QB Reynolds scrambles for 11.9 seconds

Published 9:54 am Thursday, November 12, 2015

Every week, and sometimes several times a game, Davie quarterback Chris Reynolds makes a play that prompts fans to turn to each other as if to ask: “Did that really happen?”

In the first half of Friday’s 39-19 playoff-securing win at pesky Parkland, Reynolds ad-libbed on a two-point play. You’ve done something similar in pickup games in the backyard.

Run toward Aunt Margaret’s house. I’ll pump fake when you cut in front of the Oldsmobile, and I’ll hit you at the oak tree.

Reynolds took the snap from the muddle-huddle formation and rolled right. From the 10-yard line, his three receivers on the right side of the end zone were covered. He ran left and back to the 15. Nothing was open. With a pass rusher closing in, he spun back to his right at the 20. He retreated to the 25, then moved up to the 20. Still, nothing was open. Reynolds dropped back to the 27 and fired it across the field 30-plus yards to the back left corner. Reynolds ended up on the ground. Two defenders measured the laser pass. James Boyle, a linebacker and the team’s top tackler, caught it behind the two Mustangs.

Reynolds may have set a record: It’s unlikely anyone in the history of football has scrambled for 11.9 seconds on a two-point play.

“I don’t actually have a route,” Boyle said. “It was scramble around until Chris decides to throw it to the end zone somewhere. I just kind of roamed around. Chris did a good job keeping the play alive, giving us receivers an opportunity to find something open in the end zone. He gave me a chance to catch it. I was hoping I could catch it and stay in bounds because I could feel myself drifting back in the back of the end zone.”

The QB and receivers Ben Ellis and Cooper Wall continued to pound away at the record books.

Single-season records:

• Reynolds is second in completions with 187. Garrett Benge had 203 in ‘06.

• Reynolds is second in passing yards with 2,606. Benge had 3,071 in ‘06.

• Reynolds is second in TD passes with 26. Benge had 34 in ‘06.

Ellis owns the 1-2 spots in receiving yards. He had 1,191 in ‘14 and has 1,099 in ‘15. Wall is fifth with 973. Joe Watson had 1,085 in ‘10 and Jonathan Mayfield 1,017 in ‘05.

Career records:

• Reynolds is third in TD passes with 28. Benge had 57 from 2005-07, and Parker Correll had 44 from 2012-14.

• Ellis is second in receiving yards with 2,406 from 2013-15. Watson is first at 2,608 from 2008-10. Wall is third with 1,324 even though he’s only a sophomore.

• Ellis is second in receptions with 138. Watson had 145. Wall  is already third with 84.

• Ellis tied Watson for first in TD catches with 30. Wall tied Josh Eder and Kenny Rivers for third with 12. Eder and Rivers played in 2005-06.

Single-game records:

• Reynolds’ 18 straight completions in the memorable 40-33 win over Mt. Tabor was a record.

• No one in Davie history completed 25 passes until Reynolds, who has done it three times. He had 25 completions against Tabor. He had 26 in a 38-22 loss to West Forsyth, and he had 27 in the 45-28 loss to North Davidson.

Davie’s ground game has massively improved since the first four games, when it had 131 rushing attempts for 235 yards, a 1.7 per-carry average. In the last seven games, it has averaged 5.6 yards per carry (272 attempts for 1,542 yards).

“Coach (Jimmie) Welch has done a heck of a job getting those guys prepared,” coach Devore Holman said of linemen Luke Pratapas, Zach Clubb, Bailey Sloan, Ross Starnes and Gabe Gonnella. “They just keep getting better each week.”