Florala Varsity Over Powers 2A Samson
 

Dr. Seuss has a cat in the hat, but in Florala the cat could be out of the bag.

Florala's Stephon McLaughlin recovered a Samson fumble on the Tiger's third play from scrimmage and this year's Wildcat team sent up a flare to future teams that there's still talent that didn't graduate. On Florala's first possession it marched down the field as Ro Williams took the ball around the right side for a 15 yard TD and with less than 2 minutes gone the Wildcats went up 7-0 on a TJ Fleming PAT.

The Wildcat defense shut down Samson's next series and after a long punt, Florala took over for it's second possession of the game. After several nice runs from Reggie Gundrum a couple of penalties pushed the Wildcats back to their own 35-yard line. On the next play, Williams came down with a 65-yard pass, that everyone though was intercepted by Samson, for his second TD of the night. "I think the only person that knew Ro had the ball was the official that was standing right there", said Florala head coach Arlton Hudson.

Florala's defense would hold again, but after a Samson punt the Wildcat's inexperience at QB showed as Taylor Benton was picked off by the Tigers. Samson scored quickly on a missed coverage assignment and cut the score to 13-6. After a scoreless second quarter the Wildcats made some adjustments at half time and placed Fleming on Samson's main threat - WR Bradley Smith. Fleming helped the defense shut down Samson's passing attack and the offense took over.

Gundrum then ran off tackle for a 40 yard TD to start the third and final varsity period and Fleming caught a 20 yard TD pass from Benton to wind down Florala's scoring.

The Florala Wildcats' Varsity squad finished the 3-quarter match with Samson ahead 26-6.

The junior varsities for both squads then played the fourth and final quarter. Florala's Zouchrain Vickers fumbled a toss from quarterback Dustin Hinson and the junior varsity Tigers went up 6-0. The next time Zouchrain touched the ball he ran 60 yards for a TD. However the Samson Tigers won the JV game 12 - 6.

Hudson gave his team a B minus on their first outing.

"We had a lot of mental mistakes, a lost of costly penalties that took two Touchdowns off the scoreboard, but overall I'm pleased with our first game," Hudson said. "Taylor Benton played well and also TJ Fleming played well at QB. I was a little disappointed in the offensive lines performance. They didn't finish their downfield blocks and conditioning could be an issue. Overall as a team though, I'm really pleased at where we are right now."

So are the Florala fans.

If there were concerns at quarterback, Wildcat fans saw two performances that were promising. Fleming ran the option attack well and starting QB Benton was 6 - 9 with two TD passes and one interception.

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