That East Forsyth’s football team trampled Davie, 49-14, last Thursday 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 in the Central Piedmont Conference and Davie experienced its biggest slump in decades.

East (11-0, 5-0), 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 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.

“We knew there was a lead dog, and we faced the lead dog tonight,” Devericks said.

Before East’s third score, Davie had a nice drive going 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.

“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 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. Credit seven guys who shared five spots: senior Spencer Hoke; juniors Tanner Batten, Grant Copeland, Stuie Marshall, Owen Brown and Jared Simpson; and freshman Camden Beck.

“The offensive line had another good night,” Devericks said. “They were loading the box and we were still able to move the ball, which is a credit to their hard work and dedication.”

Carney, who looks utterly big-time as a freshman, plowed through the teeth of a loaded box 24 times for 149 yards. He ran or passed (He completed 1 of 2 throws, the hookup with Adrian Cranfill bringing the crowd to its feet.) for 12 first downs, with Robinson picking up the other three.

After Carney and Robinson carried 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 Cranfill for a 22-yard TD that made it 35-14. Khalid Martin, a safety headed to N.C. State, took the bait.

“It was something we saw (on the fly),” Devericks said. “It looked like they were covering up man to man, but (Martin) was sneaking in to make a ninth guy in the box. They had an unfortunate injury, so we were able to talk to Tate (during the stoppage). It’s not a play we run; we just talked about it in the huddle.”

With 171 rushing/passing yards, Carney accounted for 87 percent of Davie’s output (196). When you run for 149 and average 6.2 yard per carry against the mighty Eagles, you’ve done something. Sometimes Carney gears down and then accelerates. Sometimes he mashes the gas immediately.

“Tate was spectacular,” Devericks said. “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.”

Senior linebacker Matthew King, who entered as the CPC’s No. 1 tackler with 108 stops to go with 10 tackles for loss and four sacks, added quite a bit to his total.

“He’s a program kid,” Devericks said. “He wasn’t the biggest or the fastest kid when he came in. It’s a testament to him. He put his nose to the grindstone and kept working and working. He had a good junior year (with 101 tackles), and I think he had an outstanding senior year.”

The other inside linebacker, Peyton Hampton, is headed to Army. He came in with 88 tackles and a team-high 15 tackles for loss. Wilson, a four-year varsity performer in the defensive trenches, has an offer from Wingate.

“Peyton is very dedicated, wants to compete and wants to win,” Devericks said. “He came in as a running back/safety. He transitioned to linebacker and was able to handle that physicality. And 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.”

Notes

• Robert Hendricks, a senior backup at left tackle, showed heart in the waning seconds of a game long decided. It was the fourth-to-last play, a high snap sailing over Summers. Hendricks raced back and kept hustling. He beat two Eagles to the ball and recovered the fumble at the Davie 2. It was a 24-yard loss, but it could have been another score for East.

“We have a lot of guys in our program who are there every day,” Devericks said. “Robert was there every day. When we do community service, Robert is the first one there. When we do anything, Robert is the first one there. He comes to every weight lifting. He comes to every conditioning. For him to make a play for the team … he could have easily turned his back. But no, he’s going to give it everything he has for the team.”

• Robinson, who had 35 hard-fought yards, had a big junior year with 962 yards. “Josh had another good night running the ball and blocking,” Devericks said.

• Carney finished with 1,090 rushing/receiving yards. This was his third game with 100 rushing yards, including 132 vs. West Rowan and 152 vs. Reynolds. He ran or passed for Davie’s last five TDs.

• Even though N. Hampton missed three-quarters of one game and two full games, he ranks 10th on the single-season list with 124 completions. He’s 11th with 1,417 passing yards.

• With Davie set to return a ton of guys in 2019, a climb from cellar to CPC contender looks very manageable. N. Hampton, Robinson, Carney and all the main receivers will return. So will six of seven regulars on the o-line. The defense mostly consisted of sophomores/juniors. Devericks, though, cautioned that nothing’s automatic.

“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.”

East Forsyth   7    14  14  14 – 49

Davie       7    0    7    0 – 14

First Quarter

D – Carney 1 run (Schoppe kick), 7:54.

EF – Smith 7 run (Conrad kick), 4:10.

Second Quarter

EF – Marshall 4 run (Conrad kick), 10:20.

EF – Childs 7 pass from Lyles (Conrad kick), :25.

Third Quarter

EF – Lyles 6 run (Conrad kick), 7:46.

ER – Crowell 7 pass from Lyles (Conrad kick), 5:16.

D – Cranfill 22 pass from Carney (Schoppe kick), 3:21.

Fourth Quarter

EF – Smith 15 run (pass fail), 10:49.

EF – Cobbs 58 INT return (Smith run), 8:33.

TEAM STATISTICS

EF D

FD2715

Rushing 49-314 42-159

Passing 187 37

C-A-I 11-18-0 4-15-1

Punts 3-32 6-35

F-L 0-0 1-0

Penalties 13-114 4-50

3rd conv. 5-8 6-12

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

East Forsyth

RUSHING – Lyles 9-74, Marshall 14-64, Chaplin 9-53, Smith 9-49, Crowell 4-47, Brown 3-28, Jackson 1-(-1)

PASSING – Lyles 11-18-0-187

RECEIVING – Hall 3-37, Childs 3-36, Crowell 2-23, Marshall 1-39, Conway 1-26, Martin 1-26

Davie

RUSHING – Carney 24-149, Robinson 14-35, Cranfill 1-4, Summers 2-(-5), team 1-(-24)

PASSING – Summers 3-13-0-15, Carney 1-2-1-22

RECEIVING – Cranfill 2-27, Robinson 1-8, Crenshaw 1-2