The Escambia Academy Cougars advanced to the state championship for the first time in school history Friday night, defeating Restoration Academy 30-8 in the AISA Class AAA semifinals.

With the temperature hovering around freezing, the Cougars started cold, with their only scoring chance in the first half thwarted at the 1-yard-line of the Bulldogs.

Restoration scored the first touchdown of the game and added a two-point conversion, making the score 8-0 heading into halftime.

But in the second half, the Cougars must have warmed up, because they came back and scored 30 unanswered points in the last two quarters.

EA coach Hugh Fountain was exuberant in praising his team’s effort.

“Both the defense and offense were determined to get the job done in the second half,” he said. “We planned to wear them down in the second half. We started slow, but had a strong finish.”

EA advanced to face Bessemer Academy in the state championship on Friday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Troy. Kickoff will be at 7 p.m. Bessemer defeated EA 32-14 in Canoe, on Friday, Oct. 31.

For more on this story, see the Wednesday, Nov. 19, edition of The Atmore Advance.

Sports Correspondent Robert Mays wrote this story.