The 2A No. 10 Falkville Blue Devils (1-0) found themselves in a halftime hole, trailing 1A No. 6 Decatur Heritage 20-7. However, they fought back in the second half, outscoring the Eagles (0-1) 27-0 to grab a 34-20 win.
The Eagles dominated the first half thanks to some Falkville miscues.
Decatur Heritage took the lead midway through the first quarter when quarterback Brayden Kyle connected with Tyler Founds for a 16-yard touchdown.
Falkville took the lead with 4:21 left in the half when Jordan Greenfield scored from three yards out. Following the extra point, the Blue Devils led 7-6.
It didn’t take long for the Eagles to take the lead back. Kyle scampered in from three yards out to put Heritage back on top 12-7 with 2:55 remaining in the first half.
On the next Falkville possession, the Eagles defense forced a fumble and recovered the ball at the Blue Devils’ 27-yard line. On the next play, Kyle hit Alex Malone for a 27-yard touchdown. Following the two-point conversion, Heritage led 20-6.
Falkville made one final drive before the half ended. The Blue Devils took a shot to the end zone that the Eagles’ Willis Orr intercepted.
The teams traded turnovers to start the second half. Turnovers were the big story of the half, as the Blue Devils intercepted Kyle three times.
On the Blue Devils’ second possession of the third quarter, quarterback Caden Burnett hit Andrew Jones for a 56-yard touchdown pass. Following the extra point, Falkville trailed 20-14.
A little more than four minutes later, a 14-yard Greenfield touchdown run and the extra point gave the Blue Devils their first lead since late in the second quarter, 21-20.
Following another Heritage turnover, the Blue Devils offense went back to work. Greenfield raced 61 yards to the endzone to give Falkville a 28-20 lead with 14.9 seconds left in the third.
The Eagles moved the ball down the field and were threatening to score before Falkville’s Kaden Worley intercepted Kyle for the Blue Devils’ fourth interception of the game.
Falkville capped the scoring with 3:38 left in the fourth when Burnett scored on a nine-yard run to make the score 34-20.
“We shot ourselves in the foot in the first half by committing some costly turnovers that Heritage took advantage of to grab the halftime lead,” said Falkville Coach Seth Ward. “We calmed down in the second half and played Blue Devil football. We were able to get comfortable with what we were doing both offensive and defensively, which led to the comeback and the win.”
Ward was coaching his first game for the Blue Devils.
The Eagles were playing without longtime head coach Steve Meek, who had tested positive for COVID earlier in the week.
The Blue Devils finished with 328 yards rushing and 137 yards passing for 465 yards of offense.
Greenfield had 25 carries for 201 yards and three touchdowns.
Burnett completed eight of 17 passes for 137 yards passing and one touchdown. He also had eight carries for 87 yards and a touchdown.
Jones finished with six catches for 135 yards and a touchdown.
Falkville will travel to Danville (1-0) Friday, while Decatur Heritage will host Colbert Heights (0-1) Thursday at West Morgan.
