By Staff
Donald Wright
Sports Writer
It is said sometimes that history repeats itself. This held true for the Escambia Academy Cougars Friday night as they lost to the Abbyville Generals 30-27 in the first round of the Alabama AISA state play-offs. According to Cougars Head Coach Mickey Cannon, turnovers were the difference in the game. " We committed five turnovers that cost us our first meeting with them, " he said. " We again turned the ball over to the Generals five times. They used these turnovers to build an early first half lead that we couldn't come back from. "
At the half, the Cougars trailed the Generals by a score of 30-14. They tried to mount a comeback, but fell short late in the game. A lot of pressure was on the shoulders of the Cougars' defense in the second half, but they answered the call keeping the Generals' offense from putting more points on the board. The defense also contributed in the scoring as Bradford Price intercepted a Generals' pass and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown.
Running back Kevin Adair provided most of the offense for the Cougars. Adair rushed the ball 21 times for 112 yards. He also accounted for three of their touchdowns. Adair also had 136 yards in kick returns for 248 total all-purpose yards on the night.
Quarterback Dustin Roberts also played a huge role in the offense of the Cougars. He rushed the ball 13 times for a total of 66 yards. He also completed 9 of 15 passes for 56 yards, but did throw two interceptions. Roberts also had 74 yards in kick returns and finished the night with 196 all-purpose yards.
The loss ended what was a great season for the Cougars. Head Coach Mickey Cannon stated that he was proud of the effort he got from his team. " We didn't play real well at times, but we played hard the whole game, " he said. " We had a good year. We have a lot of young players on the team. We have a lot to look forward to next year. "