Heroes can#8217;t handle Phantoms#8217; offense in playoff loss
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, July 8, 2008
FLORENCE, S.C. — It started with a missed field goal and just got worse.
Huntington’s Jason Cherry missed a 29-yard field goal early in Monday’s AIFI playoff game, and the Florence Phantoms scored on the next play en route to a 55-9 win over the Heroes.
After Cherry’s miss, Omar Jacobs hit Reggie Glover with a 45-yard scoring pass as the Phantoms (11-4) took a 7-0 lead at the 9:43 mark.
Next came a fumble by quarterback Darnell Kennedy in the end zone for a touchback. Two players later Florence was in the end zone again on a 17-yard pass to Tres Moses and a 14-0 lead with 3:39 on the first quarter clock.
Cherry did come back to hit a 24-yard field goal, but the Phantoms took three players to answer as Jacobs hooked up with A.J. Bennett on a 23-yard pass-and-run play and quickly the Heroes (6-9) trailed 21-3 with 10:57 left in the half.
Following a defensive stop by the Phantoms, it was bombs away as Bennett caught a 42-yard scoring strike from Jacobs and the lead was 28-3.
The spread ballooned to 35-3 on a 2-yard run by Jonathan Wedlock that capped an uncharacteristic 30-yard, six-play drive. It was the first of two scores for the Phantoms’ running back.
Jacobs finished the game with five touchdown passes including three to Bennett.
Kennedy ran for the Heroes’ only touchdown in the second half.