Falcons bag Elephants

FLOWERY BRANCH - In a battle reminiscent more of a heavyweight fight than a football game, Flowery Branch battled back from a 14-0 deficit to beat Gainesville 35-28 in the first 7B-AAA Subregion game of the season for both teams.

The Red Elephants took advantage of two early Falcon mistakes to score two first quarter touchdowns.

A one-yard touchdown run by Kendrick Harris came a play after Flowery Branch had snapped the ball over the head of punter Zach Veatch. Gainesville recovered at the one to set up the score. The extra point was no good.

Javohn Hutchins then picked off a Jaybo Shaw pass and ran it in from 27 yards to give the Red Elephants a 12-0 lead. Gainesville quarterback Justin Fordham then connected with Hutchins for the 2-point conversion to push the lead to 14-0.

But in the second quarter, the Branch roared right back. The first score came from the brother combination of Jaybo and Connor Shaw. Jaybo found his younger sibling in the corner of the end zone for a 23-yard scoring strike.

Then after Isaiah Hester picked off a Fordham pass at the Gainesville 15 with less than two minutes to go in the half, Jaybo Shaw plunged up the middle for a nine-yard scoring run. Randy Villatoro's second extra point of the half tied the game at 14 as the teams went to the dressing rooms.

The game was literally back and forth in the second half. A Bret Sanderson two yard run followed by an extra point made it 21-14 Flowery Branch.

Gainesville answered by marching 64 yards in only 43 seconds. Fordham sneaked in from two yards out and Sam Henderson's point after tied it at 21.

The Falcons answered that as the Jaybo-to-Connor combo found the end zone again. This time is was from 31 yards out. Villatoro tacked on the single to give Flowery Branch the lead right back at 28-21.

Gainesville refused to fold. The passing of Fordham and the running of Harris led the Red Elephants on an 11-play 65-yard drive. It culminated in a Fordham to Tyler Adetona 9 yard strike that, combined with another Henderson Pat, tied the score at 28.

The winning touchdown came in when Shaw hit Veatch with a 17-yard pass.

But it took the Flowery Branch defense to make one final stand to prevent the Red Elephants from crossing the goal line one more time. With time running out in the fourth quarter, Gainesville marched to the Branch 4 yard line, and on fourth and two had no choice but to go for it.

Justin Fordham's run around right end was stopped short of the first down by a yard.

Flowery Branch was then able to run out the clock, and secure their first ever win on the gridiron over Gainesville.

Jaybo Shaw, one week after he was carried off the field with a neck injury, returned to have a spectacular game. He was 14-of-21 passing for 284 yards and ran for another 129. He accounted for 413 of the Falcons' 488 yards on offense.

Gainesville racked up 293 yard on offense. Harris had another fine night running the ball with 138 yards on 26 carries.

Flowery Branch (6-1, 1-0) will have the week off. Gainesville (6-1, 0-1) travels to Pickens next Friday.