On a rainy night before a full house, the Baldwin Braves’ magical season ended with a come from behind 35-17 Flowery Branch win.

The Falcons scored 28 unanswered points in the second half.

The visitors played the second half with field position on their side, due in large part to special teams play, as the Falcons kicked the ball in and out of the end zone the entire second half.

The game started with the Falcons moving the ball from their own 20 yard line to the Baldwin 11 yard line. But the Braves defense stiffened like it had all season long, with an interception at the four yard line by Courtney Ingram, who returned it to the 44 yard line.

But after two runs of eight and five yards by senior Rico Ford, the Falcons made two defensive plays that put Baldwin in a third down and long situation. Unable to convert, the home team had to punt, and the Falcons took over on their own 20 yard line. Eight plays later, the Flowery Branch team took a 7-0 lead on a two-yard touchdown run.

On Baldwin’s next possession, the Braves took the ball down field and hit on a 25-yard field goal to cut the score to 7-3. After holding Flowery Branch to a punt on the next possession, the Braves got the ball back and went down field to the five yard line to end the first quarter behind 7-3. But on the first play of the second quarter, the Braves scored a touchdown on Jerrico Ford’s five yard touchdown run, making the score 10-7 Baldwin.

The defense again held the Falcons, due in large part to some strong hits by senior Corrico Hawkins and a sack by sophomore Kitray Solomon.

On their last possession of the first half, freshman Roshaun Miline hit D.J. Foston for a 20-yard pass to the one yard line.

Baldwin scored a touchdown on Ford’s of one-yard plunge. The score at the half was 17-7, with the Braves looking in good position to go into the state semifinals next week. But the team from Flowery Branch came out and played well in the second half, both on offense and defense, and held the Braves scoreless for the remainder of the game.

The Falcons scored once in the third quarter to cut the Braves lead to 17-14, but came into the fourth quarter looking for more.

“They just ran the ball on us in the second half, and we couldn’t seem to find the right combination to stop them,” Coach Jesse Hicks said after the game.

In the final quarter, the Falcons continued to run as they scored three more touchdowns in the rainy Milledgeville night. All this equaled something the Braves had not seen in more than 13 months of football — a 35-17 loss and elimination from the playoffs.

As the game ended, disappointment could be seen on the faces of the Braves, especially the senior players.

“This hurts a lot, and will more when I get by myself,” Hicks said. “But I told these guys that this is also a measure of a man. I told them that football is also a game of life lessons. Some of these guys will continue their football careers and some won’t, but they will all be grown men who turn into husbands and fathers and hopefully leaders in their community. “I love these guys, and they know this isn’t a word used loosely here. It’s a phrase we mean and try to live by and we are a family,” Hicks said.

The Braves finished the season with a 12-1 record that included an undefeated regular season and the first region championship in more than 23 years.