AC Flora football makes history by earning first trip to state championship game

A.C. Flora High School football has a piece of history.

Since the school’s opening in 1959, the Falcons have never played for a state title on the gridiron. That changes next week.

Class 4A No. 1 Flora ran past Catawba Ridge 42-21 Friday night at Memorial Stadium to secure a spot in the championship game at Benedict College.

AC Flora will play North Myrtle Beach in the championship game Dec. 5 at Benedict College.

“Oh, man,” Falcons coach Dustin Curtis said, seemingly overcome by emotion. “Been here three times. It’s all been at this place as a coach, and this is a really special community, a really special group of kids. And they’ve had multiple games this season where it was tight at halftime, and I will tell you, the way these kids come out and respond, they just keep coming and coming and coming.”

Flora found itself in a one-score game at halftime, but an 80-yard grinding drive — all featuring running plays — gave them some breathing room. A 76-yard touchdown run from Terrell Coleman, followed by a 51-yarder from Matt Pack blew it open.

Pack finished with 161 yards and four scores. Coleman added 114 of the team’s 315 rushing yards.

The Falcons raced out to a 21-point lead, which included a pair of Pack touchdown runs. But the Copperheads responded with a pair of touchdown passes from quarterback Jadyn Davis, who has offers from Alabama and Georgia as just a freshman.

His first scoring strike went for 46 yards, and his second came on third and long after Flora put itself in a hole and had to punt from near its goal line.

“It’s heartbreaking tonight to come up just a little bit short,” Catawba Ridge head football coach Zac Lendyak said. “Great season, but it definitely leaves us wanting more for next season”

Davis finished the game at 16 for 29 for 154 yards. The Copperheads posted 269 yards, only 63 rushing on 29 carries.

This is Curtis’ second year as head coach at Flora, and he was an assistant at one point before that. The team added quarterback Ethan Beamish in the offseason and had relied on him and a powerful, multi-back running game to put up 53.3 points a game heading into Friday’s game.

The Falcons (10-0) will be the first Richland 1 school to reach a title game since 2014, when Keenan made it. No team in the district has won since Lower Richland in 1970.

The jubilation from the players was clear, but may be a little bit muted with a sense of what’s coming next. Nearly a half-hour after the final whistle, senior offensive lineman Billy Avant sat alone near the middle of the field, cross-legged, seemingly alone with his thoughts until a coach came and got him.

“It’s been a long time coming,” senior tight end Banks Pope said. “From seventh grade at Crayton [Middle School], all of us have been playing together.

“It’s been hard work since then. All that grinding in the off-season and just coming together as a team for us, this final year has just been, it’s surreal right now. It hasn’t set in yet.”

And with one game left, Pack summed up thing concisely.

“We just know we’re going to get this ‘ship,” Pack said. “That’s all I got to say, man.”

HOW THEY SCORED

This story was originally published November 27, 2020 at 10:05 PM.

Ben Breiner

The State

Covers the South Carolina Gamecocks, primarily football, with a little basketball, baseball or whatever else comes up. Joined The State in 2015. Previously worked at Muncie Star Press and Greenwood Index-Journal. Picked up feature writing honors from the APSE, SCPA and IAPME at various points. A 2010 University of Wisconsin graduate. Support my work with a digital subscription