War Eagles stops Central Davidson 21-0

BY BRIAN PITTS
FOR THE SALISBURY POST

MOCKSVILLE — Davie County's football team still has the biggest homefield advantage this side of the Australian swim team.

The 4A War Eagles (3-4), playing in their friendly Mocksville confines, whipped 3A Central Davidson 21-0 on Friday night.

Davie's now 3-0 at home, 0-4 on the road. And it's not just a 2000 phenomenon — Davie's now won 20 of the last 23 played in Big Orange Country.

The really good news in that unusual home/road breakdown is that when the War Eagles finally open defense of their Central Piedmont Conference championship next week against rival West Forsyth, they'll be playing in Mocksville.

Davie had its Homecoming spoiled by the Spartans (4-2) last season, but took advantage of the absence of Central's star runner Robert Williams (torn ACL) to make sure there were no tears at the big dance this time. 

The game started as if both offenses were slogging around in quicksand. In the first quarter, the teams combined for just 46 total yards and only three first downs.

But Davie DB Mikey Arnold got things going in the second quarter when he recovered a ball that was snapped over the punter's head. The punter tried to bat the ball out of the end zone for a safety, but only succeeded in setting up Arnold for a quick six.

"Mikey's always a special teams leader," said Davie coach Doug Illing. "He hustled his tail off and got rewarded for it. That play was huge."

Davie's defense was dominating. 

With lineman Josh Pfaff out with a torn MCL, Illing shifted linebacker Neil Rice to rush end. Rice responded with two sacks and a mighty effort.

"Neil gave us a lot of punch up there," said Illing. "But then he'd be a playmaker even if we put him at free safety.

The other defensive star for the War Eagles was linebacker Patrick Lowery, who had a fumble recovery and two sacks.

"Patrick was amazing," said linebackers coach Mike Herndon. "He's fun to watch. His engine is always revving, and once he gets his motor running, there's just no stopping him."

The offensive fireworks for the War Eagles came from back Mike Clement.

Clement rolled for a career-best 141 yards, most of it on two electrifying TD runs.

Shortly after Davie penetrated Central territory for the first time in the second half, Clement turned the corner and was gone on a 37-yard TD jaunt. 

Three minutes later, Davie caught Central in a stunt and Clement shot right up the middle untouched for 84 yards to make it 21-0. The band director had cued the school fight song by the time Clement reached midfield.

Davie's offensive line had a solid night, opening holes for 203 rushing yards.

"We had some little mistakes to fix — that's all," said tackle Chris Nichols. "Once we got it right in our heads we ran over them. This is going to be a real momentum builder."

Especially at home, sweet home.

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Central didn't even reach Davie territory until late in the third quarter. ... Davie yielded only 78 rushing yards... Central coach Eugene Everhart was obviously disappointed. "I didn't do my job. It was a poor job of preparation on my part," he said. ... Ben Allred had a pick for Davie.