It was a tale of two halves for the W.S. Neal B-team football team on Tuesday as they lost their first game to the Escambia County Blue Devils of Atmore 22-6 at W.S. Neal Stadium in East Brewton.
The loss for the Eagles drops them to 0-1 this season.
After holding to a 6-0 first quarter and halftime lead, the Eagles failed to score the remainder of the game and succumbed to 22 unanswered points to the Blue Devils to lose by 16.
In the first half, the Eagles led 6-0 and had 94 total yards of offense (24 rushing and 70 passing) and five first downs to Atmore’s 52 total yards of offense (41 rushing, 11 passing) and four first downs.
In the second half, the Blue Devils scored 14 points in the third quarter and eight in the fourth while racking up 199 yards of offense (188 rushing, 11 passing) and eight first downs to W.S. Neal’s 47 total yards of offense (all on the ground) and four first downs.
The Eagles had three total interceptions in the game with two coming in the second half.
In the game Tuesday, both teams started slow as the first four series of the game saw a punt for the Eagles, turnovers on downs for both teams and an Atmore punt.
W.S. Neal got on the board first with 21.6 seconds left in the first quarter when quarterback Antwan Jones hooked up with Chase Kaylor for a 27-yard touchdown pass.
After the Eagle touchdown, both teams exchanged punts, followed by an Atmore turnover on downs, an Eagle interception and another turnover on downs for the Blue Devils.
Escambia County got on the board at the 4:08 mark of the third quarter and converted on their two-point conversion to lead the Eagles 8-6.
Following an Eagle interception, an Atmore turnover on downs and an Eagle punt, Escambia County would take a 14-6 lead with 5.7 seconds left in the third.
With the Blue Devils up by eight points in the fourth quarter, W.S. Neal turned the ball over via another interception. After an exchange of punts by both teams, the Blue Devils added their final score of the game at the 3:23 mark to go on top 22-6.
Leading the Eagles in rushing was Damion Williams who finished with 54 yards on 18 carries. Michael Williams added 22 yards on two carries for the Eagles.
Jones was 3-for-12 passing for 70 yards and one touchdown and three interceptions.
Williams was 0-for-3 passing for the Eagles.
Kaylor led the Eagles in receiving with two catches for 50 yards and one touchdown. Zack Haveard had one catch for 20 yards in the loss.