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In a Covington County region battle, the Florala High School Wildcats grabbed another “W” against the Pleasant Home School Eagles 34-8 last night.

The Wildcats started out strong right from the beginning when Antone’ Stone rushed for a 48-yard touchdown on the first play of the game. After a missed extra point attempt, the Wildcats were up 6-0.

Robert Odom got things going for the Eagles by rushing for a first down and picking up a facemask penalty to get the Eagles in the red zone on the opposing 9-yard line.

Zaccaeus Reed had a big sack in the backfield to back the Eagles up to the 18-yard line, but the Pleasant Home quarterback connected with Jordan Davis in the end zone for their only touchdown of the night. Davis then rushed for a two-point conversion to get the Eagles in the lead with 1:21 left in the first quarter.

The Wildcats ended the quarter with a touchdown when Logan West rushed 19 yards to the end zone. West then connected with Stone in the end zone for a two points conversion to go up 14-8.

The Eagles managed to get an interception at the start of the second quarter but turned the ball over on downs.

With 5:24 left in the half, a Wildcat running back ran to the opposing 10-yard line to set up another FHS touchdown. Vinson Flowers took it to the house from the 1-yard line to increase the Wildcat lead 22-8.

The Wildcats kept going strong with 3:03 left in the half when West connected with Austin Howell for a 50-yard touchdown pass to go up 28-8.

With 18.2 seconds left in the half, Flowers had a touchdown pass called back for an ineligible receiver penalty, but the referee waved the flag and the Wildcats took the points to make it 34-8 at halftime.

The rest of the game would remain scoreless, but a fight late in the third quarter resulted in a Florala and Pleasant Home player getting ejected. The referee decided to shave six minutes off of the fourth quarter because of the hostile environment.

“We were a little shorthanded tonight,” PHS head coach Rick Mercer said. “Three guys are out due to injuries, but I give a lot of credit to Florala. We have to focus on improving because we have two games left. We are going to work hard and prepare all week like we do every game.”

Florala head coach Toby Greene said he was proud of the way his players adjusted in the first half.

“We went down 8-6 towards the end of the first quarter, but we didn’t really get down or panic,” Greene said. “We finished the half strong. Second half both teams got a little sloppy and I wish the game would have been played a little cleaner, but that’s football. It gets heated and emotional. We have one regular game season to go and then hopefully headed towards the playoffs.”

With the win, Florala improves to 4-2 in the region with hopes to go to the playoffs for the second year in a row.

“We need to eliminate a lot of the penalties we are making,” Greene said. “Kids are still kids, but we have got to play a lot cleaner to be a quality playoff team. We just need to keep on playing solid defense and eliminate the turnovers. Overall I’m pleased where we are at and I’m looking forward to finishing the season strong.”

The Wildcats host the Kinston Bulldogs next Friday night and Pleasant Home travels to Brantley next week.