Falcons Heating Up, Look to Bring Their Own Brand of Fireworks to Huntsville

After a huge 31-21 upset of the No. 5 Ranked Morristown East Hurricanes, the Fulton Falcons travel to Huntsville this Friday looking to continue their midseason momentum. This will be the Falcons second regional matchup as they take on a very formidable opponent in Coach Dave Gillum's Scott County Highlanders.

Game Notes Courtesy of Fulton SID Russell Mayes:

Setting The Scene

The 2008 playoff run begins in earnest tonight in Huntsville as the Fulton Falcons face the Scott Highlanders. Fulton is 1-1 in Region 2-3A play this year…The Falcons are hoping to keep a streak of 15 consecutive playoff appearances alive… Fulton is on a 2-game winning streak after upsetting class 4A Morristown East 31-21 last week…Fulton has won 8 in a row in the series with Scott, and has an all-time advantage of 10-3 over the Highlanders…Coach David Gillum’s team comes into the Fulton game 4-1 for the 2nd consecutive year…The Highlanders enjoyed a week off last week after losing 26-20 to Austin-East on September 19…Scott’s last playoff appearance came in 1999… Fulton will be a sophomore-laden team in 2008. Six sophomores on offense and seven sophomores on defense were penciled in to starting roles on Fulton’s original 2008 depth chart.

Fulton vs. Scott High -The Series

Fulton and Scott High meet for the 14th time tonight in Huntsville. Fulton leads the all-time series 10-3, and leads in the games played at Highlander Stadium 5-1. The series dates back to 1993 and has featured many high and low points for each school. The 1993 meeting saw Scott hold the Falcons with a goal-line stand as time expired to win 21-14. The next year, the Highlanders rained on Fulton’s homecoming with an impressive 14-0 victory in Knoxville. The most exciting meeting in the series came in 1997 when Fulton drove the length of the field in the final seconds for a late touchdown. The Falcons chose to go for the two-point conversion to win the game, and Tyson Porter’s conversion run kept the Falcons’ playoff hopes alive with the 22-21 victory. A region championship was on the line in 1999 when Scott, led by QB Scott Brummett, upset the Falcons 34-14 at Bob Black Field. Fulton returned the favor in 2001, defeating Scott 76-0, the most points scored by the Falcons in school history. Fulton defeated Scott in a 2005 shootout 56-24. Scott’s Wesley Smith rushed for a school record 329 yards and 4 touchdowns, while Dennis Rogan scored 5 TDs and eclipsed the 300-yard mark for Fulton. Fulton currently holds an 8 game winning streak in the series.

Last Meeting

Fulton finished one quarter shy of recording their third consecutive shutout, but still defeated the Scott Highlanders 42-6 on Homecoming at Fulton. A 3-yard touchdown run by Scott’s Justin Jeffers in the 4th quarter was the first score the Falcon defense had given up in 11 quarters. The defense was impressive again, allowing Scott only 39 rushing yards, and 141 total yards.
The Falcons took advantage of two key mistakes by Scott to set up 1st quarter scores. After taking the opening kickoff, Scott was forced to punt. The snap sailed high over the punter’s head, and Fulton recovered at the 3-yard line. Terrence Cobb’s 1-yard run and 2-point conversion gave Fulton a quick 8-0 lead. Marco Golliday blocked Scott’s second punt, and freshman QB Dametrius Thomas scored a 6-yard touchdown on the ensuing drive.
Jonathan Blair had another strong performance for Fulton, completing 10-14 passes for 179 yards and 2 TDs. Blair’s favorite target on the night was Vic Smith. Smith pulled in 6 passes for 150 yards, including touchdowns of 88 yards and a 27-yard TD on the last play of the 1st half to give Fulton a 36-0 halftime lead.
The Fulton rushing attack rolled up 192 yards, and was led by Cobb with 90. Derek Wilcox scored on a 30-yard run late in the 1st half, and fullback Bubba Stokes closed the scoring for the second consecutive week on a 36-yard jaunt.

2008 Highlander Schedule (4-1)

Date Opponent Result
8/22 Wartburg Central W, 47-14
8/29 @Gibbs W, 33-13
9/5 @Stone Memorial W, 34-6
9/12 Taft Youth Center W, 48-22
9/19 @Austin-East L, 26-19

Poll Watching

Poll------------Fulton----Scott
AP----------------NR-------NR
Earl Nall---------6--------27
Sonny Moore-------3--------30
Murphy Fair-------NR-------NR
tnvarsity.com-----NR-------NR
maxpreps.com------86-------115
Massey------------86-------133