Strong ground attack propels Florence Christian

FLORENCE — Playing in its first 11-man football game, Florence Christian relied on a strong ground attack against The King’s Academy.

Florence Christian senior running back Zeb Freeman ran for 246 yards and two touchdowns, while junior running back Robert Miles racked up 87 yards on the ground and a touchdown as the Eagles defeated the Lions 42-14 on Friday.

“We have a good running game, and when we block for them they’re especially good,” Eagles coach Jimmy Miles said. “They have the potential to do that, and they would have scored several times (each) on any other team but King’s.”

Florence Christian jumped out to an early lead when junior quarterback Michael Wilson scored on a six-yard run on the Eagles’ first possession. Freeman put Florence Christian up 14-0 in the second quarter with a nine-yard run, and TKA senior Jimmy Bokelman answered right back by returning the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown and pulling the Lions, who also were making the jump from 8 to 11-man, within 14-6 at the half.

“In the first half, I didn’t know if we were going to get out of here with a win,” Miles said. “(TKA) really buckled down (in the) second quarter. In the first quarter, we kind of had our way running the ball, and then in the second quarter they made some adjustments and shut us down.”

The second half, however, was a different story, as Florence Christian pulled away, gaining 256 of its 460 total yards.

TKA finished the night with just 137 total yards.

Lions’ quarterback Ryan Hewitt struggled, completing six of his 23 pass attempts for 51 yards and three interceptions. Hewitt also ran for a three-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

“Our guys didn’t remember what to do,” TKA coach Marcel Boggs said. “They didn’t remember their blocks. They didn’t remember some of the things we worked on in practice.”