Falkville won't see state playoffs

By Ashley Hargrove
sportsdecaturdaily.com · 340-2460

FALKVILLE — With the final playoff spot in Class 2A, Region 5 on the line, the Falkville Blue Devils needed a win to make the state playoffs.

However, they fell 35-8 to Cleveland on Friday night. The loss dropped Falkville to fifth place in the region and put the Blue Devils out of the playoffs. Only the top four in each region advance.

"We didn't come out very well," Falkville coach Neil Estes said. "Our intensity level wasn't where it needed to be. Cleveland really came in hungry. They brought a lot of energy and made some breaks early that got them ahead. It just wasn't our night."

Cleveland (6-3, 5-2 in the region) went in at halftime leading 14-0, and it was a late touchdown by Joey Davis in the third quarter that took the life out of the Blue Devils (5-4, 4-3).

"We knew they were good at throwing the ball," Estes said. "They hit a couple of big plays on us early that really took a lot of momentum away. We gave up to many big plays and had some mistakes both offensively and defensively. They made the plays and we didn't."

The Blue Devils' only score came with 9:42 left in the game on a 50-yard pass from Aaron Lee to Steven Lindsey. The 2-point conversion was good when Lee completed another pass to Lindsey.

Falkville will travel to Priceville next week, and to Estes and his team, a win would mean a lot.

"Priceville is a big rival," Estes said. "They're in the 4A playoffs. Next week's game is our playoff game. We've got to focus that way and go to work this week.

"For us to finish with six wins would be an improvement. The last time we won six games was back in 2000. So if we do that, it would show some improvement and be a big momentum going into the off-season."

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