Flomaton High School took its first lead against St. James with 16.1 seconds remaining in the game Friday night and that proved to be enough as the Hurricanes defeated the Trojans 20-19 in the second round of the Class 3A playoffs to set up this Friday night's quarterfinal clash with T.R. Miller.
T.R. Miller will travel to Flomaton for the 7 p.m. game just four weeks after Flomaton clinched the area title Oct. 25 with a 21-12 win at T.R. Miller.
Flomaton opened post season play with a 58-28 win over Opp and then defeated St. James. T.R. Miller defeated Pike County 25-13 and Montgomery Academy 21-14 to advance to Friday night's game. The winner will play the winner of Gordo vs. Mobile Christian in the semi-finals next Friday night. If Mobile Christian wins they will travel to Flomaton; if Gordo wins, Flomaton will travel to Gordo. The winner next week will advance to the state championship game set for 11 a.m. Thursday at Jordan-Hare Stadium at Auburn University.
"Wow," is how Flomaton head coach Doug Vickery described Friday night's 20-19 win as he addressed his team at mid-field following the victory. "It was nothing but divine intervention."
The drive that clinched the victory began with Flomaton at its own 24-yard line with 3:45 left to play and no timeouts in the fourth quarter. After picking up a first down at the its own 35, Daquan Johnson went down the right sideline for a first down at the Trojans' 21-yard line.
The Hurricanes faced a fourth and 1 at the 12, and Tank Franklin picked up the first down at the 8. Johnson was sacked on first down and the Hurricanes spiked the football to set up a third and goal situation at the 21 with 27.4 seconds left in the game.
Johnson was flushed from the pocket, ran right and then found Franklin open in the end zone for a 21-yard touchdown pass with 16.1 ticks left on the clock with Flomaton trailing 19-18.
Johnson went around left end and found the end zone for two-points to give Flomaton a 20-19 lead.
St. James' last-ditch effort began with the ball at the Trojans' 33-yard line with 12.8 seconds. The Flomaton secondary broke up a first down pass. The second down pass was caught over the middle and the receiver was quickly tackled as the final seconds went off the clock to seal the win for Flomaton.
"All the credit goes to God," Vickery said. "To be able to come back, my hat's off to the kids. They had every opportunity to quit and it's that no-quit attitude that allowed us to win."
Vickery also said the touchdown pass from Johnson to Franklin was actually drawn up right before the play saying it's a formation Flomaton hasn't used all year.
"During timeouts we were actually drawing things up in the dirt that we've never done, trying to get the ball down the field," Vickery said.
St. James received the opening kickoff and began at its own 48-yard line. Flomaton had the Trojans in a third and 11 situation but quarterback Drew Fett hit Zac Russell for a first down at the Flomaton 28-yard line.
St. James would later score on a quarterback sneak by Fett from just over a yard out. Jan Wachowitz added the PAT and with 7:08 left in the first quarter, St. James led 7-0.
Flomaton began its first offensive possession at its own 35 after the kickoff went out of bounds and slowly began marching toward the St. James end zone. The Hurricanes faced a first and goal at the St. James 10-yard line when the first quarter came to a close.
In the wildcat formation, Franklin moved the ball to the 2 and followed with a run to the 1. Franklin found the end zone from there. A two-point try failed and with 10:45 left in the second quarter, St. James led 7-6.
Both teams swapped punts before St. James began another possession at its own 18 with 5:30 left in the half. The Trojans moved into Flomaton territory and reached the 23-yard line before Wachowitz hit a 33-yard field goal with 33 seconds left in the half to give the Trojans a 10-6 lead at intermission.
Flomaton fumbled the second half kickoff following a squib kick and St. James was in business with a first down at the Flomaton 31-yard line.
On third down, Chance James broke into the offensive backfield for a sack that set up a fourth down from the Flomaton 34-yard line.
Following a punt, Flomaton began at its own 9 but then faced a fourth and 8 and lined up to punt. The snap went over Nick Turner's head and out of the end zone to give St. James 2 points and a 12-6 lead.
Following the safety, Flomaton kicked from its own 20-yard line and St. James had the ball at the Flomaton 48. The Trojans picked up a first down at the 36 but on a fourth and 1 play, Flomaton's Jackson Dullard stuffed the St. James running back for a loss and the Hurricanes took over at its own 30. Flomaton was forced to punt and St. James had the ball at its own 46 with 2:09 left in the third.
On first down, Austin Gavin broke free for a 54-yard touchdown run. Wachowitz added the PAT and with 1:54 left in the third St. James led 19-6, which is how the third quarter ended.
Behind the running of Johnson and Franklin, Flomaton moved deep into St. James territory where it faced a crucial third and 7 at the Trojans' 20-yard line. It moved to fourth and 3 before Johnson picked up a first down at the 9. On third and goal at the 2, Johnson found the end zone. A two-point try failed and with 6:31 left in the game, Flomaton trailed 19-12.
Flomaton held the Trojans on their next possession and forced a punt that set up the ultimate game-winning drive and two-point play that gave the Hurricanes the victory.
"When you get to this time of year you will be playing good football teams with good coaching," Coach Vickery said. "It's all about matchups. Depending on what type of players you have you might match up good with some teams and not so well with others."
In playing T.R. Miller for the second time this season, Coach Vickery said while you can talk about all the cliches of playing someone twice, but it all boils down to matchups and execution.
"They've got a good football team and they are well coached," Vickery said. "We're excited about playing them and we're excited about playing at home."
This past Friday night, Flomaton rushed 45 times for 212 yards and hit on one of five passes for 21 yards and a touchdown for a total offensive effort of 233 yards.
St. James rushed 32 times for 142 yards and was three of nine passing for 34 yards for a total offensive effort of 176.
