Football rally falls short at Glenn

Published 10:51 am Thursday, October 25, 2018

KERNERSVILLE – When the first quarter ended with visiting Davie behind 14-0, the reeling War Eagles had been outscored 98-37 in a span of nine quarters. When the first quarter ended with Glenn quarterback Jaden Sutton having churned 10 times for 120 rushing yards, a Bobcat wipeout seemed quite possible.

But Davie dug in, showed some guts and made it a 48-minute game Friday in Kernersville. Although the War Eagles (3-5, 0-2 Central Piedmont Conference) lost for the fifth time in six games, they battled admirably in 27-25 defeat.

“We played with a sense of unity,” coach Tim Devericks said. “You you could see both sides (of the ball) feeding off each other. On the sideline people were encouraging each other.”

By flaunting its running quarterback – Sutton carried 37 times for 279 yards, rushing for two scores and throwing for another – the Bobcats (5-3, 2-0) won for the fifth time in six games.

Earlier in the season, Davie’s defense was bullied by Mooresville, West Rowan, Kannapolis and Reynolds, and it had to hold on for a shootout win over Carson. It was getting gouged again in the early going at Glenn. In the first quarter, the Bobcats ran 24 plays to Davie’s four and had 153 yards to Davie’s minus-2. For the half, Glenn had 11 first downs to Davie’s one and 198 yards to Davie’s 14.

Davie was fortunate to only trail 21-10 at the break, its touchdown set up by a fumble at the Glenn 5 and its other three points coming on a 22-yard field goal by Skyler Schoppe after Glenn’s botched punt gave Davie possession at the Glenn 5. The TD was Josh Robinson’s team-high 12th, which is the most in three years.

The War Eagles missed a great opportunity midway through the third quarter. At this point, they had 39 yards of offense. Out of nowhere, Tate Carney picked up 40 on one play, catching a pass from Nate Hampton, shaking a tackler and dashing to the Glenn 22. On second down from the Glenn 7, however, a defensive lineman reached up, batted a Hampton pass and linebacker Miles Brinson intercepted.

“The play was there,” Devericks lamented. “It was a Jack and Ben (Crenshaw) combo (route).”

Davie missed another chance to cut into Glenn’s lead on its next possession. On fourth-and-2 from the Glenn 44, Hampton and receiver Jack Reynolds could not hook up on a slant.

Davie’s defense, after forcing back-to-back punts, got a turnover on downs at the Davie 26. Eight plays later, Hampton squeezed a pass through a tight window. The defender gambled trying to knock it away. When Zac Gantt caught it, he headed down the sideline with nothing but daylight in front of him, resulting in a 38-yard touchdown.

It was a breakthrough moment for Gantt, who entered the game with one catch.

“Zac has been a player who has punched the clock every day, and he’s gotten tremendously better,” Devericks said. “We’re going to give him shots and it makes our offense more flexible. We can give Josh or Tate a blow and we don’t lose any production.”

The holder on the PAT unit, Reynolds, executed a trick play on the conversion, taking the snap, rolling right and tossing an easy completion to Carney to pull Davie within 21-18 with 5:27 to go.

“We worked on it twice (in practice),” he said. “It’s something we picked up on film. They are tremendously aggressive on that, and if the opportunity came, we had it in our bag.”

Glenn answered immediately. After a big kickoff return, the Bobcats ran a trick play on first down. Sutton handed off to running back Daniel Napper, who threw deep to a wide-open Tyrell Allen for a 41-yard TD. Davie blocked the PAT, but it looked as though it wouldn’t matter because Glenn had a two-score lead (27-18) with 5:01 to play.

It was Bobcats’ second successful gimmick. In the first quarter, they faked a punt from their own 46, with Sutton lining up at upback, taking the snap and hitting a receiver for 13 yards – seven more than they needed.

“For the most part our guys did a good job,” Devericks said. “I think they were trying to do more (gimmicks), but we had it covered up.”

