Flowery Branch faced their first tough region foe in the Heritage Patriots on Friday night in Flowery Branch, but the Falcons needed help from some unexpected places to be able to overcome a team that scored 17 points off of Flowery Branch turnovers in the first half alone.

In a defensive backfield that includes players such as NCAA Division-I prospects Darius Curry and Noel Padmore, it was senior Quinton Mayfield who shined for the Falcons on Friday.

Mayfield recorded three interceptions for the Falcons against Heritage, two of which came in the third quarter, helping Flowery Branch erase a 21-point defecit after halftime and get the win.

For his efforts, Mayfield has been named The Times Player of the Week.

“He had one of the best days he’s ever had here,” Flowery Branch coach Chris Griffin said.

His two interceptions in the third quarter led directly to Falcons touchdowns and were pivotal moments in the Falcons’ 35-27 comeback win.

“That first interception of the second half really set the tone,” Mayfield said. “When one of our defensive linemen had a tackle for loss, that’s when I knew we were ready.”

Even though Mayfield is not always the star in the Falcons’ defensive backfield, Griffin said he considers Mayfield a leader on the team.

“He’s a guy that we expect to go out and make plays like that,” Griffin said. “He’s a smart guy who understands more than just his job.”

Griffin said that Mayfield also had a couple of touchdown-saving tackles to help the Falcons ward off the Patriots, but Mayfield said he just did what he had to do coverage-wise to stop Heritage, who the Falcons tied, along with Clarke Central, for the Region 8-AAAA championship last season.

“We were able to stop them on tackles that he made that forced them to kick field goals,” Griffin said.

The Falcons scored 29 unanswered points in the third quarter, and the defense held off Heritage for the remainder of the game to help the Falcons survive the region test and keep hopes for a high seed in the playoffs alive.

“Every week, it gets a little bit more important,” Griffin said, “We don’t need to put ourselves in a hole.”

Without Mayfield’s strong performance on the Falcons’ defense, however, the team may not have found the spark it needed. At halftime, he insisted that his team play better for the rest of the game, and after the win, the team’s attitude was changed.

“It gave us that feeling like we don’t ever want to be down like that again,” Mayfield said.

Flowery Branch will count on Mayfield and their other team leaders against another difficult region opponent when the Falcons visit Clarke Central on Friday in Athens.