Sep. 16—FALKVILLE — The Tanner Rattlers went on the road and defeated the Falkville Blue Devils, 48-18, on Friday night.

The Rattlers took home the win in Class 2A, Region 8 play thanks to great effort from receiver Skylar Townsend and quarterback Karl Parham.

"When I see man on man coverage, I tell my QB to throw it to me every time." Townsend said.

The first quarter of action in Falkville vs. Tanner started out slow as neither team could get past the first-down marker and penalties plagued both teams.

"We've got to be more disciplined, a lot of bad penalties," said head coach Oscar Bonds. "One thing we've got to clean up is our attitude. It bothers me when they don't know how to act when things don't go their way."

On the Rattlers fourth drive of the game, Parham capped off a 35-yard drive with a 20-yard pass to Townsend. Oliver Gonzalez made the extra point with one minute left in the first quarter to give Tanner a 7-0 lead.

Two minutes later, the Rattlers started their next drive on the Blue Devils' 45-yard line. Then just 48 seconds later, Tanner's Kian Jackson completed the two-play drive with a 43-yard run to the end zone to make it 14-0.

The rest of the half would go on scoreless until late in the second quarter. Parham made a 35-yard touchdown connection to Townsend with 38 seconds left in the half to give the Rattlers a 20-0 lead.

However, Falkville's Malachi Collett then caught the next kickoff and returned it 90-yards to put the Blue Devils on the scoreboard, making the halftime score 20-6.

On the second play back from halftime, Townsend picked the ball out of the air and returned it for a pick-six.

"My D-lineman made a play, tossed it up and I went to go get it. Just playing football." Townsend said.

Two minutes later on the next drive back, the Blue Devils struck for the second time. Kole Fitzgerald ended a 60-yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown rush, cutting the lead to 27-12.

The Rattlers then responded with two more touchdowns. as Townsend punched in a one-yard touchdown rush and Endymion Tyus caught a 15-yard touchdown pass..

Falkville quarterback Landon Powers struck Fitzgerald for a 5-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 41-18, but Towsend scored again on a 48 yard touchdown catch to seal the win.

Tanner moves to 2-2 on the season and 2-0 in region play. The Rattlers will host Sheffield next Friday.

"We owe Sheffield some get back. They beat us last year by a field goal block," said Parham.

Falkville (3-1) will travel to Hatton.