Davie wasn’t done. On the next play from scrimmage, Hampton went long to Reynolds, who made the catch and fell on the defender without touching the ground. He jumped to his feet and raced to the end zone for an improbable 74-yard score. Schoppe’s kick made it 27-25 with 4:41 left.

It was the sixth receiving TD for Reynolds, a sophomore who has scored on nine of 32 catches in two years.

“They had trouble getting lined up,” Devericks said. “Nate and Jack saw it and Jack just took off.”

An amazing comeback was not to be. Davie had no answers for the bruising Sutton, who ran for 23, 9 and 9 yards for clock-killing first downs. The game ended with Glenn kneeling down from the Davie 2.

“There were times we stopped their initial point of attack,” he said. “(Sutton) just makes a bad play for them a good play really quick.”

In the face of defeat, Devericks took solace from a team that refused to quit. The War Eagles outgained Glenn 250-182 in the second half. They rushed for 71 second-half yards after only managing two in the first half. (Robinson had 43 of those.) Hampton threw for 179 second-half yards after passing for 12 in the first half.

“I think the defense played one heck of a game for being put in spots they were put in,” he said. “They just have a tremendous athlete (Sutton) that was getting the snap every time.”

Notes: For the first time all year, Davie did not score first. … Schoppe has never tried a field goal from 40-plus yards, but he’s been nearly perfect from short/medium range. He’s 3 for 3 this year after going 7 for 8 last year. His career long is 37.

•••

The War Eagles appeared to find themselves in the second half at Glenn. Good thing because the most imposing CPC challenge yet comes Friday night on Davie’s homecoming at 7:30.

West Forsyth is 5-3 and 1-1 in the CPC, having won four of five. Two outcomes in particular don’t bode well for Davie: West hung with East Forsyth in a 16-10 loss, and East is undefeated; and West handled Reynolds 29-13, and Reynolds thumped Davie 28-10.

“It’s all about believing in each other and believing what’s called,” Devericks said. “Each person is a piece and we’re putting a puzzle together. It’s not going to be built overnight. It’s going to be built, though.”

West’s scores: 26-7 win over Lake Norman, 41-26 loss to Oscar Smith (Va.), 30-24 loss to Mt. Tabor, 26-13 win over High Point Central, 41-27 win over South Iredell, 43-27 win over Northwest Guilford, 16-10 loss to East Forsyth and 29-13 win over Reynolds.

The Titans, who staved off Davie 20-17 last year, have won five of six meetings. They lead the all-time series 22-14.

Davie       0    10  0    15 – 25

Glenn       14  7    0    6   – 27

First Quarter

G – Sutton 47 run (kick blocked), 8:27.

G – Sutton 7 run (Allen run), :08.

Second Quarter

D – Robinson 3 run (Schoppe kick), 7:57.

D – Schoppe 22 FG, 1:32.

G – Wilson 12 pass from Sutton (Potts kick), :23.

Fourth Quarter

D – Gantt 38 pass from Hampton (Carney pass from Reynolds), 5:27.

G – Allen 41 pass from Napper (kick fail), 5:01.

D – Reynolds 74 pass from Hampton (Schoppe kick), 4:41.

TEAM STATISTICS

D G

FD1020

Rushing 34-73 54-300

Passing 191 80

C-A-I 8-14-1 7-12-0

Punts 4-34 3-35

F-L 1-1 2-1

Penalties 8-59 7-62

3rd conv. 3-9 2-10

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Davie

RUSHING – Robinson 18-63, Carney 7-15, Crenshaw 2-8, Hampton 7-(-13)

PASSING – Hampton 8-14-1-191

RECEIVING – Crenshaw 4-34, Gantt 2-43, Reynolds 1-74, Carney 1-40

Glenn

RUSHING – Sutton 37-279, Napper 13-27, Dilworth 2-4, Allen 1-(-3), team 1-(-5)

PASSING – Sutton 6-10-0-39, Napper 1-2-0-41

RECEIVING – Allen 3-44, Napper 2-11, Dilworth 1-13, Wilson 1-12