There wasn’t a lot of mystery with what went wrong after a promising start for Flowery Branch on Friday.

After jumping ahead by two scores in the opening quarter, the Falcons (2-4, 1-4 Region 8-AAAAA) stumbled on offense and were unable to finish off a pair of promising third-quarter drives against Clarke Central.

As a result, Flowery Branch lost 32-12, almost completely ending any playoff hopes this season, with games against talented programs from Salem and Gainesville still remaining on the schedule.

“I’m pretty sure we’re out of the running for the playoffs now,” said Flowery Branch coach Chris Griffin. “We had some success moving the ball early in the game tonight but couldn’t take advantage of opportunities when we were moving the ball later in the game.”

Meanwhile, Clarke Central is very much alive in the playoff talks, improving its mark to 3-3, 3-2 in region play.

The Gladiators’ defense combined for four interceptions of Flowery Branch quarterback Nick Lance, while also sacking the Falcons’ signal-caller five times in the second half.

Momentum started to swing heavily in the Gladiators’ favor with Qua-Von Scott’s 31-yard interception return untouched for a score early in the third quarter, giving Clarke Central its first lead of the game at 15-12.

Clarke Central also forced a turnover on downs when Flowery Branch failed on a fourth-down attempt deep in Gladiator territory late in the third quarter. The Falcons even had a short field to work with on the drive, trailing 22-12, after Cooper Harrison returned the kickoff for Flowery Branch down to the Clarke 42.

Earlier in the third quarter, Flowery Branch put together a drive that covered 61 yards but ended with a missed field goal attempt.

The Falcons’ main success moving the ball was behind 56 rushing yards from Jeremiah Goss in the second half. Early in the game, Trey Wilcoxson had most of the Flowery Branch touches, including a 21-yard score early in the first quarter for a 6-0 lead. Kyle King scored later in the opening quarter for the Falcons, when he was on the receiving end of a 7-yard scoring pass from Lance.

After that, Clarke Central’s defense steadily gained control of the game. Flowery Branch finished the game with 177 yards of offense.

“I think our defense played really well tonight,” said Clarke coach Ahren Self, who is in search of the program’s eighth straight playoff appearance. “We were prepared to see more of a spread look tonight, so we had to adjust when Flowery Branch came out with a two tight end set.

“After we made some adjustments, we played really well.”

Talented junior running back JaQua Daniels was the most successful for Clarke Central. Daniels didn’t factor into the game until the Gladiators were trailing 12-0 late in the first quarter. He immediately made an impact with a gain of 10 yards on his first carry. Late in the second quarter, Daniels started running the ball out of direct-snap formations, eventually leading to a 10-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Aakeem Wise to Marcus Campbell.

Daniels finished the game with 22 carries for 122 yards. He had two touchdown runs in the second half, along with a run for a two-point conversion after Scott’s interception return for a score.

Clarke Central not only had a hole to dig out of on the scoreboard in the first half, it also had a 70-yard touchdown wiped out due to offsetting penalties.

Even though the playoffs are only a slim possibility for Flowery Branch, Griffin still holds faith it will continue to improve the rest of the season, even though the schedule doesn’t get any easier.

“We just have to continue to get better and focus on what’s next, which for us is Apalachee on Friday,” said Griffin.

Flowery Branch’s next opponent, Apalachee, is 0-6 on the season, coming off a bye this week.

On Friday, Clarke Central visits Gainesville, which is coming off a 26-23 loss to Lanier, at City Park Stadium.