Oct. 17—Aidan Davis never gets tired.
The senior running back has been a workhorse for the Black Bears all year, but on Friday he took it to another level, rushing 49 times for 251 yards and two touchdowns. His efforts led to Austin's biggest win of the year, taking down the previously undefeated Florence Falcons 21-17.
"I do actually get tired, if I'm being honest," Davis said with a laugh. "But there was too much at stake tonight, so I knew I just had to push through."
Austin head coach Jeremy Perkins has coached more talented running backs in his tenure with the Black Bears than he can count, but even he doesn't know if he's had one that carried the load more than Davis did on Friday.
"T.C. Lowe had 42 carries in a game once; that was probably the closest," Perkins said. "I'm sure Aidan will be tired tomorrow, but he did a great job for us tonight."
It wasn't the cleanest game for the Black Bears on Friday night.
Florence scored on its opening drive with a 4-yard run from Kaidan Ward, but Austin responded with two Davis touchdowns to take a 14-7 lead. The Black Bears had a chance to increase their lead before halftime but botched a snap on fourth and 1 at the Florence 26-yard line with a minute to go. A few plays later Coston Mahan connected with John Carter Goolesby for a 22-yard touchdown on the final play of the half to tie it 14-14.
On the first drive of the second half, Austin went all the way to the Florence 5-yard line but had to settle for an Oscar Delgado field goal. The first attempt was good but was negated by a penalty and then the ensuing attempt was blocked and returned to the Black Bears' 35-yard line, which Florence turned into a 17-14 lead with a field goal.
Despite all its mistakes, Austin didn't bat an eye. Instead the Black Bears overcame a fourth-quarter deficit for the second week in a row as quarterback Donovan Jarman scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 3-yard run.
"Our guys are just resilient," Perkins said. "We gave up a big play and lost the lead at halftime and then had a field goal blocked, so they had every opportunity to hang their heads, but they never gave up and found a way to get it done."
Austin's defense came up big as well as it held a Florence offense that came in averaging 37 points per game to just 123 rushing yards and 17 points. The defense also forced four turnovers, including a fumble recovery from Keithan Steele that thwarted a potential game-winning drive.
"We watched the film so we knew how good they were, but we just came out and competed. We were fast, physical and we got the job done," senior linebacker Cameron Smith said.
With the win Austin improves to 5-3 on the season and is in a position to win the Class 5A, Region 7 championship next week with a win at Russellville.
"We're going to celebrate this tonight and then get ready for a tough Russellville team," Perkins said. "They run an unconventional offense with the wing-t, so it will be a challenge, and we'll have to put in the work if we want to win."
— caleb.suggs@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2395. Twitter @CalebSuggs2