him the five.

That's all right. Yeah, and I'll take that, but they were so close to catching him. Good athletic play to even get the five yards. I thought his knee was down when he went to pick it up, personally. Good point. You might be right. That's all the same. First and ten at the five. The Golden Tigers will have to go 95 yards, and boy, Mike, this is where this Falcon defense has a chance to come up big and maybe put some separation here. Let's see. Taurus Davis has been a handful at tailback, leaving with a man in motion.

Going to lead with Davis on the trap play, and he breaks the tackle. He's off and loose at the 15-yard line, and he has it out of first down. As they push this far, they finally blow the whistle. That'll be a gain of 11. Man, he hits that hole fast, doesn't he? He certainly does, and behind those big blockers, you know, he's hard to see at first, but once he bursts through, you know, it's tough to catch. Linebackers, inside linebackers specifically, are going to have to attack that.

[2:37:07] That's their bread and butter play. It's a foundation play, and as soon as they see that hole, they're going to have to hit it fast. Darren Jones, the speedster, will come in at wide receiver. So they get a little breathing room, do the Tigers, Golden Tigers, out to the 17 with 7.25 and counting. Jones will come wide left, wing back to the right, two backs in the backfield. Whitaker and Davis, Cleveland under center. Gives it again to Davis, this time looking, trying to cut back, breaks a tackle again to the 20, drags the Falcon across the 25 to the 28.

Finally, Falcons break a tackle, make a tackle, Martinez makes the tackle. But right now, Davis is saying whatever Kayon Williams can do, I can do as well. Again, the 30-second play clock not working. It worked for the first quarter, and that was it. It worked at halftime, Kevin. They actually were winding it. Carter Clement into the game. He caught a touchdown on the first drive of the game for Russellville. He's wide to the right. Under center, Cleveland, the quarterback. They shift down. Going to give it off.

Nope, play action. Wants to roll to his right and throw to the flats. Complete. Got it to Davis at the 32. Hit hard there and brought down. Good job of Petty Poole coming up and making the tackle. A game of about four. That's not a bad job of Irons and Petty Poole making a play right there, Mike. Yeah, that was a play where they got their guy in open space, and they converged pretty well to make sure that he didn't really have an opportunity to turn it up the field.

It was a good play by both offense and defense. Jeffrey Jones, I'm about ready to make this wing-T offense illegal. That would be what we could do. That would be nice because it is tough to stop. Hats off to the defense. I mean, there's a reason why it works so well is because it just wears the defenses down. Second down and six at the Falcon Band trying to make noise. Three men in motion. Two to the left and one to the right. Two backs in the backfield.

This time going to give it on the left on the counter, trying to get outside. And Whitaker, he's hit hard. Brought down, but he stretches out and got right to the 37. He'll be out two yards short. That was actually Hallmark on the carry, number 10. And a whistle and timeout. We may have the heat break coming, and it is. 5.37 to go. Florence leads at 21-14. Don't go away. We're back in 30. Game day's coming, and your tailgate crew is counting on you. That's why Lost Pizza Company Shoals put together the tailgate playbooks, specialty pizzas, wing trays, and all built to feed a crowd.

It's why we're the go-to pizza place in Florence, Alabama, now bringing that same lineup straight to your tailgate. Order for pickup or delivery to UNA tailgate only. Call 256-415-8693 or order online at lostpizza.com front slash shoals. From our playbook to your plate. 5.37 to go here in the third quarter, excuse me. It was a fast first half tied at 14 at the half at Florence. It's answered with the opening drive, scoring, making it 21-14. But now the Golden Tigers face third and two at the 37. They started their strive at the five-yard line after a great kick by Greenhall.

Nearly got the Golden Tigers in deep trouble. So the Golden Tigers trying to march 95 yards. On third and two, I would dare say wherever number five goes, I'm going. Actually, he's not even in the game right now, I don't think. Big backs in there. Going to read the belly up the middle. He's hit, not going to get it. Brought down a middle. Aiden White read it. Brought him down. No gain. And it's going to be fourth and three. He lost a yard. Back to the 36. That is a huge play, Mike.

That was a huge play. Coming right off the timeout as well, Coach Higgins definitely dialed one up that he thought was going to work. And, you know, the Falcons did a great job getting off the field. Falcons are going to substitute on this information. Got to be really alert here. I'm still very nervous about this with Cleveland, the quarterback, looking to the sideline now. He's still looking to the sideline like, what are we going to do? Waiting to see. So I think they've got something up their sleeve.

You better be alert here. On fourth and three. Good snap. He's going to punt it away. High-hanging kick. Goolsby just going to catch it, hopefully. And does. Fair catch at the 29. Kudos to Goolsby on a tough fair catch right there. With 442 to go here in the third quarter. Florence leads at 21-14. And, Mike, boy, this may be the biggest drive of the night for the Falcons right here. It certainly can be. You know, this is one of those opportunities to go up two scores. We haven't had either team go up two scores just yet.

And being able to really run some clock here would be super important. Just really be a slow, methodical drive here for the Falcons would be great. So far, offensive line can really establish what they've been doing in this second half. Leaning, getting a yard to two downfield, and opening holes for the back. Johnson's the tailback. Shotgun formation for Mahan. Going to leave with Johnson. Up the middle. Got running room to the 35. Breaks a tackle to the 40. Stays on his feet to the 45. Makes another man miss.

[2:42:14] Cuts back left at the 50. At the 45. Somebody's chasing him. They may not catch him. Goose is loose. The goose is loose. He's down to the 10. Number zero would not be brought down. DeCarson Johnson all the way down to the five-yard line. That was a great job by DeCarson Johnson to get around the outside. Great job by the Falcons being able to block that play. But once DeCarson got into that second lane, he saw a cut to the left. And he made it. And he raced towards that pylon.

He almost outran everybody. But Russell did a great job of hustling back to make that play. He'll stay in the game. Mahan, the quarterback, with 425 and counting in the third. Johnson still the tailback to the left. Johnson off the left side. Going to try to bounce it. Cuts it up in the middle. Pushes forward to the goal line. To the end zone. Touchdown, Florence. DeCarson Johnson, the senior, says, Give me the ball, and I'll give you six. That was a great job by DeCarson Johnson in the line.

They really pushed and imposed their will. DeCarson did a great job. He got hit right away, but he would not be denied on that play. Fought his way all the way to the goal line in for a touchdown. Greenhall to attempt the PAT. Mahan to hold. Good snap. Good hold. Kick on the way. Kick. Once again is true. And Florence leaves it 28-14. 416 to go in the third. This is foul. Florence Utilities now offers new bill pay options. Sign up for paperless, auto pay, text pay, and more to make your life easier.

When you go green and go paperless, you'll no longer have paper bills filling up your mailbox, and you'll be helping the environment. Sign up for text pay. Bill notifications go directly to your phone by text. Click the link and easily view and pay your bill. To take advantage of these convenient ways to view and pay your utility bill, visit FlorenceAL.org, frontslash, enroll, or call 760-6512 for more information. Florence takes a 28-14 lead over Russell, 416 to go in the third. At last drive, John McDaniel. Kevin, that one wasn't too complicated.

It was two plays, 71 yards, 12 seconds officially that came off the clock. Big play was the 66-yard run by DeCarson Johnson. Greenhaw's kick will drive Russell back to the tube, but that's Davis. You've got to know where he is at the 10. He's got great speed. At the 15, look, and he's tripped up. He goes down at the 16. Momentum all over across the way. Jeffrey Jones with the guys in white and blue. They're pretty excited right now. Excellent tackle right there by Hayden Lotz. Hayden Lotz fought off that block because that's a dangerous returner they have right there.

Hayden Lotz just broke off and made the solo tackle right there. Good job. Hayden, that's a great call. I can't brag on him enough. Hayden Lotz has been fighting and working as a linebacker on special teams, and I saw him last week do the same thing. He works hard on that. Great tackle by him. First and 10 at the 17. The Golden Tigers down by 14. Let's see if they panic here. They'll stick to their bread and butter. Going back to pass. Throw the quick out over here. Complete.

