Florala High School topped Georgiana School 49-33 in a shootout Friday night in Florala.

“Offensively we played pretty well,” Georgiana head coach David Watts said. “We still just aren’t very good on defense. We dug ourselves a pretty sizeable hole early and just weren’t able to climb out of it.”

The offensive catalyst for the Panthers was freshman quarterback Jacquez Payton. The 5-foot-10, 150-pound signal caller rushed for 302 yards and three touchdowns and threw for another 96 yards and a score.

Despite the loss, Watts said he was proud of his team’s effort.

“We were down 28-7 at the half and we asked our guys to come out and win the second half, and we outscored them 26-21,” Watts said. “That’s a small consolation, but I’m proud of our guys for fighting.”

Watts also praised the play of Shaun Giddens, Matthew Colvin and Justin Oikle.

“I thought all three of those guys really stepped up,” he said.

Georgiana (1-8, 1-6 Class 1A, Region 2) will wrap up its season next Friday night at home against Highland Home. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Harmon Field.