Saturday, October 27, 2012

Suddenly Saturday- North Davidson v.Davie Recap

  
Emotions ran high at War Eagle Stadium for the contest between the War Eagles and the Black Knights from North Davidson Friday night, both on the field and in the stands.  Davie High's venerable stadium was filled to capacity on both sides, with considerable spillover in the SRO areas in the end zone.  The game lived up to the hype as the Black Knights eventually prevailed 34-24, wrapping up the Central Piedmont 4-A championship and a perfect season in the process.



What was billed my many (including myself) as a defensive struggle quickly turned into a Battle of the Big Plays.  North Davidson got the scoring started early, as Hunter Hoots scooped up an A. J. Blaskievich fumble and rumbled into the endzone for a Black Knight touchdown.  A silence washed over the crowd, temporarily stunned by the quick score.  The silence was quickly broken not 2 minutes later, as freshman quarterback Cade Carney defied logic and ran right through the vaunted Black Knight defensive line for a 71-yard rushing touchdown.  War Eagle Stadium was now the noisiest place in the 336 area code, and there was still just over 8 minutes to play in the first quarter.




Tevin Tuttle's return on the ensuing kickoff gave North Davidson outstanding field position, eventually leading to a Chase Mitchell 1-yard touchdown run and a 14-7 lead with under 6 minutes remaining in the quarter.  Just a few minutes later, however, Davie recovered a fumbled punt at the North Davidson 31.  Faced with 4th-and-4 on the 25, coach Doug Illing trotted out Woody Parrish for a long 42-yard field goal attempt that cleared the crossbar with just inches to spare.



After the quarter break allowed the capacity crowd to catch its collective breath, North Davidson's Chase Mitchell capped off a 10-play 80-yard drive with the first of two touchdown passes to wideout Ashton Phillips. Davie then gave the ball right back after Cade Carney was picked off by Chris Cheek at the War Eagle 27.  The Black Knight drive stalled, but not before the big leg of Spencer Landfried tacked on 3 more points with 8 minutes remaining in the half. 


With doubt and worry beginning to emnate from the Davie faithful, Cade Carney hit A.J. Blaskievich on a 73-yard pitch and catch for a touchdown with just under 2 minutes remaining.  The masses were once again on their feet, imploring the defense to make a stand.  They did so, but not before the Black Knights' Landfried tacked on a 26-yard field goal at the half for a score of 27-17.

The Black Knights took the second half kickoff and commenced another long, time-consuming drive that culminated in the second touchdown reception for Ashton Phillips, extending the lead to a seemingly insurmountable 34-17 with just over 8 minutes to play in the third quarter.  Both defenses combined to hold the opposing offenses scoreless for the remainder of the quarter, which included a rare miss for North Davidson's Landfried.

The final stanza began with Cade Carney leading the War Eagles down the field and powering in for a 2-yard touchdown, bringing Davie within striking distance with 9 minutes remaining.  However, another Chris Cheek interception with 6 minutes remaining in addition to a combination of incompletions, drops and plain bad luck doomed Davie as the contest drew to a close.  Make no mistake, the War Eagles were not only in the game,  but they were also in position to tie it on more than one occasion.  In the end, however, it was the Black Knights and their fans celebrating a conference championship in a raucous gathering on the field as the clock struck zero.




More postgame coverage to come!



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