Florala’s Brandon Russell returned an interception for a touchdown and the Wildcats beat Ariton 30-13 for their season opener on Friday night.

“I was proud of the way our guys competed,” FHS head football coach Brad Rhodes said. “They came in and played well. We had some offensive mistakes early in the game, but we were able to move the ball well.”

Defensively, Rhodes said he thought his guys played real well.

“We created turnovers and that was big,” he said.

Russell’s interception return for a TD gave the team a spark early, Rhodes said.

“It got the ball rolling for us,” he said.

Florala hosts Georgiana in Class 1A, Region 2 action next week.