It was a tale of two halves at Falcon Field Friday night, as the Central Falcons (2-3, 1-2) hosted their crosstown rival, the Paul W. Bryant Stampede (2-4, 2-2).
With the stands packed to the brim and the lights shining bright, Hale County put on a show for their home crowd. They'd lost the last few homecomings and definitely didn’t want to watch another slip away.
Up against an undefeated Hillcrest (4-1), it was a battle of the mind to see who would remain unphased in a high-stakes game that came down to the very last second...again.
The Hillcrest Patriots (4-0, 1-0) took on the Wetumpka Indians (2-2, 1-0) and escaped Hohenburg Field with a 35-30 victory on one of the wildest final plays you'll ever see.
The inside linebacker put on a show against UMS-Wright by accumulated 24 tackles on defense. Additionally Lawson spent time on the offensive end, rushing for 75 yards on seven carries. The future Alabama player accumulated 51 of his yards on a fake punt while his team was backed up against their own endzone. For the cherry-on-top, Lawson scored the final touchdown and even the game-winning 2-point conversion to put away the Bulldogs 25-24 in OT.
A 70-yard run would cap off senior night for West Blocton sealing the deal with eight minutes left to go in the fourth quarter. Brookwood would score on the next drive though, preventing a shut-out and pushing the score 28-7.
Both teams started quickly, exchanging opening possession touchdowns. Hillcrest with a 56-yard touchdown pass from Ethan Crawford to J'Quon Sturdivant and Homewood with a Sam Carr 8-yard run. However Hillcrest's ability for explosive plays ultimately propelled them ahead of the home side and allowed them to cruise to a 49-19 victory.