That East Forsyth’s football team trampled Davie County last night at War Eagle Stadium shouldn’t have surprised anyone.
The Eagles are ranked in the top 10 in 4-A, they’re a cut above everyone else in the Central Piedmont Conference and Davie experienced its biggest slump in decades.
East, unbeaten and undisputed champion of the CPC, racked up its fourth straight win by 29-plus points. Davie, with its sixth straight loss, limped to season’s end at 3-8, 0-5.
“They’re a good ballclub,” coach Tim Devericks said. “They can hit you many ways. They’re speedy on the outside or they can out-physical you. They’ve got a stable of backs, and you can’t overrun the backs because the quarterback can hurt you.”
The War Eagles extended two oddities for a last-place team, scoring the game’s first points for the ninth time this year and holding a lead for the 10th time. After defensive linemen Ronald Wilson and Andy Flores keyed a three-and-out for Davie’s defense, Tate Carney, who split time at quarterback and running back, churned for 51 yards during a 57-yard drive and scored from the 1 as Davie jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead.
But the Eagles had an overwhelming – and immediate – answer. They covered 80 yards with nine runs and two passes to tie the game at 7. Davie’s defense was completely outmanned from that point on as East went 60 yards in 10 plays for a 14-7 lead and 93 yards in eight plays for a 21-7 halftime advantage.
Before East’s third score, Davie had a nice drive with a chance to cut into the 14-7 deficit. Carney carried six times in a span of nine plays and picked up 36 yards as Davie reached the East 14. But Carney tweaked his ankle and limped off the field. That crippled Davie’s surge because East was able to focus solely on the other running threat, Josh Robinson. After moving from the Davie 40 to the East 7, the 14th play of the series was an incomplete pass on fourth down and Davie got nothing out of it.
“Tate and Josh both might have half an ankle,” Devericks said. “They’ve been battling, they’ve been warriors and working through nicks that you get when you run the ball that hard that much.”
To make matters worse, East roared 93 yards in 1:42 and scored with :25 remaining in the half.
“Football is a war of attrition, and right now we’re not at the stage to win that attrition battle,” Devericks said.
The Eagles landed the knockout blow early in the third quarter, marching 63 yards in nine plays to bump the margin to 28-7. The rest of the contest was a formality.
East piled up 27 first downs and rushed for 314 yards. There wasn’t one offensive star; five guys had between 47 and 74 rushing yards. Quarterback Ty’Shaun Lyles was the catalyst, pacing his team with 74 rushing yards on nine attempts and going 11 of 18 for 187 yards with two passing TDs.
East scored 35 unanswered points in a span of 20:24 and reached paydirt on four straight possessions and six of seven.
For the second week in a row, Davie had to go with freshman Alex Summers at QB with Nate Hampton sidelined by a broken hand. East’s defense knew Davie was going to run virtually every play, and the offensive line still managed a push as Davie picked up 15 first downs and converted six of 12 third downs.
Carney, who looks utterly big-time as a freshman, was mighty impressive. He plowed through the teeth of a loaded box 24 times for 149 yards. He ran or passed (he completed 1 of 2 passes) for 12 of Davie’s first downs, with Robinson picking up the other three.
After Carney and Robinson carried the ball six straight times in a series late in the third, Carney attempted his first pass of the season, fooling the defense with a play fake and hitting a wide-open Adrian Cranfill for a 22-yard TD that made it 35-14.
With 171 rushing/passing yards, Carney accounted for 87 percent of Davie’s output (196 yards). Robinson added 35 rushing yards, finishing the year at 962. Summers completed three passes.
“The offensive line had another good night,” Devericks said. “All around Tate was spectacular. He’s able to let the play develop. He knows the bubble we’re trying to run to. If it’s not there, he’ll give those guys time, let it develop and then find that crease. For a freshman, (his strength) is absolutely unheard of. Josh had another good night running the ball and blocking.”
Senior linebacker Matthew King, who entered as the CPC’s No. 1 tackler with 108 stops, added quite a bit to his season total.
“He had a good junior year and I thought he had an outstanding senior year,” Devericks said.
The other inside linebacker, Peyton Hampton, is headed to Army. Wilson, a four-year varsity performer in the defensive trenches, has an offer from Wingate.
“Peyton wants to compete and wants to win,” Devericks said. “I think he’s going to do good things at Army.
“Ronald has a bright future ahead of him as well. I expect more (offers) to be on the way. The d-line is a thankless job; it goes unnoticed a lot. I’m really proud of him for what he’s done.”
With Davie set to return a ton of guys in 2019, a climb from cellar to CPC contender looks very manageable. Although it dropped eight of the last nine games, it held a lead in 10 games, the exception a 27-25 loss at Glenn.
“It’s like a bank account,” he said. “What you deposit is what you can withdraw. If you cheat the process, there’s not much to withdraw. You can’t just bank on the potential. You’ve got to put the work in and put some savings away.”