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The last time we saw the football War Eagles in action, they were exasperated.

They suffered a third straight loss, and all three have come in agonizing fashion: 24-21 to West Rowan, 31-28 to South Iredell and 43-40 to Kannapolis. They were on the wrong end of a miraculous finish with Kannapolis, losing in the waning seconds and losing for the first time ever when scoring 40 points.

Davie’s combined margin of victory in the first three games was 13 points. Yes, the line between 6-0, 0-6 and something in between is razor thin.

Enough about the nonconference portion of the schedule.

There’s no time like now to right the ship.

Friday night is the Central Piedmont Conference opener, and Davie will host Reynolds on homecoming.

Tate Carney, who became a star during 2019’s stirring start, will return after missing the fourth quarter against W. Rowan and the past two games.

The Demons used to be an automatic win, but that pattern ended last year, when they beat Davie for the first time in nine years. What’s more, it was all Reynolds in a 28-10 shocker. It scored three touchdowns in a span of 5:56 on a night when quarterback Nate Hampton went down with a concussion. The only bright spot that night in Winston-Salem was Carney’s 152 rushing yards.

The first loss to Reynolds since 2009 triggered a downward spiral that left Davie 0-5 in the CPC.

Davie leads the all-time series 22-14.

The Demons are also 3-3. Here’s a game-by-game look at their season.

• Southwest Guilford 35, Reynolds 28. Reynolds trailed 29-0 before rallying. Caden Davis’ 54-yard screen pass to Tyreik Leach pulled the Demons within 35-28, but Davis threw an interception in the dying seconds.

• Reynolds 47, Orange 24. Davis accounted for six TDs (three passing, three rushing). After leading 26-16 at halftime, Nasir Gibbs’ massive 99-yard pick-six turned a potential one-score game into a 33-16 cushion. Tobias Johnson had six catches for 107 yards, and two-way Leach rushed for 65 yards and returned a pick 65 yards.

• Pinecrest 52, Reynolds 14. The Demons were done at halftime, 35-14, as the Patriots rolled to 3-0. Coach Pat Crowley said: “I don’t know if we got tired, but we have a lot of guys going both ways and they have a lot of players. They run the ball very well and we don’t have a lot of beef up front.”

• Mt. Tabor 13, Reynolds 9. After a scoreless first half, Tabor took a 7-0 lead midway through the third. Reynolds responded with Jack Doherty’s 41-yard field goal late in the third. But Tabor took full control at 13-3 on a 74-yard pass play. Davis’ 9-yard TD pass to Johnson cut the deficit to four, but only 1:19 remained.

• Reynolds hammered hapless North Forsyth 29-6.

• Reynolds, 26, High Point Central 21. The Demons put it on cruise control at 20-0 late in the third; they had to recover an onside kick with 61 seconds left to preserve the win over the lowly Bison (0-7). The Bison used a 55-yard pass to draw within 26-21. Davis went 22 of 42 for 218 yards and three TD passes. HPC was coming off a 41-0 loss to another CPC team (Glenn).

Crowley knows Davie will have extra motivation Friday. “(Davie is) going to be ready for us. They play hard and they’ve got some players. So back to the drawing board, hopefully get better and not make mistakes.”