Vince Elliott was surprised he couldn’t remember more from his head-coaching debut Friday night after Kingwood Christian School’s 44-32 loss on the road at Evangel Christian Academy in Montgomery.

It’s not surprising he didn’t. A chaotic high-scoring affair coupled with off the field problems resulted in a hectic night for Elliott.

“I thought I would have remembered more,” Elliott lamented. “It was really kind of strange. But I enjoyed it.”

A special teams breakdown hurt his team on the field. A school van breakdown gave him fits after the game.

Elliott left the field to get in the team van to drive home when he discovered the battery was dead and needed a boost to get started.

On the way home, he was supposed to meet up with the team at McDonald’s in Prattville. The McDonald’s was closed when he arrived.

Elliott eventually met up with his team. He wasn’t satisfied with the way the Lions’ special teams performed or his game plan. However, he was pleased with his team’s effort.

“You can’t fix quit,” Elliott said. “I’m proud of our guys for not quitting.”

Elliott said Evangel capitalized on Kingwood special teams’ mistakes by returning two kickoffs for a touchdown. Evangel also blocked two punts and had a safety in the game. Elliott said the first half was especially disappointing as his team fell behind 28-6 at the break.

“We had a complete special teams breakdown,” Elliott said. “We had a complete shutdown. We had a lack of discipline on the offensive line. Nothing we did worked.”

Elliott had a hard time remembering all of the touchdowns in his first game as a head coach. He did remember the first two scored under his watch.

David Fillingim ran a kickoff back for a touchdown for the first score in the game. Tyron Pope scored on a wedge play for the Lions’ second touchdown.

After that, everything was blury for Elliott. He did remember his team climbing back by outscoring Evangel Christian 24-16 in the second half. Kingwood pulled to within 10 points late in the third quarter, but an Evangel touchdown on a kickoff return ended the Lions’ hope of a victory. Elliott said that play was the most disappointing play in the game.

“After the first quarter, I thought maybe my whole game plan was a complete disaster,” Elliott said. “We started getting better in the second half.”