COLUMBIA – It wasn’t meant to be revengeful, but the Nation Ford Falcons got some revenge on the Spring Valley Vikings with a 47-16 win Friday night at Harry Parone Stadium.
Last season, Spring Valley knocked them out of the playoffs in Columbia ending the Nation Ford season.
On Friday, Falcons’ senior quarterback Carson Black accounted for four touchdowns, running for two and throwing for two in the blowout win. Black went 9-for-22 passing for 90 yards and ran for 24 yards on nine carries. AJ McCullom had a big night for Nation Ford scoring a touchdown and rushing for 75 yards on 16 carries.
With the win, Nation Ford improves to 3-6 overall and 2-2 in Region 3-5A. More importantly it locks them into the 5A state playoffs in two weeks.
“We have been sitting on the edge of being able to play well,” said Falcons head coach Michael Allen. “I have been saying all year we practice great. At some point in time that had to transfer over to a game. We are fighting to get to the playoffs. Our team is improving week to week. We are trying to get better every day.”
Spring Valley put together a drive to end the third quarter trailing 35-10. On the opening play of the fourth quarter, the Vikings hit a 42-yard touchdown pass to score, but failed to convert the 2-point conversion.
Black took the Falcons first series of the fourth quarter and led them on a 10-play drive resulting in an AJ McCullom 30-yard touchdown run which not only extended the Nation Ford lead, but also took a lot of time off the clock leaving just 7:30 left roughly.
The Falcons even got their bench involved in the scoring as Kaden Barnett ran in from 4-yards out after taking over under center as quarterback. That gave them a 47-16 lead with 3:33 left in the game.
The Nation Ford defense came out in the third quarter and took it to the Vikings as they pushed them back to force them to punt from the end zone, giving the ball back to the Falcons at the 30-yard line.
The Nation Ford offense kept their foot on the pedal as they scored in three plays on a 7-yard touchdown run by Black again with 9:08 left in the quarter.
Spring Valley hit a 30-yard field goal as the Falcons defense kept them out of the end zone on their first drive of the third quarter.
Nation Ford was forced to punt with 2:44 for the first time all game, but recovered the punt at the Vikings 12-yard line after Spring Valley fumbled. Two plays later, Black hit Josh Ameo on a 12-yard touchdown catch to extend their lead on Black’s second touchdown pass of the game.
The Falcons looked good in the first half as they were able to control the clock and score to keep the ball.
Nation Ford was able to take control early and move the ball well without any trouble in the first half.
Nation Ford scored on a 1-yard Black touchdown run with about five minutes left in the opening quarter on the Falcons third drive in the opening quarter after recovering a Spring Valley fumble at the 33-yard line.
The Falcons put together another drive in the second quarter on their first series, which transitioned the first two quarters. That drive resulted in a 10-play, 56-yard drive which resulted in Black hitting Ja’Derrick Foster for a 5-yard touchdown on a swing pass with 10:11 left in the second quarter.
After a poor punt by Spring Valley gave the ball back to the Falcons at the 28-yard line, Black was able to move the ball well, but fumbled the ball into the end zone which was recovered by Ameo leading to the Falcons going up 21-0.
Spring Valley got on the board with about three minutes left in the first half after conducting their longest drive of the half.
Up next for Nation Ford to close the regular season is a game against rivals Fort Mill at home.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
