What We Saw: AC Flora 40, Emerald 20

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>COLUMBIA |</strong>&nbsp;AC Flora put together one of its more impressive 48 minutes of the season on both sides of the ball Friday night to defeat Emerald 40-20 in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1025784' first='Roper' last='Wentzky']</strong> (pictured) threw for 205 yards and three touchdowns and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1356028' first='Solomon' last='Kelson']</strong> added 168 yards rushing and a touchdown on 19 carries to lead the offensive attack.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Wentzky and Kelson might have garnered the headlines but it was the play of the guys up front that paved the way. The offensive line of&nbsp;<strong>Kendrell Chambers</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>Asher Rhodes</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1639708' first='Brett' last='Epps']</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1153356' first='Ashton' last='Thompson']</strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>Josh Threatt-Edwards</strong>&nbsp;pushed the defensive front of the Vikings around to a total of over 400 yards of offense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“Our O-line worked all offseason in the weight room getting big and jacked and we knew we had them up front and we just were able to hit them in the run game,” Wentzky said. “Solomon hit the hole hard, made people miss and got the extra yards. That was big for us.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It was tied at 20 at the half after a shootout in the opening half. But it was Wentzky and a defense led by&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1127889' first='Palmer' last='Flake']</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>Grady Bell</strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1603712' first='Jordan' last='Davis']</strong>&nbsp;that took over in the second half. Wentzky gave the Falcons the lead for good on their first drive of the second half when he connected with&nbsp;<strong>Javaire Dubois</strong>&nbsp;on an 11-yard touchdown pass with 4:34 minutes remaining in the third quarter. Dubois caught the touchdown pass but he was even more of a force blocking from his wing-back position.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Floyd called for an onside kick and&nbsp;<strong>Grant Hill</strong>, the kicker, recovered for AC Flora at the Emerald 49-yard line. Two plays and 37 seconds later, Kelson powered in from eight yards out to make it 34-20. Wentzky connected with&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1592441' first='Charlie' last='Scott']</strong>&nbsp;on a 41-yard pass to set up the score.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“They didn't have enough up there and always had a big cushion and Hill does a really good job with the dribbles. We were sort of saving that for when we needed it and we thought the opportunity was there,” AC Flora coach Ken Floyd said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Falcons then turned it over to their defense. Emerald only had 112 yards of total offense in the second half. AC Flora was allowing nearly 30 points per game and had games in which they allowed 44, 62 and 56 in the three losses on the season. But they pitched the shutout in the second half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Scott had an interception in the first half and Isaiah Watson recovered a fumble in the second half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We made a lot of mistakes in the first half, but we bounced back in the second half. I kept trying to do my thing and we adjusted and stopped them,” Scott said. “I love when they start passing the ball and that gives me chances to impact the game.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It looked like it was going to be a shootout in the first half.&nbsp;<strong>BJ Mack</strong>&nbsp;capped the opening drive for AC Flora with a 2-yard to start a trend where each team scored on its first two possessions. Emerald answered right back with an 11-yard run by&nbsp;<strong>Key Holloway</strong>&nbsp;to cap a five-play, 59-yard drive.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Wentzky went to work on the next drive and connected with Scott on a 29-yard post pattern to put the Falcons back in front. The Vikings then got a 15-yard TD pass from&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1467847' first='Beau' last='Hite']</strong>&nbsp;to&nbsp;<strong>Karson Wright</strong>. The Vikings took their only lead of the night when&nbsp;<strong>Chris Dean</strong>&nbsp;scored from three yards out. The Falcons tied it at 20 with 40 seconds remaining in half when Flake scored from the Wildcat formation.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hite, Emerald's freshman quarterback, finished 16-of-24 for 175 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The Vikings came in averaging 214 yards rushing per game, but were limited to just 150 yards rushing. Defensive lineman&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1603997' first='Marquise' last='Anderson']</strong>&nbsp;played well.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->