Oct. 4—HUNTSVILLE — Austin’s four-game winning streak came to an end Friday night in a loss to Huntsville.
The Black Bears fell on the road to Panthers 21-17, and it was through their own mistakes that they were done in.
On both of Huntsville’s second-half touchdown drives, the Panthers lined up to punt. However, a face mask and an offside penalty by Austin would extend the two drives.
“It’s frustrating, because we had the opportunity to get off the field and instead we give them free yards in penalties,” said Austin head coach Jeremy Perkins. “We have to be more disciplined and be able to make better decisions. We can’t put ourselves in bad situations like that.”
Austin’s touchdowns came on a 23-yard touchdown from Qadir Lyle to Alvin Jones and a 14-yard touchdown from Lyle to Channing Patton. Oscar Delgado added a 33-yard field goal.
Huntsville quarterback Wyatt Smith had a 12-yard touchdown run and connected with Bryson Grissom on a 31-yard touchdown pass. X’avion Drake added the other score on a 14-yard run,
Austin’s dominant run game was held in check Friday. The Black Bears managed just 27 yards rushing. Star running back Aidan Davis, who came in with 655 yards rushing at nearly seven yards a carry, was held to just 23 yards on 13 carries.
“That was surprising, but their box is really good, and they kept eight guys in there a lot,” Perkins said. “We had success throwing, but I felt like we had a good plan running the ball and we didn’t execute. We didn’t stay on blocks like we needed to.”
Lyle was 16-for-29 passing for 317 yards and two touchdowns. Jones had eight catches for 146 yards and a score, while Patton caught five balls for 145 years and a touchdown.
Despite the loss, Austin remains at the top of Class 7A, Region 4 thanks to wins over Florence and Sparkman, the other two teams with a lone region loss. The Black Bears will host Bob Jones next week and James Clemens the week after in two key region games.
“We just have to go back to work. We have to improve from the mistakes we made and build on the things we did well,” Perkins said.
— caleb.suggs@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2395. Twitter @CalebSuggs2
