Lauren Estes
Special to the Enquirer

Falkville High School defeated Decatur Heritage 28-18 at Burl Vest Stadium at 7 p.m. on Friday in preseason play.

“We will go about it this week, learn from our mistakes,” said Falkville head coach Joel Shrank. “I thought offensively we did some good things, but we had two turnovers and we have to fix that. Defensively we were a step slow, and we’ll get that fixed also. I was really proud of our young kids, playing good defense in the second half.”

The Eagles opened with the first score with 8:12 to play in the first quarter on an 11-yard carry by Sawyer Holland, giving Decatur Heritage a 6-0 lead.

The Blue Devils responded with a six-play, 60-yard drive, capped off with a seven-yard run for a touchdown by Hunter Woodall with 5:44 to play in the first quarter, and Ryan Sullivan added the extra point to take a 7-6 lead.

Falkville and Decatur Heritage battled with back-to-back scoring drives in the second quarter. At the 11:44 mark, Cade Wilemon had a six-yard touchdown and Sullivan connected the extra point.

Only 12 seconds later, Decatur Heritage quarterback Jordan Holland had a 60-yard pass to Jacob Crews for a touchdown; the failed two-point conversion kept Falkville ahead 14-12.

With 7:48 in the second quarter, Holland gave the Eagles the lead on a 43-yard touchdown pass to Lee Godwin. Falkville’s Aaron Estes intercepted the two-point conversion, keeping the lead at 18-14. That would be the last time Decatur Heritage would score.

At the 4:34 mark in the second quarter, Estes connected a 19-yard pass to Shawn Mears for a touchdown and again, Sullivan was true on the extra point, putting the Blue Devils back up 21-18. Estes finished the night 10-for-12 for 101 yards with an interception.

The last scoring play of the game for Falkville came at the 1:33 mark to play in the first half, as Patrick Knowles took the handoff, broke many tackles, and carried the ball for a 24-yard touchdown. Sullivan’s extra point made the final score was 28-18.

Falkville high School will open their season against Southeastern High School in Remlap next week.