Hit right now at the 17, 19-yard line. Great open field tackle by the Falcons right there. Tremendous job coming up and making a play. That's Dez Brown. Says no, no, no. Gain of two. Dez Brown did a great job of diagnosing that one. He broke down and he made sure he secured the tackle. He almost drove through him and almost missed that tackle, but he re-secured himself and set that up. That was a great job in the open field. I tell you guys all the time, defensive backs, I just want you to get them on the ground.

I don't need a big hit. We just need to play another snap. Jaden Allred will move to the right cornerback. Brown will take the wide side of the field. Also in the game for Florence, Caden Ward on the second-down seven play. Look at the pitch, quick pitch to the outside. Trying to get outside. Can't do it with Irons. He's going to bring him down and drag him down. No game. Jaden Irons said, no, no, no, the door is closed. And this Falcon defense starting to play with a little moxie.

Yeah, but being able to get around the edge on this Falcon defense is tough. They're pretty quick and athletic. And we saw that quick pitch right away kind of get blown up. But this is going to be an interesting third-down play here for the Falcons. Three minutes and go here in the third quarter and counting. Into the game for Russell, the speedster, Carter Clement. And the Falcon crowd across the way going crazy right now. The student section making a lot of noise. Listen to them across the way on this third down and eighth play.

Cleveland back to pass. Boy, it's coming. He's in trouble. He's got to get rid of it. He's got a man out here, and he dropped it. He heard footsteps. Des Brown was coming. And it's fourth down. Again, this Falcon team making Russell a little uncomfortable right now. Absolutely. The panic button might have to be engaged here for Russell. Well, that was a big drop there on third down. He probably would have had the first down on that play, which, you know, at this stage of the game, heading into the fourth quarter, I mean, only 235 left in this third.

[2:47:22] That was a big third-down play there. Goolsby's back deep. If I'm – this is me. If I'm Florida's coaches, I tell Goolsby, don't touch it. Don't touch it. Don't want to have any turnovers here. Your offense is clicking. Just let it roll no matter what. Cleveland will kick it away. Good snap. He'll get it away. Line drive kick. Goolsby, though, will have time. He can catch it and will at the 47. At the 50, gets across into Russell territory, gets back to the 47. Good job by Goolsby. Give him credit for that.

And that will bring up first and 10 at the 47. Flag on the play. Let's see what the flag is for. That was a good job by Goolsby, though. Upon contact, he really covered up the ball well and made sure that there were no silly, you know, drops there on that turf. Don't forget the AHSAA scoreboard show tonight from 10 to midnight here on 93.9 The Score. James Moody, Blair Krieger will be in the studios giving you updates as well. So it's a personal foul against Florence back at the 27.

So the personal foul will move it back about 15 yards. So instead of being in Russell territory, it'll move back a good bit. But Jeffrey Jones, again, up two touchdowns. This is a chance with .226 to go to maybe make something happen again and really put this thing in big, big shape. Bonehead play right there on that punt return. That wasn't very smart. But, you know, we've got a chance right here. Our running backs are just dialed in. Carson Johnson has impressed me tonight more than he's ever has before, and that's saying a lot.

Jackson Mays wide to the right on his first down play. Williams is the tailback. Gets it, tries to cut it up the middle, nowhere to go. He slammed down right to the line of scrimmage. Tremendous defense there. Their middle linebacker come up and make a huge play. Braxton Duncan, 5'10", 170 is what they list him. I would dare say he's a little bit bigger than they list him. But it brings up second down and 10, no game. I don't think he's bigger than that, but he plays bigger than that, that's for sure.

Two minutes and counting here in the third quarter. Florence up 28-14. Two wide receivers again. With no play clock, Bayhan takes his time. Miss to the left. Puts a man in motion left now. Gets the snap. Going to leave it with Williams. Nowhere to go. Bounces. Looking. Nowhere to get. Only maybe two. Gets to the 41. So the middle has gotten clogged up, and it brings up third and eight. You're up two touchdowns. You played a little conservative there. Do you unleash the passing game here? I mean, we worked down the field last drive with the passing game, or two drives ago.

We ran it last time. So, I mean, on this third down, you're needing eight yards. I think you can give it to your quarterback and make him make a play. Block at 115 and counting. Mayhan will put two wide receivers to the short side. I don't think he passed it with two wide receivers to the short side, but that's just me. Going to look to pass. The quick screen. Got it to Mays. Nowhere to go, and he's knocked down immediately. Couldn't get a block over there on the side.

Missed the block, and it brings up fourth down. Yeah, he maybe shouldn't have thrown it to the wide side, the short side. Fourth down, and with 51 seconds counting, Florence will have to punt it away to the dangerous Taurus Davis, up by 14. Man, that was a chance I felt like the Falcons could maybe put this one away, but now, how are you going? It's a lot of football left to play here in the late third and early fourth. Look, I'm not a coach. I don't pretend to know, you know, all the ins and outs of the game, but they're coming for it, by the way.

Good snap. Got to get rid of it, and blocked. It's blocked. Back and out of bounds at the 21-yard line. Forgive me for interrupting you, but they had 11-10 on there, and they saw that a little slow getting it away, and right at the middle, they blocked it, and a big change of position here. Yeah, I was just getting to the point to where we had an opportunity to shift momentum big time and really put, and we got very conservative, and then we got very slow on that play, and now that one big play, momentum shifts to their side, and we're not quite in the fourth quarter yet.

It was almost like we were trying to take a knee here a little too early. I'll be honest. We had three up backs, and he just split them. He went right between them, didn't pick him up, and he makes the ball, but they had a lot of pressure coming. A lot of eyes to see, and now the Tigers at the 21 will have it first and 10, and you can see they've got momentum. They're proud on their feet, one back in the backfield. Bring a man in motion to the right.

Going to run the Sally play back to the left on reverse, trying to get Davis loose, and he's hit only a game of about two. Great job by Martinez there, who tripped him up at the 20, giving him about a three-yard gain. Bring up second down, and they just keep moving the ball forward. Four-yard gain, looks like. No, it's at the 18. Second down, and we'll call it seven to go, and that'll do it, I think, for the third quarter. Remember, as the clock runs down to five, four, three, two, one, and we've got three in the books and one left.

Florence leaves at 28-14, but don't go away. It's not over yet. Falcon football returns in 30 seconds. Craving authentic Mexican flavor? Dive into delicious in Hugo's Mexican Restaurant, 4160 Florence Boulevard, at the entrance to Kendall Gardens. Start off with fresh tortilla chips and Hugo's famous cheese dip. Then enjoy mouth-watering tacos, enchiladas, and, of course, Hugo's famous fajitas and more, all in the vibrant atmosphere. We're open Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday until 9 p.m., and until 9.30 on Friday and Saturday. Hugo's Mexican Restaurant, where every meal is a fiesta.

[2:52:46] See you soon at 4160 Florence Boulevard, at the entrance to Kendall Gardens. Bell Green, leading Red Bay 13-12. Central and Lauderdale County tied at 14. Muscle Shoals leads Austin 23-0. Lauderdale County leading Central 14-7. That's an old one. The Deschers leading Hamilton 28-13. Bob Jones leading Grissom 14-0. Columbia hanging in with Fort Payne 14-all. Missouri and Kansas tied at 14. And the Phillies leading the Braves 3-1. Here at Colton Stadium, Florence leads Russell 28-14 behind a 14-point third quarter. Mahan found Kirkman for a 17-yard score, and DeCarson Johnson with a big 60-something-yard run.

