ATHENS — Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.
Flowery Branch’s 27-20 win over Cedar Shoals Friday night will not be remembered as a classic display on offense but rather a testament to a young defense that may be showing it may be ready to take that next step.
The Falcons stopped the Jaguars inside the Falcons 10 in the final minute to preserve an almost must-win Region 8-4A game that the Falcons seemed willing to let slip away the longer it went on. Four big second-half turnovers helped Cedar Shoals erase what at one time was a 20-0 lead until the defense forced an incomplete pass on a 4th-and-goal.
It was the second straight week and the third time this season the defense posted a goal-line stand at the end of the game to preserve a win.
Falcons coach Ben Hall wasn't worried about how it looked, only the outcome.
"It wasn't pretty for sure, especially on offense, but they found a way to win again. Cedar played inspired ball and you have to give them credit," Hall said
“The defense is getting clutch I think,” also Hall said in response to what he thinks about the unit’s late-game success of late. “We put them in some bad spots tonight and they responded really well. They’re young but I feel like they’re learning and gaining a lot of experience."
The Falcons (5-2, 2-1 Region 8-4A) never trailed and led 20-0 midway through the second quarter on the strength of a 15-yard David Renard touchdown run and a pair of Renard TD passes to Baxley O’Brien (36-yards) and Ryan Lesko (35-yards). The Jaguars (2-5, 2-2 Region 8-4A) finally broke through late in the half to cut it to 20-6 on a 1-yard TD run from Mandrell Glenn.
Cedar Shoals continued the comeback after the teams combined for three turnovers in a 6-play span, with the Jaguar getting a 6-yard scoring run from Jerdavian Colbert less than five minutes into the third quarter.
Branch answered quickly with a circus-like 35-yard touchdown catch by Connor Larson from Renard to push the lead to 27-13. Colbert added a 32-yard run in the final moments of the quarter to pull Cedar Shoals within 27-20.
The teams traded punts and a turnover each in the fourth quarter until the Jaguars mounted a late drive that was snuffed at just 12-feet from paydirt.
Renard finished a modest 8-of-15 for 127 yards with 3 TDs and a pair of interceptions for the Falcons. Jaizen Ellingham had 106 yards and Myles Ivey had 104 yards rushing for the Branch, who managed 347 yards but saw several scoring opportunities cut short with turnovers.
Cedar Shoals, who came in averaging just 5.8 points and just over 200 yards of offense a game, piled up 312 yards, led by Colbert’s 96 yards on the ground. Glenn was 12-for-25 or 179 yards through the air.
Flowery Branch plays host to Madison County (2-5, 1-2 Region 8-4A) next week with a chance to cement itself in the second spot in the region.
