A.C. Flora closed out non-region play with a record-setting performance on Friday against Airport at the Bob Mooneyham Sports Complex.
The Falcons (4-1) crushed the host Eagles, 63-35, setting a new single-game scoring record, topping the 61 points they hung on Eau Claire last season. Moreover, it was the most points ever scored on an Airport team. The previous mark was 57 points by North Augusta in 2002.
A.C. Flora coach Dean Howell, however, was anything but ecstatic with the win.
“We still make too many dumb penalties and we have a long way to go,” he said. “Look, I told the kids that I can’t be disappointed about winning and scoring 63 points, but at the same time, we didn’t control certain aspects of the game that we can control — and that’s an issue. It’s on the coaches. We have to get better; that’s all there is to it.”
Quarterback Jake Lewis echoed the coach’s concerns.
“We jumped on them in the first quarterback for a big lead, then we took some plays off, and they capitalized on it,” he said. “We have to stay persistent throughout the whole game.”
Lewis was the Falcons’ headliner. The junior ran for 78 yards and two touchdowns and was 5-for-6 passing for 105 yards with two touchdown tosses.
A.C. Flora amassed 388 yards in the blowout.
The Falcons jumped to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter. Lewis scored the first touchdown on a 1-yard run on A.C. Flora’s second offensive play, hit a wide-open Shelton Whittaker with a 42-yard scoring pass on the Falcons’ sixth play and JuWan Simon closed out the onslaught with a 19-yard dash around left end with 1:55 to go in the opening quarter.
Airport’s Anthony Steward briefly made things interesting in the second quarter. The senior receiver got the Eagles on the board with a 72-yard punt return and then added scoring catches of 20 and 27 yards to pull his team within 28-21 with 3:53 to go in the half.
The Falcons, however, had a swift reply — posting 14 points before halftime to restore order. Rion Davis’ 91-yard kickoff return after Steward’s third score and Darian Jones’ 35-yard interception return tally 63 seconds put the game out of reach.
| A.C. Flora | 21 | 21 | 14 | 0 | — | 63 |
| Airport | 0 | 21 | 0 | 14 | — | 35 |
First quarter
ACF – Jake Lewis 1 run (kick failed), 10:48
ACF – Shelton Whittaker 42 pass from Jake Lewis (RJ Joyner pass from Lewis), 5:36
ACF – Ju Wan Simon 19 run (Joey Leone), 1:55
Second quarter
A – Anthony Steward 72 punt return (Brady Nelson kick), 11:35
A – Steward 20 pass from Sir Sutton (Nelson kick), 9:42
ACF – Lewis 4 run (Leone kick), 4:54
A – Steward 27 pass from KaDarius Jackson (Nelson kick), 3:53
ACF – Rion Davis 91 kickoff return (Leone kick), 3:39
ACF – Darian Jones 35 interception return (Leone kick), 2:36
Third quarter
ACF – Schroder Carlton 25 pass from Lewis (Leone kick), 10:36
ACF – Aven Pollard 28 run ((Leone kick), 7:32
ACF – Keith Goss 1 run (Leone kick), 0:39
Fourth quarter
A – Markis Jenkins 3 run (pass failed), 9:13
A – Jackson 15 run (Cory Bradley run), 2:19
| ACF | A | |
| First downs | 21 | 12 |
| Rushing | 41-283 | 20-100 |
| Passing yards | 105 | 189 |
| Att-Com-Int | 5-6-0 | 32-16-1 |
| Fumbles-lost | 2-0 | 2-1 |
| Penalties | 5-40 | 4-40 |
| Punts | 2-20.5 | 4-30.8 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: ACF, Lewis 11-78, Simon 9-61, Pollard 7-57, Goss 5-47, Joyner 3-32. A, Sutton 6-4, Jenkins 12-59.
Passing: ACF, Lewis 5-6-0-105. A, Sutton, 7-15-1-71, Jackson 7-12-0-99.
Receiving: ACF, Pope 1-21, Whittaker 2-47, Carlton 2-37. A, Gaston 1-2, Jones 3-19, Stewart 5-87, Jackson 1-(-5).