Then a five-yard run to end it makes it 28-14. Right now, Russell, after the block punt, has it at the 19 with a second down and seven. Good job by the Falcons manager coming out and giving the referees water. They need it, too. It's a five-man crew. Not an easy game to do on a human night. Going right to the scoreboard end zone. Jeffrey Jones is right there. J.J., this is a big play. Huge play. Huge play right here. You know, you get the band. They're going to be playing right in front of the Florence band.

The Florence band is playing, and the Crittons' two-six is loud, too. Second down and seven. Two backs in the backfield. Under center, as always, on this wing-two offense is Cleveland. Cleveland, we're looking to pass. No, he's going to hand it off, and Davis Cronin. Get outside. He's not. He's going to lose. Yards and slung out of bounds. He loses about four or five. Martinez, I believe it was. Maybe it was at Burski. Burski come up and made the play. And Burski, with his first time he's called his name tonight, they've gone away from him a lot.

But he makes a loss of about four, and it brings up third and 12. There's a huge play there for the Falcons to be able to get them back behind the sticks, making this a little bit more difficult third down. But, you know, it's four-down territory, especially with this game as late as it is. Clement will check into the game. The Falcon fans and student section, they are here loud and proud, and they're about to get a lot louder across the way. One receiver to the right, two wing-backs, one back in the backfield.

Bit of man in motion to the right. Look to roll to the right is Cleveland, trying to find the flood route. Throws it quickly down the field and incomplete. Falcons got pressure on him. He had to get rid of it. He saw Jaden White coming with intentions, bad intentions. And he throws it away, and it brings up fourth down and 12 to go for the Golden Tigers. Great job by the Falcons' secondary to stay with that wide receiver as he was moving out to the right there towards that pylon.

He was covered up big time. They just had to throw that one away. But on this fourth and 12 is a big play in this game. I would not be surprised to see some type of throwback play here. They've been rolling out, trying to slip someone on the other side. Something we haven't seen. They definitely got it in their playbook. The one thing that Wing T doesn't do, doesn't flood routes against the defense, it's only one or two. They try to catch you off guard. Here we go.

Fourth and 12. Under center. Like the pass again. Rolling to the left. Looking. Throws it down the middle of the field. As a man out there, he missed it. Incomplete. And Florence holds. He had him open, but he underthrew him. And the Falcon defense celebrates. And that was huge. Yeah, the Falcon, the defender, I didn't catch his number, came away, batted that one away in the secondary. That was a huge stand there for the Falcons after that punt. Jeffrey Jones, did you catch it? Katie Ward. Great play.

Great play. We'll give away now maybe to number 10 on offense. No, it's going to be, yep, I think it is. DeCarson. DeCarson, yeah. Yep, DeCarson Johnson back in. All right. First and 10 for the Falcons at the 23. Three wide outs to the left, one to the right. Now the Falcons are bringing a wide receiver into tight end. Going to lead with Johnson up the middle. Found runner in to the 25, 30, 33, 34. Get enough for a first down. Right now, DeCarson Johnson has another giddy up in his legs right now, Mike.

Yeah, he found the hole there and has made some great cuts with some beautiful vision, being able to make some guys miss. And first down here for the Falcons. Hey, Kevin, we've seen in the past three games, two backs in the backfield. We haven't seen much of that tonight. Is that a specific game play? A little bit. A.J. Hines is not playing tonight. He's been injured some. So a little bit of that is to rest the back. Don't have the three back right now, so let's go with one.

And I think that's what they saw. And maybe something saw on the Russellville defense, first and 10. Going to look to throw. Looking, he's thrown to the left. Man, he's going to run it. Trying to get outside to the 30. Flag on the plate. He's hit hard around the 37. It's going to be a holding call against Florence. As the fans yelled, as the coaching staff yelled, finally the yellow flag said, okay, I'll throw it. And it's a similar play to what happened the last time. As they were rolling out, the offensive lineman just followed him and just held.

I mean, it was the clearest thing. He's got to disengage at that point. That's 20 yards now on that blocker. It's hard when you're planning on him outside and keeping the pocket. And next thing you know, your quarterback's outside. And you're like, wait a minute. He's disengaging. You've got to get some help from the receivers on that. You know, when they see him come out of that pocket running like that, they need to get loose. They need to either come up if they're deep or go deep if they're short.

[2:58:11] They didn't really know what to do there because they were expecting the ball to be thrown so quick. They didn't improvise. We've got to work on that. Kirkman, Elliott, and Goolsby now in wide receiver to the right side, the short side of the field. It will be a first and 20 play of the clock to run under 11 minutes in the game. Florence leaves at 28-14. Johnson's going to get it off the left. He lost his footing. He tries to get away. He can't. Just go down, young man.

Swarmed in by Tigers to make sure he's okay. He got twisted and turned a lot. That's where a player can get hurt. He almost kept his feet after the seventh guy hit him. I don't know how he kept his feet, but he's just a tough back, and he will not go down on that first blow. 10-30. The Falcons can take this down to about the 10-minute mark before they snap it on the second down play. Leading at 28-14, but they face second down and a whole bunch.

I mean a whole bunch. They've got to go about 20 yards to the Russell 44. That's Royal Avenue to go, I believe. It is at home. I'm not sure over here. It might be Highway 43. Johnson is the tailback still. Mahan puts him to the right. One wide receiver to each side. And timeout taken by Kenny Morrison. We'll do the same. Florence leads at 28-14. Don't go away. We're back in 30. When you're in the mood for a sweet treat just the way you like it, Yogurt Mountain on Cox Creek Parkway has you covered.

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Right from Golden Tigers Stadium in Russellville, Alabama, Florence and Russellville renewing an old rivalry now that they're region opponents. And it's been a good one. Florence leads at 28-14 over the Golden Tigers. They have the football, but they've got about 22 yards to go. The ball's sitting at the 22. They have to get to the 44. Johnson remains at tailback on his second-down play. And play action. Man drops, looks, steps up, lets it go down the right sideline, going for Goolsby. Can he get to it? He can't. About two yards overthrown.

He led him really well. Double coverage, but Goolsby had a step if he could have got it to him. Goolsby did have a step there, and Costin did the right thing there. And he lofted it up to only where his receiver can get it. He overthrew it. You'd rather overthrow that than underthrow that 100% of the time. And so, you know, Mahan taking that shot deep, Goolsby just out of the reach. You know, when you had a punt block the last time and you're up 14, do you take a shot here again and see if you can get something down the field?

I would. Absolutely. Third and 22. Johnson to tailback. Going to look to pass. Down the right sideline, one-on-one. Again, trying to go out there. Can he get it? That's Morris. Couldn't bring it in. Looked like he got hit early. And the flag comes. There's the flag. It was hit early. Two flags come. And Florence will have a 15-yarder against Russell. Watching the back judge. He saw it. He pulled the flag out and faked a throw. I dropped it, I think. He pulled it quick. You're right. He pulled it quick.

He waited for the other flag to be thrown before he threw it. But let's go back to Morris. What speed he has, J.J. We haven't seen Trip Morris and he blew by that one. So, Goolsby was down the field about 40 yards. Trip runs in there and just waves him off. He says, go ahead and just walk to the sidelines because I'm coming in for you. He has great speed. He's a tall kid, too. He's a fantastic baseball player. And only a sophomore. And only this sophomore class could turn out to be – they could be something special.

Let's let you know, fans, it's not a first down. It's still third down. You do get a 15-yarder. But it's third and eight at the 37-yard line. So, now you can run it, pass it with a clock at 9.50 to go in the game. Florence leads at 28-14. To the left will be Kirkman. To the right, Morris again, I think. Back is Johnson to the right of Mahan against a five-man front. Play action again. He wants to throw. Mahan gets rid of it to the sideline. Morris brings it down.

It holds on to it. What a catch by the sophomore at the 43. Great job by Austin Mahan to throw that one up to where only Morris can catch it. Morris high-pointed that ball in between two defenders. Got his feet down inbounds. That is an athletic play there for Morris. Oh, I'm telling you, that's pretty special right there. That's the hardest throw for a quarterback to make. With enough pace to get over the underneath defender and enough touch to be in front of the deep defensive back.

