Seahawks down St. Francis 34-20 in preseason opener
The Franklin County Seahawks traveled to Gainesville Friday night to take on the St. Francis Catholic Wolves, and for the entire first half, it looked like they’d be fowl chewed up by a ravenous pack.
But in a remarkable comeback, the Seahawks came out of the locker room at the half trailing 20-0, and then proceeded in the second half to score 34 unanswered points.
A 30-yard burst by Cody Abercrombie to start the fourth quarter was all the Wolves could stomach, and they decided to call it a night in this pre-season outing.
The Wolves had gotten on the board, with 8 minutes left in the first quarter, when #1 Cooper Lieffers completed a 32-yard pass completed to #6 Nash Lantinen for a touchdown.
The Seahawks thwarted the two-point conversion and trailed 6-0.
Both teams battled it out at midfield, with more than a fair share of penalties, until 3 minutes left in the half, when Lieffers ran it in the end zone from 20 yards out, for the Wolves’ second touchdown.
The Seahawks again thwarted the two-point conversion but wouldn’t be so effective a few minutes later, when in the waning seconds of the half, Lieffers completed a 5-yard scoring pass to #3 Austin Peaden-Brummett, and then threw to Lantinen for the 2-point conversion and a Wolves 20–0 lead going into the locker room.
But after Seahawks Coach John Cooper and his staff made adjustments at the half, the Seahawks opened the second half fired up.
Garyson Millender, Logan Bentley, Kyle Gilbert and Chase Millender handled rushing duties, until with 8 minutes left in the quarter, Chase Millender ran it in from 5 yards out for the score.
The 2-point conversion failed, but a minute later it was Garyson Millender’s turn to score, this time from 8 yards out, with the two-point conversion again stymied by the Wolves.
The Seahawk defense was superb, stifling the Wolves’ drives, and then with three minutes left, #4 Sadiq Jones scampered down the sidelines for 35 yards and a touchdown..
With #1 Ajaylen McNair rushing in for the 2-point conversion, the Seahawks had tied the game 20-20.
A minute later, Terry Proctor stripped the ball loose from one of the Wolves, and defensive end #21 Lonnie O’Neal scooped up the pigskin for a 25-yard fumble return touchdown. Ajaylen Mcnair rushed for the 2-point conversion and the Seahawks had scored their 28th unanswered point after three quarters.
Following Abercrombie’s rushing touchdown to start the fourth quarter, the game ended with 9 minutes left to play by mutual agreement.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.