ALMOND, Wis. — Florence overcame a sluggish start to score four touchdowns in the second half and execute all four two-point conversion tries while holding Almond-Bancroft scoreless after halftime to rout the Eagles 38-8 in an 8-player varsity football opener at Almond on Friday night.

“We didn’t have the fast start we were hoping for,” said Florence coach Kent Walstrom. “Some dropped passes on well-thrown balls by Will (Kelley) and a fumble ended some offensive possessions when we were driving the ball and moving downfield.

“And, then, we messed up a punt snap to give Almond a really short field,” he continued. “That’s the one drive in the second quarter they scored on.”

The Bobcats took the lead on their second possession of the first quarter on a three yard run by Logan Thompson to go up 6-0. The botched punt snap late in the second quarter helped Almond grab an 8-6 lead before Florence took control of the game.

Touchdown runs of 43 and 10 yards by Logan Schuls on successive drives in the third quarter and two more touchdown runs of 23 and 5 yards by Evan Johnson put the game away midway through the fourth quarter.

“You could see it was an early season game and both teams were working through some things,” said Walstrom. “Almond had the inside run game going early and mixed it with a pretty effective pass game, but our defense adjusted and minimized the big play, and our offensive and defensive lines took control in the second half.”

Florence’s defense was led by Bryce Leffler, Will Sipple and Logan Schuls with seven tackles apiece. Evan Johnson, Kelley and Schuls each recorded an interception.

“Their big tight end, Ayden Phillips, made some phenomenal catches, so we put Evan on him in man coverage and kind of took that part of their game away,” Walstrom said. “They went to Phillips a lot when they needed a play to move the chains. Bryce Leffler played a good game inside too, stuffing the run and creating pressure up the middle on their QB.”

On offense, Schuls powered Florence’s running game with 115 yards on 13 carries and two rushing touchdowns.

“Logan (Schuls) ran tough inside and was elusive when he broke through the first level of their defense. Nice start to the season for him,” added Walstrom.

Johnson contributed 89 yards on 17 carries with the two scores and had two catches for 35 yards, and Logan Thompson had 51 yards and a score on nine carries before exiting with an injury.

Florence QB Will Kelley completed five passes for 57 yards.

“Kelley played a good game at QB,” said Walstrom. “This wasn’t a throw the ball all over the field kind of game for us. They chose to play a deep safety most of the game, which gave them one less defender against the run, and we stayed patient with the run game and made them pay.

“But Will (Kelley) played within himself and ran our offense the way he needed to, to win this game. Very happy with his performance, and he had some pinpoint passes dropped that were no fault of his. His overall passing numbers should have been much higher.”

The Bobcats (1-0) now get ready for a home game this Friday versus defending state champion Wausau Newman.

“They have the best 8-man program in the state, they return a bunch of players from their state title team from last season, and they whipped a pretty competitive team in Three Lakes in game one, so it’s a big, big challenge for us to play them, and play them competitively,” said Walstrom.

Game time Friday at Robert Landry Field in Florence is 7 p.m.