[3:03:11] Great throw by Mahan. 9-44 and first and 10 in Golden Tiger territory leading at 28-14. Johnson up the middle. Breaks left. Got room to the 40. Stays on his feet to the 38. Down to the 37. Give him a got six or seven. That's a great job on first down to be able to get a nice little chunk play there. Get six yards on that first one. We hadn't done that in a little bit. Being able to open up that pass game just started the run game. Look out. Jeffrey Jones, it was third and 22.

You make plays happen with two big plays right there. Man, he's just calm. He's real calm. Growing up tonight, that's for sure. Absolutely. It's just amazing to see his progression. And, you know, he sometimes adds the receiver a little bit too long, but his athleticism makes up for it. Second down play. Gives it off to Johnson. Skips far to the 35. Bulls far. Stays on his feet to the 31, to the 30, and gets the first down to the 29. He just kept dragging defenders with him. That'll move the chains with 8, 56, and counting.

John, this is pretty special. Yeah, he is doing a terrific job. And now we're seeing he's getting a little rest. Number 10 is coming into spelling. But the fatigue we talked about in the late second quarter, I think is really showing up on this drive. Missing tackles that they were not missing early. Mike, you take Johnson out, and look who you bring in. Ooh, look out. Williams in the pistol formation right behind the shotgun quarterback. Mayhand on the first and 10 at the 29. Lawrence up by 14. Up the middle.

Williams stays on his feet. Stays on his feet. 25, 20. Breaks the tackle down the left side line and knocked out of bounds at the 14. They'll give him the 15-yard line, I think, but that's enough to move the chains again. Oh, he's eating up with all kinds of talent. That was a beautiful job there, getting around to the outside, sloughing off some contact, being able to continue to churn his feet, move downfield to get the first down. The clock stopped as he stepped out of bounds at 8.25. Florence up by 14, but trying to maybe put this one away.

Russell had an unblocked defender, and Kion made him miss not once, but twice. And Coach Daryl Higgins said, enough is enough. Time out, Golden Tigers, and listen to the Falcon crowd across the way. Florence leads at 28-14. Don't go away. We're back in 30. Hi, I'm Dr. Brady Citizen with Treehouse Children's Dentistry. Our teens in Tuscumbia, Killen, and Madison are so excited to welcome you and your family to our treehouse. We know that choosing a dental home can be a stressful experience. That's why at Treehouse Children's Dentistry, we've created an environment that kids and parents love.

Our team is experienced in caring for every child, from infants to teenagers to children with special needs. Call one of our three locations today or visit our website at treehousedentist.com. We're so excited to see you soon at Treehouse Children's Dentistry, a branch of Singing River Dentistry. Falcons driving, leading at 28-14 in a battle of undefeateds after a 14-14 halftime game. Florence put two touchdowns up in the third and trying to add a one in the fourth. Kion Williams, the tailback from the 15-yard line to the right of man.

Blitz coming. Williams gets by the blitzer, slips under to the 10, finds the five, stays on his feet. He will score. He breaks tackle after tackle, and right now he just broke the hearts of the Golden Tigers. How did he keep his feet underneath him? I have no idea. He was cut out from underneath twice. He was able to keep his feet and then just at the end just leisurely waltzed into the end zone. That was an amazing run there after a bunch of contact. He brought a safety blitz from the Tigers, and when you missed that blitz, it is bad.

And he ran right where he came from. Parker Greenhawk to attempt the PAT. Everything's good. Look up through the go post. It remains good. New score. Florence, 35. Russellville, 14. Don't go away, Falcon fans. We're back in 30. Hello, this is Kevin Arnold with Village Discount Drugs. We've been in the Shoals since 1979. We live here. We go to school here. Do you want to do business with someone local or a company from Rhode Island, Illinois, or Arkansas? The large chains just don't reinvest in our community. The large chains don't sponsor little league teams, and they certainly don't sponsor Falcon football.

And don't just buy from Village Drugs, but support all our local businesses. Let these local businesses give you the service you deserve while keeping your local economy strong. So make the switch to Village Drugs, a local pharmacy, where we are the Shoals' problem solvers and people pleasers. Back at Golden Tigers Stadium, Florence leads at 35-14. That last drive, John McDaniel. Eight plays, Kevin. 76 yards total covered. Three minutes, 22 seconds. They came off the clock and finished with a terrific 15-yard touchdown run by Kayon Williams. And I'll say this.

You're going to hear about the running backs a lot, but Mike, Costa Mahan, has been amazing tonight. He's opened some things up and found some receivers that haven't gotten the ball thus far and really has shown a lot of poise. Greenhall's kick. Did it go out of bounds? Yes, it did. It went to the left. Greenhall's just trying to make my life hard. He just keeps kicking it to that left corner. I couldn't see, but it goes out of bounds. He has done an outstanding job kicking the football tonight.

[3:08:33] And it will be first and 10 for the Golden Tigers at the 40 or is it 35? I can't remember. I wasn't sure. It should be 35. At the 35-yard line. I think they changed that rule a couple of years ago. Showing my age. Back in the day, it used to be the 40. So it'll be on the right hash at the 35 with 8.18 to go. Jeffrey Jones, this Falcon team has played outstanding. There's no doubt about it. You know, the second half especially. You know, the first half, we took a second to get the jitters out.

But we've seen this defense now. Our defense's knees are tired, but they have earned the game so far. Under center Cleveland. Let's give the trap play up the middle. Breaking a tackle, Davis, but he can't break but three or four. This five yards to the 40. I'll give him credit because he should have been brought down back there. But he just, man, he runs hard. He runs hard. He's super quick. Like, he's definitely a really solid back. And, you know, if we know backs, you know, if we're giving him credit, we get to see some good backs.

He's up there. Their offensive line, though, their guard, center guard. I'm sorry. Yeah, guard, center guard is firing off the ball and doing a great job with that trap. They are really pushing some of our guys downfield. Second down and five. Down by three touchdowns. I think they'll go to the air here. Let's see. Bring a man in motion, going to give it on the sweep. I'm about to, before that, there was movement. I think the Golden Tigers might have got up and moved a little early.

There were a couple guys that moved that just hesitated just a little bit. It might have been Florence. Coach is open for us for saying it was against Florence. We'll see. High point. I saw the left side of their line. It's going against the Falcons, though, and it'll be a first down. So, somebody moved early, but they don't say it was the team in white and blue. Yes. One movement caused the other. It's not the same. 7.38 to go in the game. Florence leaves it 35-14 over a really, really good Russell Golden Tiger team who came in this game 3-0 with wins over Deschler, Marcelle, and Hartsell.

One thing we haven't mentioned, KJ, is the size. Their quarterback. Real huge. He's huge. He's every bit of cost and size. I'll get to that in a moment. Looks like I give it off again to Davis. Skips far. They got across the 50 and tripped up a game of about six. The clock is your favorite right now, up by three touchdowns, 720 and counting. Cleveland's tall. They've got about two wide receivers tall. I'll tell you what. I don't know if my friend, Coach Dylan Burleson, the basketball coach at Florence, is listening, but I'm just going to warn you.

When you play Russell, they're going to have about a front line of 6'7", 6'6", 6'8". They're huge. Good point. If Todd Rogers plays, he's going to be – That's where I was going, J.J. Yeah, you go ahead. No. No, sir. 6'7", 300 pounds. Under seven minutes to go in the game. At midfield are the Golden Tigers, second out of five. Before the snap, a whistle again this time. And maybe a timeout. That time. He's indicating offsides on the Falcons. So, Florence jumped again. The Falcons had some backups in at defensive line to give a breather, and that's maybe what happened there.

