Ellis’ football team responded from a halftime tongue lashing and beat Brown 20-6 on the road on Oct. 7. The third straight win lifted the Jaguars to 3-2.

On the second play from scrimmage for Ellis, Samuel Hendrix ran 36 yards to put the Jaguars in front 6-0. But Ellis coaches were not thrilled with what they saw during Brown’s 14-play, 52-yard, game-tying drive in the second quarter. Then Ellis went three-and-out and it was 6-6 at halftime.

“On that drive, we missed at least 20 tackles,” assistant coach Mike Morgan said. “One reason the drive took so long, they’d get penalties, we’d hit them in the backfield, they’d have long-yardage situations and then we’d miss three tackles and give up a first down.

“Needless to say, we had a spirited discussion at halftime about the importance of tackling and blocking.”

The Jaguars answered the bell in the second half. Anthony Azar’s 14-yard pass to Aidan Payne gave Ellis the lead, and Payne’s one-point run made it 13-6. It was a drive that ate up most of the third quarter.

Azar and Payne put it out of reach by connecting for a 60-yard TD. Julian Howard’s one-point run closed the scoring. Brown had three offensive series in the second half, running just 10 plays.

“The message about blocking and tackling at halftime must have been effective,” Morgan said.

Before Azar’s first TD toss to Payne, Howard had a 65-yard scoring run called back by a penalty.

“Somebody blocked in the back about 25 yards away from the play,” Morgan said.

Nevertheless, Howard showcased his breakneck speed for the second week in a row. Morgan heaped praise on the eighth grader who is in his first year of football.

“Howard didn’t go to school here last year and he had never played football before,” he said. “He’s raw. But I’m telling you, he can fly. He might be the fastest kid that’s ever played here. He’s not big, but he can run. He’s a great kid and he’s smart. He makes great grades. He got in the secondary against Forbush and against Brown, and it looked like a cheetah running against an ox. If he’ll stick with it, lift weights and they can teach him how to play football, he’s got the potential to help (Davie High).”

The Jaguars have outscored opponents 73-22 during their winning streak. They’ve outscored Brown 60-6 in two years.

N. Davie Wins

North Davie overmatched visiting Forbush 24-6 on Oct. 7 to improve the Wildcats’ record to 3-1.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Wildcats were in need of a spark. They got it from Anthony Deters, who returned a punt 70 yards to the end zone. With Garret Boger snapping, Noah Bohannon holding and Deters kicking, Deters hit the first of three two-point kicks to up the lead to 8-0.

“We needed something to ignite the team,” coach George Newman said. “(Deters got) an excellent block from Grant Copeland.”

Forbush shanked a punt. Six plays later, it was late in the first half when Justice Redmond completed a 35-yard scoring pass to Channing Glenn, who won a 50/50 ball. It was 16-0 at the half.

Forbush put together a time-consuming drive to shave North’s lead to 16-6. North answered with a scoring drive late in the game, with Redmond scoring from three yards out. Then Redmond added an interception to end the game.

South Davie (4-0) had a bye last week.