By TAYLOR BECK, Sports Editor
ALBERTVILLE — The Albertville Aggies opened Class 7A, Region 4 play Friday night at Vernon Wells Stadium, falling 28-8 to the Florence Falcons.
Florence (1-2) built a commanding 21-0 lead by halftime, capitalizing on big plays to put Albertville (0-3) in an early hole. But the Aggies battled back after the break, outscoring the Falcons 8-7 in the second half while controlling the clock and turning in a strong defensive effort that included a takeaway leading to points.
Trailing 28-0 with about seven minutes left, Albertville recovered a fumble at the Florence 37-yard line. Five plays later, running back Egunensley Cerant capped the drive with a 7-yard touchdown run, set up by his own 21-yard burst and a pair of solid carries from Collin Parker. Cerant also punched in the 2-point conversion to give the Aggies their lone score of the night.
Parker paced Albertville’s ground game, rushing for 92 yards on 18 carries. The Aggies finished with 143 rushing yards on 39 attempts (3.67 yards per carry). Quarterback CJ Zuniga completed 7 of 17 passes for 94 yards.
Defensively, Albertville held Florence to just 241 total yards — 238 through the air and only 73 rushing yards on 20 carries (3.65 per attempt). Most of the Falcons’ damage came from explosive first-half plays.
“The second half of the game — we’ve got to play with that kind of energy and emotion from the start,” Aggies head coach Adam Winegarden said. “It’s a building process, and we’re learning how to play competitive football. But really proud of the kids’ effort at halftime. We really challenged them. You know, the second half was a 8-7 game… All these small victories will add up. It’s just a matter of time for them, but we love our players — love our kids — and we’re going to keep improving and keep working.
“We are a family. The program has been through some tough times, man. You know, sometimes it’s hard. There’s breaking point … There’s a lot of things you’re trying to overcome that are really about who you are and your mindset. It’s really not about who you’re playing.
“The type of effort we’re giving in the second half is winning effort. So anytime we’re seeing those moments, those are things we got to capitalize and we got to build off of.”
Florence struck quickly on its opening drive, with runs of 19, 25 and 9 yards setting up a 20-yard touchdown pass from Cade Davis. With 1:44 left in the first quarter, K’lon Triplett extended the lead with a 13-yard scoring run to make it 14-0.
In the second quarter, following an Albertville turnover on downs, Davis connected with Jimmy McDonald for an 87-yard touchdown to push the margin to 21-0 at halftime.
The Falcons’ final score came early in the fourth quarter when another big pass play set up Davis’ 10-yard TD toss for a 28-0 advantage.
Albertville will continue region play next week when it hosts Sparkman (0-3).
Albertville’s Imani Techeria (18) tackles Florence’s Alijah Hines (17). Photo by TAYLOR BECK l The Leader