So, it moves five yards, and the starters come back in. Coach Wisdom is not going to be pleased with two easy penalties. I appreciate it. Weston Whitaker will check in, take the place of Hallmark on his first and ten play at the 45. With 6'45", and counting in the game. Florence leads it by three touchdowns, but Russell trying to drive. Wants to pass. Leave him back. Gets rid of it quickly. Davis is hit. He goes down. He loses yards. He meets Des Brown, and Des Brown says, good evening, Mr. Davis, and knocks him down.

That play was strung out by Berski. Berski was the first one on contact there, and then Des Brown cleaned it up with a big blow on the outside. 6'19", and counting. Florence trying to go to 4-0 on the season, and more importantly, 2-0 in region play. Asher Cleveland checking in for the Golden Tigers. We'll take the place of Clement. It's second down and 13 for the Golden Tigers. We'll be under six minutes when they snap it here in the game. One wide receiver to the wide side, one wingback left, two backs in the backfield.

And a whistle before the snap, and this time Coach Darrell Higgins says, timeout. We'll do the same. Five feet to three to go. Florence leads at 35-14. Come back and see us in 30. Irons Electric has been family-owned and operated for over 65 years. Irons Electric is deeply rooted in the Florence High School tradition and is happy to be a part of many past projects, including the band room. Irons Electric Company was voted the number one electrical contractor in 2023. Our professional team-owned staff and master electricians provide the expertise to make sure your project is installed per code to operate safely and flawlessly.

From small residential jobs to large commercial projects, call Irons Electric at 256-766-3870. You won't be shocked by their reputation. Back at Golden Tiger Stadium, Kevin Johnson, voice of the Florence Falcons, with you. Florence leads Russell 35-14 after a 14-14 stalemate at the half. The Falcons have outscored Russell 21-0 here in the second half. Mike, it's impressive. We talk about this defense, but also this Florence offense has done their job. They certainly have, and something that we hadn't seen from them was a pass game, really.

[3:13:51] And being able to implement that and really improve that, being able to soften that Russell defense a little bit so that our run game can continue to do what it does. Second down and 13, Cleveland under center. Leaves it with his back off the left side, and Whitaker gets a couple, but that's all. Back to the original line of scrimmage. Pretty good job of the defense coming up. I thought he would not have a lot more running room, but didn't have much running room on that far side.

And give this Falcon, I think they found a little bit of something in this secondary for Florence, and his defensive line is starting to play better in the second half. Because it looked like Russell in the first half was going up and down the field, but give Florence defense credit too, Mike. They've done their job. They certainly have. And, you know, aside from that one busted play, they've pretty much done a great job down the field, maybe a couple penalties down the stretch. But that one big play is the only thing that we've got to circle.

Third and 10 for the Tigers. They want to pass. Cleveland looks to the right, going to throw the fade route to Clement out there. Good defense out there, and it's overthrown, incomplete. Threw it again. And they throw the flag again. That was 10 yards over the heads of everybody. That guy. And the back judge threw that flag, and there's no way. He's thrown it on every. Oh, no, on both sides. I think almost every pass play. So it was 5-0-5 to go. One way to move the football is to throw the football out there and see if a yellow flag was coming.

That's what happened there. That's the old Patrick Mahomes move. Just throw it up and pray for a flag. I've seen him do that in the playoffs eight million times. That just gets a flag. I've got a few other skills I've got to name that on too, but I'm not going to. I promise you, at every level, 5-0-5 to go in the game. Florence leads it by 21, but Russell now has a first and 10 at the 19. 29, excuse me. I thought it was a great defense by Brown.

I thought he beat him to the spot and was running step-to-step with him. But they said too much contact, so interference. Watch for Davis here on this play. And I hear a whistle again, and I think Florence may have called timeout. Let's see if it's off sides. No, Florence jumped off sides again. Yeah, Coach Morrison is livid right now. He has gone livid, livid over there. Jeffrey Jones, I'm glad you're in the end zone and not on the sideline because Coach Morrison is not happy right now.

No, and he shouldn't be. You know, pre-snap penalties like that, they just can't happen. We've got to tighten that up. But, you know, overall, the defense has played great tonight. They have played outstanding. Some fourth-quarter mistakes right here. You know, it's going to make it look like a mediocre half. It ain't over yet, trust me. That's a 24, first down and five. Florence up 35-14, but I'm not breathing easy yet. I hope you're not either, Florence fans. Play action. Wants to pass. Cleveland rolls. He's in trouble trying to roll to his left.

He's got a running rim trying to get the first down. He throws it across the line of scrimmage, I thought. Did he? No, he was pump fake. He pumped fake, and he kept it in his hands. He got the first down at the 19. It looked like he threw it. I was like, did he let go of it? But he pumped fake trying to fool the defender. He fooled me. But it's going to be a first down for the Golden Tigers with 4.56 to go in the game.

I'll give you a pass, KJ. As we mentioned before, you know, the lighting, it's okay, but it's not great. We couldn't really see that ball from this side. Man, last year was rough. I've done a lot better, but y'all got to give me two more games, and I'll say I'm back in. First and 10 for the Golden Tigers at the 29. Under five to go. Cleveland. Going to leave with his back off the left side. Got maybe three or four to the 15 and pushed back there. That was Whittaker, I believe, on the carry, too.

We'll have to check. The one thing that I will say is that Russellville isn't able to hit that big play right now, and so a lot of clock has been drained. You know, we're getting in that friendly territory. 4.30 and counting. Right, right. Florence up by three touchdowns. They've been very conservative in their play calling on offense in this drive. A lot of leads, just really only one pass play that was able to kind of get out. And the wing tee offense doesn't lend itself to come back from big deficits.

Whittaker's the back. Davis is out there, too. They're going to play action. Roll to the right, wants to throw. Throws the quick out out here, complete. Got it at the 15-yard line. Breaks the tackle. Hit at the 10 and knocked down at the 10. That'll be right at the first down. Sticks and enough to move the chains. With four minutes and counting here in the game. And the Falcons have done their job, Mike. If nothing else, they've kept the ball in front of them, and the clock is running.

Right, having to have a team come away with a long, methodical drive with a lot of clock being chewed up is exactly where Falcons… If they're going to let up some yards, the clock is their friend at this point. They're taking time, getting out of the huddle right now. 335 and counting before they even get ready to snap it. First and goal at the 10. Wing tee set. Everybody shifts right and left. Davis is to the left now at the quarterback. And they're going to leave with Davis off the right side.

He gets by one defender, can't get by two, and he's going down. He's going to lose two. Jaden Irons cleaned him up. Jaden Irons comes out, and he's having revival by himself back here at the 20-yard line. He finally got a hold of him and threw him for a loss. That was a great job by the Falcons. They shot in, got Davis off his initial lane, had to bounce it out, and Irons just cleaned it up in the backfield. Second down and 12. I think Irons has been waiting on that all night.

[3:19:13] They finally got a shot at him and took him down. We're under three minutes to go in the game. Florence leads it 35-14, but Russell knocking on the door at the 11-yard line. And they're taking their time getting offense in there at 245 and counting. One rod receiver to the left, two wing backs. Davis is your tailback. Pits a man in motion left. Going to lead with Davis on the trap. He's hit, brought down right at the six-yard line, maybe even the seven, 230 and counting. And they'll bring up third down.

Jeffrey Jones, the defense has done what they need to do. The defense has played lights out, especially in the second half. Other than that first drive and that one play, particularly in that first drive, you could not ask for a better performance from this defense. They were well prepared. I was a little worried about how they were going to be able to adjust to this offense because they're not going to see this again until this time next year. Hats off to Parker Driggers, who ran scout team quarterback and enjoyed every minute of it this week.

We'll talk about him in the postgame. Two minutes to go. Not over yet. Third and goal for the Golden Tigers. Going to give it to Davis off the left side, trying to bounce it. Falcons do a good job stringing him out and bring him down around the three. It'll bring up fourth down and goal for the Golden Tigers. Under two minutes to go in the game. Florence up big, 35-14. And I think the Falcons want to shut out in the second half here. Yeah, I mean, that would be nice.

