ARAB, Ala. – The first round of the AHSAA Football playoffs got underway on Friday night for the Arabian Knights as they hosted the East Limestone Indians. Arab got off to a quick start offensively and thanks in large part to big nights from Drew Puccio and Aidan Cox, the Knights rolled to a 54-14 win over the Indians as they move on to the second round.
The Knights started out on defense and quickly forced a turnover-on-downs. Arab got the ball at the 46-yard line on its opening possession and on the second play, Aidan Cox found Drew Puccio for 17 yards and a first down at the 24. Drake Franklin touched the ball on the final four plays of the drive as he ended it by scoring on a 15-yard run to give the Knights a 6-0 lead with 7:25 left in the opening period. East Limestone got a first down through the air, but a holding penalty pushed them back to the 39-yard line. The Knight defense came up with a huge play two plays later as Josh Roe picked off an Indian pass at the 38.
Cox picked up 20 yards on the quarterback keeper and on the next play, he found Spencer Strickland for an 18-yard touchdown pass to push Arab’s lead to 13-0 with 5:09 remaining in the first quarter. East Limestone picked up some huge gains on the ground and through the air as a 14-yard run and passes of 38 and 13 yards quickly put them at the six-yard line. They found paydirt two plays later on a 1-yard run to cut the Knight lead to 13-7. Arab quickly found the end zone on just the third play of its next series as Puccio connected with Brody McCain for a 56-yard score to make it a 20-7 lead for the Knights.
A pass interference penalty on the Indians backed them up to the 27, but on the next play, Arab got called for a personal foul. East Limestone picked up back-to-back first downs, but the Knight defense stiffened after that as they forced a turnover-on-downs. From the 37-yard line, Cox found Dakota NeSmith for a 21-yard gain, which put them at the 42. Franklin picked up 10 yards and a first down, then Hayden O’Reilly added eight more running the ball. Cox found Puccio for a 24-yard touchdown pass as that increased the Arab lead to 26-7.
East Limestone picked up a first down on an offsides penalty, then later added another one on a three-yard run. But once again, the Knight defense held their ground, forcing yet another turnover-on-downs. A 29-yard pass from Cox to NeSmith quickly put Arab at the 36 and two plays later, Cox connected with Puccio yet again, this time for a 32-yard touchdown, as that pushed their lead to 33-6. The Knights took a 33-6 lead into the locker room.
Puccio continued his huge night as he returned the opening kickoff 85 yards to the house to make it 40-7. Another punt by East Limestone and another touchdown for the Knights as Franklin scored on a three-yard run to push their lead to 47-7. O’Reilly added a 15-yard score late in the third quarter for the Knights’ final score of the night. The Indians scored on a 27-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, but Arab was simply too much for East Limestone as they ended up routing the Indians, 54-14. This is their first season making it to 10 wins and their win also marked the first-ever playoff win at home for the Knights.
Cox went 8/9 for 158 yards and three touchdowns. Franklin added 78 yards on the ground and a pair of scores. O’Reilly ended up with 64 rushing yards and a touchdown. Puccio had a huge night as he finished with four receptions for 85 yards and a pair of scores; he also added a 56-yard touchdown pass and returned the kickoff 85 yards for a score. McCain finished with 56 yards receiving and a touchdown.
Head Coach Lee Ozmint was really pleased by the way his team played in the win and talked about the key to their success so far.
“It feels good. Offensively, we really got a rhythm going. There were things that they took away from us that we had to adjust to. We threw the ball to the edges a little bit. Drew Puccio’s opening kickoff in the second half was the dagger. Defensively, we didn’t tackle well in the first half. We tackled better in the second half,” Ozmint said. “Drew is a sophomore and he’s a special player. The key to our success is our health and we’re healthy now. For the first time in the season since Week 1, we’re healthy and that’s a good thing.”
Coach Ozmint sees his team building more and more confidence each week, especially after their historic night tonight.
“It builds confidence. It’s the first time Arab football has won 10 games in a season. It’s the first time we’ve won a home playoff game and there’s going to be a lot of firsts. They’re going to get excited, and they will get pats on the back, but we’ve got work to do. It gets the monkey off their back, and they can just play now. Let’s survive and advance.”
Arab will host Moody in the second round of the Class 5A state football playoffs next Friday night at 7 p.m.
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