By By Daniel Boyette
Escambia County's fourth interception of the night stopped Robertsdale's final drive with less than a minute remaining to preserve a 21-14 win Friday night at J.D. Sellers Stadium.
Escambia (3-7) pulled out the win despite racking up 235 penalty yards on 22 flags. Robertsdale (1-9) finished with 11 penalties for 122 yards. The teams combined for 17 unsportsmanlike and personal foul penalties.
The Golden Bears got the ball back at their own 45 with 58 seconds left in the game. Three plays later, Damien Brown picked off a deflected Sumrall pass to seal the win. Robertsdale drove to the Escambia 13 on its previous possession, but Sumrall's fade pass was intercepted by Marshall Rolin in the end zone with 2:15 left in the fourth.
Escambia got what proved to be the deciding touchdown on a broken play. Facing 4th-and-3 from the Robertsdale 20, Nieko Williams was hit in the backfield by a Golden Bear defender. But as he was falling, Williams pitched the ball back to quarterback Ricco Stallworth, who ran 20 yards for the score at the 8:10 mark of the third for a 21-7 lead.
Robertsdale got within a touchdown with a nine play drive aided by three 15-yard infractions against Escambia. Sumrall capped the drive with a sneak from a yard out with 6:17 left in the game.
Escambia went ahead 13-7 with 1:15 left before the half when Stallworth hit Rolin on a crossing route in the middle of the end zone for a 17-yard score. The Blue Devils tied the game earlier in the quarter when Lawrence Arnold grabbed a fumble out of the air and returned it 25 yards for a score. The ball bounced out of the hands of Robertsdale running back Sam Tolbert, who was falling backward as he was being tackled.
Robertsdale scored with three minutes left in the first quarter on a 5-yard Sumrall-to-Brandon Ellis hookup that came six plays after Ellis recovered an Escambia fumble.
Stallworth finished with 104 yards on 19 carries. Sumrall led Robertsdale with 89 yards on 18 totes. Douglas Oliver picked off Sumrall on consecutive possessions in the second quarter.