But, you know, they've got their work cut out for them. They're only three yards away from scoring. So, 130 and counting. But more importantly than the scoreboard and the shutout is that they made Russellville work a ton of clock this drive. And now to have it after this play be about a minute or just under a minute would be, I mean, that's just a great job by this defense. Falcon fans on their feet across the way. Cleveland puts a man in motion to the right. Going to go back left to Davis and he's got a little running rim and he'll get in the end zone touchdown.

So, they got the Falcons going one way and they go to Davis to the back side. He puts it in the end zone with 58 seconds to go. And Russell gets on the scoreboard for the first time in the second half to cut the lead to 35-20. Garcia will come on to attempt the PAT and the hands team better get ready for the Falcons across the way. Russellville is short a man. They're still waiting for somebody to come out there. But with no play clock, I don't know if it will really matter.

Well, the referee appears to not have signaled the play to start. He just does. He just does. It's been interesting. And they made the clock up to 104. I don't know why they did that. It was because they scored at that and they ran off about 10 seconds afterwards. High snap, kick on the way, kick is up, and the kick is good. New score, Florence leads at 35-21 with one minute, four seconds to go in the game. Don't go away. Talk football, put us back in 30. This is Miranda Haddock with the Florence Education Foundation.

We would like to extend an invitation to our ninth annual Salsa Showdown on Saturday, October 3rd from 2 to 5 p.m. at Singing River Brewery. Restaurants and individuals from around the shows will compete to see who has the best salsa and queso. Enjoy live music and a fun-filled day. For tickets and more information, visit our website at FlorenceEducationFoundation.org. I would like to thank our Silver and Gold sponsors, Forsyth & Long, Bank Independent, Chick-fil-A, Cutter Construction, Essity, E.S. Robbins, First Southern Bank, Grigsby Properties, Johnson & Mayhand Vental, Long Lewis, Florence, Riverbank & Trust, and United Community Bank.

And a special thank you to our title sponsor this year, TNT Fireworks. Back at Golden Tiger Stadium, Kevin Johnson, Voice of the Falcons, glad to be with you. With 104 to go in the game, Florence leads at 35-21. The last drive by the Golden Tigers, John, was a big win for them, but the Falcons did their job still in a difficult way. It was. It's one of those you will trade yards and points for time. 14 plays, 65 yards, but 7 minutes and 13 seconds. It would be a great offensive series if you were leading, but not a good one if you're down 21 points.

That is one of those that you hate to give up the points, but at the same time, your defense did the job. Seven minutes it took for the Tigers to get down. They're going to line up and try to kick an onside kick. It looks like they're trying to go left. You're the Falcons. This is something you work on, but you just got to follow the ball. Williams will stand back at the 20. Ten Falcons will be up at the 50 and the 45. Kevin, have we seen an onside kick this season?

Not this season, no. Not this season. I'm not sure the Tigers have tried one either. They haven't had the need to, really. And neither have the Falcons, so that's why. So the officials, the five-man crew, give them credit. It's a hard game to officiate in a hot night. They've been up and down the field, so they get everything set. And here we go. Garcia will attempt the onside kick. Got a good bounce there. It goes up, and the Falcons catch it and go down to the 45.

[3:24:14] That's a tremendous job. Not sure who caught it there, but some Falcon caught it. J.C. Goolsby. Goolsby got it and went down and give him credit. Caught it, turned his back, goes down, and 103 to go. Florence has a 35-21 lead. I'm not sure how many timeouts Russell has, but I've got a feeling that the Golden Tigers might wave the white flag here. I would think so as well. However, I'm not sure it was Goolsby because he was over by midfield away from the play when that happened, but I could be wrong.

Either way, it was recovering. It was a beautiful job either way. If Florence will go to victory formation, I don't think the Golden Tigers have any timeouts really left. They've got one, one left. They've got a customer board that can show it if they just use it. Yeah. So, Falcon in victory formation, and that's a good formation if you take care of the football here. Mahan will take the knee at the 40-yard line, and the clock will run, and you don't have to snap it again until about 30 seconds.

And across the way, the folks in Florence on their feet. On this side, the folks in Russell are headed home. Two road games, two road wins, and Florence right now with one more snap. Wait and let that clock come on down there, Costin. Gets the snap, takes a knee, and that should do it right there, and it will. And the boys in white and blue. Won't have to snap it again, and both teams come to midfield. In a great, hard-fought game, Florence wins it, 35-21. You're listening to Florence Falcon football.

We're back in one minute. Carbine Construction is honored to be a part of building projects with the Florence City school system. We're also glad to cheer on the Falcons as they celebrate milestone achievements as well. Good luck to head coach Kenny Morrison and the Florence Falcons football team on building a special season to remember, as Carbine Construction wishes you the very best this season. Remember, at Carbine Construction, we build trust, we build relationships, and like the Florence Falcons football team, at Carbine Construction, we continue to build.

At First Southern Bank, we always cheer for the home team. We are homegrown, with deep roots, and we're invested in this community. With checking and savings accounts, mobile and online banking, and a mortgage department to help you with the home of your dreams, First Southern Bank is your neighborhood bank. Sometimes a local financial institution with deep roots and a commitment to the community can provide just the banking services you need. We always root for the home team, because we are the home team. First Southern Bank, Equal Housing Lender, member FDIC.

Back here at Golden Tiger Stadium, Florence wins it 35-21, knocking off the Golden Tigers in impressive fashion, after being tied at 14. Unbelievable game, and the Falcon fans across the way, celebrating with their team as they come to the sideline. Coach Kenny Marson getting a TV interview here. It was the game of the week for Channel 48. Our good friend, Carl Prather, does a great job in high school sports, appreciate him. And the Falcons, tied at 14, put up 21 points in the second half, and made Russell go seven minutes before they could get a touchdown with a minute to go in the game.

And Florence would come away with a 35-21 win. And honestly, Mike, amazing second half of Florence. It absolutely was. You know, to break the 14-14 tie there, hitting Justin Kirkman in the end zone there, that was a huge play. But I venture to guess, I would say, the play of the game was that broken pass. Coach, good game against one of your good friends from Florence, Daryl Higgins. Hats off to them too, right? No doubt. What a dang good coach football team. Coach Higgins and them have done a phenomenal job.

Coach Ballantino, all those guys over there have been longtime friends of mine, doing a phenomenal job. They've got a good football team. They're going to be hard to handle. What they do offensively poses problems to everybody. And to get ready for it in a week is extremely hard. And we weren't ready for it. We just had to keep them from driving on us and get a stop here and there when we could. We know that offense. He's a master at running it. He always has been.

Hats off to our defense. Coach Wisdom, you know, had them practicing hard this week. And they were prepared for the most part. We were. We were. They hit us on some big plays. And they put some wrinkles in, which Coach Higgins is always going to have some wrinkles. And, you know, we just told them to keep playing. And we told them, hey, make them snap it again and let them run the clock. And they did. And they played really well. Again, great coaching style, really good football team.

[3:29:21] I know we're banged up. We took some tonight, too. Nothing too serious. But got homecoming next week, coming into town. How do you keep the guys focused? I know it's a 24-hour rule. I tell you what, if they didn't learn from the lack of focus this week, something's bad wrong with them. Because we were as least focused about anything I've seen since I've been here in five years this week. And our guys responded. As the week went on, they settled in. We got to start on Sunday, focused, locked in, ready to go, and get ready for Decatur.

Congratulations, Coach. Big win. Coach Kenny Morrison with Jeffrey Jones. It's been a tough night for us getting our sideline agree with Jeffrey Jones because we just couldn't get the signal to go down. We did everything we could. We finally got it to him, and so he had to just interrupt us, and we apologized for that. But Jeffrey Jones did a good job with Coach Kenny Morrison here in the TNT Fireworks Post Game Show, where Florence wins at 35-21, and the scoreboard is already turned off here at Golden Tiger Stadium.

