By Taylor Beck/Sand Mountain Reporter
Any shot that that West End had of making the postseason ended last Friday (Oct. 13) after the Patriots suffered a 48-14 loss to Class 2A, Region 7 rival Falkville in Walnut Grove.
The Patriots fall to 2-5, 1-4 on the season, while Falkville improved to 4-3, 3-1.
The Blue Devils opened the game with a 79-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Aaron Dove to senior running back Allen Vinson with just under 11 minutes left in the first quarter to go up 7-0.
The majority of the first half went back and forth until West End senior quarterback and kicker Payne Stancil nailed a 28-yard field goal with one minute left in the half, making the score 7-3.
Unfortunately for the Patriots, that minute remaining proved to be too much time for the Blue Devils.
Four plays later, Dove connected with freshman receiver Christian Angulo for a 35-yard touchdown pass with 15.9 seconds remaining in the half to push the Falkville lead to 14-3.
To start the second half, however, the Patriots showed they weren’t ready to quit. In less than five minutes, West End put up 11 straight points to start the third quarter after Stancil threw a 79-yard bomb to senior receiver Nick Campbell and later kicked a 24-yard field goal to tie the score at 14-14.
Falkville responded on the following drive by capping off a 73-yard drive with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Dove to Angulo to go up 21-14 with 3:21 left in the third quarter.
The Blue Devils never looked back from that point, scoring 33 unanswered points to put the game away. The Falkville defense forced two interceptions and recovered a fumble while the Blue Devil offense played a turnover-free game.
For the Blue Devils, Dove went 11-for-18 with 259 passing yards and three touchdowns, plus 18 yards on the ground with another score. Vinson finished with 137 rushing yards and three touchdowns, along with 79 yards receiving and a score.
For West End, Stancil went 12-for-27 with 273 passing yards and one touchdown, coupled with 20 rushing yards. Campbell finished with three catches for 109 yards and a touchdown.
Next week, West End travels to Pleasant Valley for a non-region matchup.