Bart Moss

For the FCT

A solid first-half defensive effort was not enough Friday night as the Tharptown Wildcats lost to the Shoals Christian Flame 38-19.

The Flame turned the ball over three times in the first twelve and half minutes but used a strong ground game in the third quarter to seal the win.

Shoals Christian piled up 439 yards on 42 carries.  Dustin Covington had a huge night carrying the ball 16 times for 314 yards and five touchdowns.

Tharptown got on the board first after a muffed punt by the Flame when Kelby Hallmark connected with Trent Miller for a 30-yard touchdown pass.  The Wildcats led 6-0.

The lead would be short lived as Shoals Christian scored on the very next drive on a 26-yard run to tie the game.

The score was tied at 6-6 at halftime.

Shoals Christian’s first two offensive plays of the second half were touchdown runs of 64 and 65 yards by Covington to give the Flame a 19-6 lead.

Hallmark connected with Miller again with nine minutes to go in the third quarter close the gap to 19-12.

Shoals Christian would roll off 19 unanswered points in the fourth quarter on touchdown runs of 6, 26, and 61 by Covington.  The Flame extended the lead to 38-12.

Tharptown added their final score with 1:58 to go in the game on a 66-yard run by Jon Donner.  Shawn Hines added the PAT to make the final score 38-19.