Well, we know what the final score was. The Falcons win it by two touchdowns, and what a win. When you're tied at 14, it seemed like momentum and everything was going the way of the Tigers. That first drive in the third quarter in the big play by Costin Mahan to avert what would have been a big loss and turn it into an incredible game. It went from almost a 20-yard loss to wind up being a big gain in flipping the field there for the Falcons. We were able to hit a couple passes down the field once again and score a touchdown there.

But, you know, if Costin goes down there at the two- or three-yard line, you know, we might be in deep trouble, but we were able to flip that field and continue on and score. And that really did change the tide of the game. It really did. You know, Russell blocked a punt against the Falcons in the second half, but Florence didn't give up points again. How many times have we seen this defense bend but not break? You know, this defense is as strong and as good as we've seen here, and we've seen a lot of good defenses.

And so for them to be able to continue to do what they do is kind of special. You know, heading into a season 4-0 like this, I mean, and 2-0 in the region, more importantly, is just phenomenal. And it really starts with this defense. And now that the offense is starting to catch up and catch a rhythm as well, I mean, this Falcon team is really poised. It's really exciting football going on. Falcons go to 4-0 in the season, 2-0 in region play, and we're getting ready to face the Decatur Red Raiders and homecoming at home at Brawley Stadium next Friday night.

You're listening to the TNT Fireworks post-game show. Florence wins at 35-21. Don't go away. We're back with more after this one-minute timeout. Hey, guys, this is Mark down at Warehouse Tackle. So we offer the best fishing tackle and outdoor supplies in the Shoals area. We're located on 417 East College Street. Our phone number is 256-980-0951. And you can find us on the web at www.warehouse-tackle.com. Come and see us. We're proud to be a sponsor of Florence Falcons football, and we wish Coach Morrison and the team good luck to you in your season.

It's football time in Alabama. Our students are learning big American lessons. You can start with your God-given talents, and through practice, hard work, and sacrifice, you have the ability to become champions. This is Congressman Robert Adderholt. May God bless all of our students representing our high schools during this season, and may God bless the United States of America. I'm Robert Adderholt, and I approve this message. Paid for by Adderholt for Congress. Good news, Falcon fans. On the road at a tough, tough Golden Tigers stadium, Florence wins it 35-21 over the Russellville Golden Tigers.

Kevin Johnson with you, along with Mike Albertson, Jeffrey Jones, and John McDaniel. Man, I tell you what, this Falcon team continues to show me something new every week. Early in the year, we said, whoa, we've got an offense and a running game and a great defense, maybe. Second week, we saw this Falcon team shut down a great running back. Last week, in a defensive stalemate, that Falcon defense being by not breaking. Tonight, a young quarterback grew up a whole lot. His name, by the name, is Costin Mahan, and he really had one of his better games, Mike.

He certainly did. Being able to settle in, find a few receivers, you know, he was able to really deliver some special balls there. You know, the one in between defenders where he got over the one and right in front of the others. In that corner on a big play on that third down, that was a huge play, being able to keep his feet and find a guy downfield. In Elliott, early on in the game, or in that third quarter, a huge play. And to find Kirkman over the middle into the end zone for Kirkman's first high school touchdown at this varsity level was beautiful.

You know, just being able to open up and catch some guys down the field and deliver some big plays to keep drives going. It's going to keep those defenses honest in the future, and you can't key on the run when we're able to hit guys on the outside, and Costin was able to show that today. Our final stats brought to us by our good friends at Chick-fil-A. John McDaniels has done an outstanding job in a very difficult – it's a great standing. They've been great. It's just a small, small venue as far as our radio booth, and so it's hard to see out two windows, and we've had to work around each other.

[3:34:50] But John did an outstanding job tonight as well, so John, I'll let you take it away. Thank you, Kevin. I want to reiterate what we've all said, but I want to say it for myself, that the hospitality here at Russellville has been top-notch. Thank you to everyone who has helped us, provided food, been so nice, and making sure that we had everything that we need. Thank you to all the faculty and staff. Now for our final game stats, the home team Golden Tigers for the game, 247 yards of offense, 35 rushes for 158 yards, 7-for-13 passing for 89 yards, 13 first downs tonight, 3-for-8 third-down conversion attempts, 0-for-1 on fourth-down attempts, 2 penalties for 30 yards tonight, no turnovers, PATs 3-for-3, time of possession 23 minutes, 58 seconds.

The Falcons tonight, 413 yards of offense, we had 41 rushes for 288 yards, 8-for-10 passing for 125 yards. We had 18 first downs tonight, 3-for-6 on third-down conversion, and no fourth-down attempts. Big bugaboo we're going to work on, 12 penalties, 105 yards, and that was just accepted penalties. We had no turnovers, 5-for-5 on our PAT attempts, and our time of possession, 23 minutes, 57 seconds. Cost of tonight, 7-for-9 for 117 yards and a touchdown. And I've got DeCarson Johnson with at least 18 carries, 181 yards, and a touch. Man, I'm glad I don't have to do the player of the game on these games.

These guys make it hard on you. It's just every time you turn around, somebody's stepping up and making a play. Russellville made it difficult early on with 10-33 to go. The third play of the game, they find a long pass play from Cleveland to Clement. It was 7-0 on the 58-yard touchdown after the extra point, and Russellville fans were celebrating big time, and Florence was like, oh no. But late in the first quarter, Florence answers back. A long drive of nine plays, 68 yards, culminated on a fourth, I think it was fourth down, actually.

We said no fourth down, but it might have been third down and a goal at the one-yard line. Mahan sneaks it in, and that touchdown with Greenhall's extra point tied it up at seven. In the second quarter, once again, here comes Russellville. It's time, Taurus Davis, who is a fabulous running back. 15-yard touchdown run with five minutes to go to cap an eight-play, 91-yard drive that was really aided by a lot of Falcon penalties. That was a big part of that as well. Then the Falcons, though, would answer back with five minutes to go.

They would take the ball, drive it down the field, and with 29 seconds to go in the half, it was Kayon Williams doing it again. He goes in for the touchdown to cap the 11-play, 80-yard drive, tied at 14 at the half. The third quarter, Falcons, hey, one of the biggest players of the game. Maybe they won the coin toss. Let's defer to the second half. Florence got the ball in the second half, and they go 73 yards and seven plays. This time, it was Mahan using the passing game to a wide-open Justin Kirkman, who made an incredible play, getting by three defenders, crossing the field.

Wide open, 17-yard touchdown, and the sophomore-to-sophomore connection made it 21-14. That's Greenhall, again, was perfect on all his PATs. Then the Falcons got the ball back after a defensive stand, and once again, the Falcons did it in two plays. What a run by DeCarson Johnson. He was bouncing off players. He was running through players. He was stepping through players. He went all the way down to the five-yard line on one play for a game of about 65, and he kept it off with a five-yard touchdown to make it 28-14.

That one long run by DeCarson Johnson might have been the backbreaker right there in the game. And finally, the Falcons put it away with 8-18 to go in the fourth quarter. This time, Kayon Williams said, if Mr. Johnson can do it, so can I. Breaking tackles, cutting back and forth. Step by what would have been a tackle in the backfield from a safety blitz, and goes 15 yards with a touchdown. The PAT was good. Florence led it 35-14. The Falcon defense made Russellville go all the way for about a 13-play drive that took seven minutes.

The Tigers would score a token touchdown from Davis from three yards out, but the onside kick was recovered, and Florence is celebrating a 4-0 season right now, winning it 35-21 over a really, really good Russellville Golden Tiger team. And let me say, I interviewed Coach Daryl Higgins many, many times over the years. A class act. He knows what he's doing. He gets it. He's a good guy. He's a good family guy. And how many times I've seen him come to the Saturday morning breakfast we do here on 93.9, the score at 8 a.m., and turn around and leave and drive all the way to Troy, Alabama, or somewhere else to see his son play.

