By Staff
Zack Brooks
The Escambia Academy Cougars looked to continue their six game winning streak Friday night as they took on the undefeated Abbeville Christian Generals in Abbeville.
There was no doubt in the players or coaches minds about who would win tonight as the Cougars used a strong second half comeback to beat Abbeville 38-16 and assure home field advantage in the first round of the AISA 2A playoffs.
"We really came out and dominated the second half," Escambia Head Coach Heath Gibson said." "We executed well on offense and the defense just shutdown Abbeville in all facets of the game."
The Cougars defense put together another dominating performance as they held Abbeville's offense to only sixteen points and forced three turnovers.
The Cougars linebackers also had another great game as Kevin White had nine tackles and Norris Brooks had a game-high 12 tackles.
The Abbeville offense got the scoring started as they marched down the field behind the strong running of running back Dillon Johnson and scored a touchdown on a quarterback sneak to take a 6-0 lead. Johnson then ran in the two-point conversion to make the score 8-0.
But the Cougars answered right back, as they used a Josh Montel to Cody Norton 42 yard bomb in the last play of the first quarter to cut the lead to 8-7. J. R. Hall then kicked the extra-point to make the score 8-7 after the first quarter.
The Cougars offense struck again in with 8:18 left in the second quarter when Montel threw a jump ball into the end zone which 6'5 tight end Bucky Dawson caught for a touchdown over three General defenders for a 13-8 lead. Hall missed the extra-point so the score remained 13-8.
The Cougar lead was short lived however, as the Generals used a long ball-controlling drive to score a touchdown with 1:11 left before half time. Johnson again scored the two-point conversion to the score was 16-13 heading into half time.
"Both teams played really well in the first half," Gibson said. "Abbeville is a really good team with a good running back, but we thought we still could shut them down in the second half."
The Cougars came out on fire in the second half, as they used the inside running of Kevin White and the outside running of Norris Brooks to drive down the field for a touchdown and took a 19-16 lead. Brooks then ran in the two-point conversion to give the Cougars a 21-16 lead.
On Abbeville's next possession the Cougar defense used a couple of big plays and two General penalties to get a safety and a 23-16 lead.
The Cougars got the ball after the safety and proceeded to move the ball downfield, capping it off with another Kevin White touchdown to give the Cougars a commanding 29-16 lead. Brooks again ran it in for the two-point conversion to make the score 31-16.
After a strong defensive showing by both teams the Cougars scored the last points of the game, as Kevin White scored his third touchdown of the game and Hall kicked the extra-point to give the Cougars a 38-16 win.
"I really thought our defense came out and shut Abbeville down, Gibson said. "We made some personnel adjustments at the half and our guys really stepped up and closed the door."
The Cougars were lead on defense by Brooks and White as they had 12 and nine tackles apiece. Bruce Shamblin and Bucky Dawson also had good nights on defense as Shamblin had six tackles and Dawson had five tackles for the Cougars.
The Cougars offense also had a good night as they rolled up 311 rushing yards and 397 total yards with five total touchdowns.
Kevin White led the Cougars in rushing as he had a game-high 190 yards on 23 carries and three touchdowns. Norris Brooks also had a good game for the Cougars as he had 119 yards rushing on 15 carries.
Josh Montel went 3/8 throwing the ball for the Cougars for 86 yards and two touchdowns.
Cody Norton and Bucky Dawson lead the Cougars in receiving as Norton had two catches for 68 yards and one touchdown and Dawson had one catch for 18 yards and one touchdown.
The Cougars play rival Monroe Academy next at home. The game will start at 7:30.