7 EA players didn’t play because of sickness

ABBEVILLE  — Sickness didn’t elude Escambia Academy tonight as the Cougars rolled to a 39-18 road victory over Abbeville Christian.

The Canoe School had seven players — one a starter — out for the game against ACA.

EA got off to a slow start, but picked up momentum in the second quarter en route to a 25-12 halftime advantage.

Cougars head football coach Hugh Fountain said practice this week was hampered becaue of the sickness, however.

“We had some back ups out there that helped us when we needed it,” Fountain said. “I was really proud of the effort because I really thought it was going to be a tough game.
“We made some mistakes early, but we played pretty physical the whole game,” he said. “We’ve just got to go back and work on the little things.”
Going into the second quarter, the No. 3 Cougars trailed 12-7, but took a lead they’d never give up some 3 minutes later.

Senior JoJo Carpenter punched the ball in from 9 yards with 9:03 left in the first half. From there, EA would outscore the No. 8 Generals 26-6 for the rest of the game.

Senior running Louie Turner scored on a 54-yard pick six less than 2 minutes later to help give EA a 19-12 lead and the needed turn.

Turner, who finished with 119 yards on the ground, tacked on his second touchdown of the night on a 22-yarder with 3:27 to go in the second.

Fountain said the main adjustments in the second quarter centered around tackling and squeezing on defense.

“We were doing a real poor job of taking the quarterback,” he said. “We were just letting the quarterback go. We made mistakes, but we tackled well at times.”

Right before the break, the Cougars tried to scored to put the game away for good, but junior quarterback Jabe Dawe couldn’t find his man on a scramble.

EA senior MJ Jones ended a 12-play, 75-yard drive with a 12-yard touchdown rush with 3:23 left in the third, and junior backup quarterback Jace Daniels scooted in for a score with 9:09 left in the fourth for a 39-12 lead.

Earlier in the contest, the Generals (0-1) drew first blood on a 40-yard strike in the first quarter.

EA would answer with Carpenter’s first touchdown of the night from 8 yards out on the next possession.

Next week, the Cougars (2-0) host Resurrection Catholic, Miss., for their first home game of the season.