He could have easily skipped the breakfast, but he did it every time. He's just a class act. So hats off to him. They've got a great team. And trust me, 5A, get ready. You're going to hear from the Golden Tigers this year. They're not through. They've got a lot of things to happen there, and they're going to be pretty fun to watch. Let's get our final thoughts from all our guys here. Let's start with our sideline guy, Jeffrey Jones. JJ, when you looked at this game tonight, what did you see?

[3:39:50] I didn't see as much adversity as I thought I would have tonight. We had some microphone troubles, and I apologize if I cut anybody off at any point during the broadcast tonight, but I found two holes on the sidelines that I could actually hear the broadcast and I could work with. But outstanding job. You know, I was thinking about it earlier. This is the first loss he's had in a long time. Yes. It breaks a streak of losses. He actually had 21, I think, or 22 straight games that he's won as a coach, and this is the first loss in 22 or 23 games, something like that.

That's phenomenal. You know, we talk about all these scenarios during the breaks and whatnot. We got – this game right here is when we circle on everybody's – because the defense has to unlearn everything. Hats off to Coach Wisdom. Man, he had these guys pretty prepared. You know, we didn't play perfect, but we – you know, towards the end of the third quarter, I had a feeling, I was like, we got – we figured this out. You know, they're not going to break these big plays on us. You know, we were playing good fundamental football.

The offense came around pretty good tonight, just like we needed. And, you know, I'm going to give Kevin Johnson, our main guy, credit. He called it 35-21. I will say I called it too, but I have proof that I sent a text to my brother, 208 today, saying 35-21. I'll take it any way we can get. I'll take 35-34 at this point. Getting out of here, all I got to say is we got to pack it up. We got to get out of here. We don't want any more Russell Tigers this year.

They are good. That's well put, Jeffrey Johns. Let's go to John McDaniel, our statistician, your final thought on tonight's big win. Well, I'm echoed what we're probably all going to say in that this is a really good team that we just played against. They're only going to get better. This is a Russell that's building a program. It goes to show, we've talked about it, their coaching staff, we're familiar with all of them. But when you can coach football, it doesn't matter what level you're at. When you're a good coach, you're a good coach.

And you see these guys gave our guys. We wound up having a lot more depth than it showed in the second half. And that was the difference in the game. But they would show that they had all the answers if they could just got a few extra breaks. As we said, Costin Mahan, with the play of the game, what, everything went wrong. And he made, he just, as we say, a player made a play. Broke a tackle at the two and completed the pass that was, in my opinion, the complete turning point of the game.

So the Falcons did a great job. Coach Wisdom had the wing tee. He ran that in high school as an all-state lineman. He was real familiar with that and helped get his team ready to play. And they played well. And the Falcons are going to start being everybody's target when they come to town. It's going to be the biggest game of the season if we can keep winning. And we're going to need much better weeks of practice because it's a short walk from the penthouse to the outhouse.

And our guys didn't have a good week this week. And hopefully next week they realize it takes every, it takes all the days of the week to get ready for Friday. So looking forward to seeing what Coach Morrison can do with his team and how much better they can get. Mike Albertson, you and I have done this for a long time. And it's just four games in, but it's been a long time since we've been 4-0 in a season. 2007, the last time the Falcons were 4-0 to start a season.

And that was a region championship year. I'm not saying that's going to happen here yet, but I will say, this Falcon team has been quite impressive. The Falcons have everything out in front of them. Everything that they want is still playable. I mean, you start out a season 4-0, the sky's the limit at that point. You've got to start really hammering each and every week and come with a business-like attitude. You know, some of our, you know, our schedule seemed to be a little front-loaded. There's still some tough matchups coming down the road.

So, like, let's not rest on our laurels here and just kind of hang it up. We have a lot of improvement to do, but if we do, we can have an extremely special season. This Falcon team is built from top to bottom. Their secondary has improved over the course of time. We're starting to see some depth at the wide receiver position that hasn't been seen before. You know, welcome to Tripp Morris. He got his first, you know, his first little taste of play here and being able to come out with a couple of big catches.

Justin Kirkman with his first touchdown, that was a big play. Being able to watch these guys grow before our eyes each and every week is one of the joys that I get out of this. And this Falcon program has really worked hard to build and develop this. So, you talk about the sophomore class being really good. That junior class is really good. We've got a bunch of great seniors. This is what the program's all about. And then Coach Morrison has these guys ready to go. It's been a great run.

You know, again, thanks to Russell Wolfe for their great hospitality. The principal, Norman Lear, has been top-notch, has really taken care of us. And I'm looking forward to this matchup. This is my first time here, and I'm looking forward to this matchup, not because it's going to be easy, but because it's going to be great football with two great communities. And it is. You know, how many times have we been in the past years as a 7A school, and we'd look across the way and there was nobody here for the other team, and we'd go on the road even, and they didn't have any fans here.

[3:44:56] I'm telling you what, I've been to Russell Wolfe, Calvert County games over the years, and this Russell Golden Tiger community takes their high school seriously, and they were packed from one end to the other, and it just feels right. I mean, you walk in, you're like, this is high school football. And they do it right. I mean, from the time we were pulling up, there was no hassle with us. They're like, you can park where you want to, come up here. They were taking care of us before we got in here, coming up to say hi to us, listening to our broadcast.

You know, it was genuine. And I've just, the people of Russell are just really good people. They always have been. I served here as my first job as a minister when I was 18 years old, and I got to know them for three years. I was like, man, that's a good place. They were my rivals in high school, but, man, they are great people, and they still are. So hats off to the Russell Golden Tigers. And you're going to hear from them in the playoffs. I really believe that.

This Russell team will be a factor in the 5A playoffs, and I wouldn't want to see them early on for any team on the other side. My final thought really is this, and I'll say it, you know, again, you can talk about player after player after player. I want to give a hat off to the coaching staff. I think the coaching staff rallied this team in halftime. I know they did everything they could, but at halftime, it seemed like they settled the team down. They said, come on, now let's go to this.

I don't know what was said at the half, but I just know this. It was enough said that things happened, and it was good, and Florence comes away with a 35-21 victory. Hats off to Kenny Morrison and his staff for doing an excellent job tonight against a very good Russellville team. Our next broadcast, next Friday night at home, homecoming versus the Red Raiders of Decatur High School. Coach John Ritter and his Red Raiders will be headed this way. We look forward to that one as well.

Don't forget, after our broadcast here on 93.9 The Score, it will be the AHSAA scoreboard show coming up at 10 o'clock, and James Moody will have all the local scores as well. For our station manager, Greg Thornton. For James Moody, our studio host. For my good friends, Jeffrey Jones, John McDaniel, and Mike Albertson, who take care of me way more than y'all realize, folks. I get a lot of pats on the back. These guys are really the ones that work so hard behind the scenes. Cannot say enough about them while they make this broadcast the best broadcast in high school football, I believe, in all of the state of Alabama.

I'm Kevin Johnson saying have a great night. Go Falcons. And, folks, as always, on Sunday, I'll see you in church. Good night, everyone. You've been listening to Florence Falcons football on Sports Radio 93.9 The Score. Florence Falcons football on Sports Radio 93.9 The Score has been brought to you by Florence Utilities, Florence City School, the law firm of Johnson Peshire Medley and Virtual, the North Alabama Boney Joint Clinic, TNT Fireworks, Yogurt Mountain, Whataburger, Singing River Dentistry, Village Discount Drugs, Hugo's Mexican Restaurant, Irons Electric, Cypress Creek Indoor Range, Lost Pizza, Henniker Johnson & Layden Insurance, Carbine Construction, First Southern Bank, and Warehouse Tackle.

Thanks for listening, and go Falcons! We'll see you next time. We'll see you next time.