Quarterback Alex Summers threw five touchdown passes and Davie County recovered from a slow start to steamroll past Reynolds 73-28 in the Central Piedmont 4-A Conference football opener for both teams on Friday night at Deaton-Thompson Stadium.
The game was homecoming for the Demons, who were without Coach Pat Crowley, who was sidelined with COVID-19. Mitch Reeves, the team’s defensive coordinator, served as acting head coach in place of Crowley, who is expected to be back for next week’s game against Mount Tabor.
Reynolds led 14-13 late in the first quarter but Davie took control with 40 unanswered points. The final 4:48 was played with a running clock.
Why Davie won
The War Eagles dominated both lines of scrimmage, giving Summers plenty of time to throw the football. When Summers wasn’t slicing up the Reynolds secondary, he was handing off to tailbacks Tate Carney and Markel Summers, who each finished with more than 100 yards rushing.
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Why Reynolds lost
The Demons are not a deep team, both on the offensive and defensive lines, and they seemed to tire in the second and third quarters when the War Eagles seized the momentum.
Stars
Davie
Alex Summers: Completed 17 of 22 passes for 240 yards, with four of his touchdown passes coming in the first half.
Markel Summers: Rushed 17 times for 151 yards.
Tate Carney: Rushed for 123 yards on 14 carries. When Davie defeated Reynolds in the spring, Carney rushed for 321 yards and eight touchdowns.
Reynolds
Quarterback Duke Ferree: Completed 17 of 20 passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns, almost all of them in the first half. Ferree played wide receiver most of the second half, with A’Mario McClure taking over at quarterback.
The big plays
Coy James scored on a 41-yard interception return late in the first half to give the War Eagles in three-touchdown lead.
Zaharee Maddox caught a 30-yard touchdown pass with 30 seconds left in the second quarter as Davie took a 41-14 halftime lead.
Kenaz McMillian caught a 59-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter as the Demons took their only lead at 14-13
Five things we learned
- When Carney leaves the game for the War Eagles, he has a more than adequate replacement in Markel Summers.
Davie will go as far in the Central Piedmont 4-A Conference as its defense will take them. It’s clearly not a strong area for the War Eagles.
Carney, a Wake Forest commit, will sign his national letter of intent with the Deacons in December but does not plan to enroll early. He said he will play basketball for Davie this season.
Reynolds was overmatched against a team that has as much size and depth as Davie.
The Demons’ offense is based almost entirely around its short passing game.
What they’re saying
“We found our groove after we found out what Reynolds was giving us. They got us off balance a little bit at the beginning. But once we settled down we were able to execute.” – Coach Tim Devericks of Davie.
“This team has a lot of heart and they are a good group to coach. We are thin. That’s part of being at R.J. Reynolds. We don’t have the size up front that a lot of these other schools have.” – acting coach Mitch Reeves of Reynolds.
Records
Davie County: 1-0 Central Piedmont 4-A, 4-0 overall.
Reynolds: 0-1, 1-3.
Up next
Davie: East Forsyth, 7 p.m. Friday.
Reynolds: At Mount Tabor, 7 p.m. Friday,
Scoring summary
Davie County 20 21 12 20 – 73
Reynolds 14 0 0 14 – 28
D – Tate Carney, 13 run (Palmer Williams kick), 7-0, 10:27, 1st
R – Kenaz McMillian, 5 pass from Duke Ferree (Wes Dunlap kick) 7-7, 5:32, 1st
D – Zymere Hudson 15 pass from Summers, run failed, 13-7, 3:38, 1st
R –McMillian, 59 pass from Ferree (Dunlap kick) 14-13, 2:18, 1st
D – Hudson, 26 pass from Summers (Williams kick) 20-14, 1:31, 1st
D – Zaharee Maddox, 15 pass from Summers (Williams kick) 27-14, 7:01, 2nd
D – Coy James, 41 interception return (Williams kick) 34-14, 5:13, 2nd
D – Brodie Smith, 51-pass from Summers (Williams kick) 48-14, 5:46, 3rd
D – Safety, 50-14, 3:57, 3rd
D – Williams, 47 field goal, 53-14, 2:16, 3rd
R – Jaden Wallace, 15 pass from A’Mario McClure (Dunlap kick) 53-21, 11:47, 4th
D – Ty Miller, 5 run (Williams kick) 60-21, 8:56, 4th
R – Isiah Lytton, 30 pass from McClure (Dunlap kick) 60-28, 7:08, 4th
D – Markel Summers, 26 run, run failed, 66-28, 5:39, 4th
D – John Stokes, 4 run with fumble (Williams kick) 73-28, 4:48, 4th