By Brian Pitts
sports@salisburypost.com
CLEMMONS ó In a defensive slugfest for the ages, the Davie football team’s defense kept stopping West Forsyth’s vaunted offense and gave its offense repeated chances to knock off the sixth-ranked team in the state.
But visiting Davie couldn’t cash in, ultimately suffering a wrenching 13-7 overtime loss last night.
The win lifted the Titans to 8-0 and 2-0 in the Central Piedmont Conference.
Exasperated Davie slipped to 3-5, 0-2.
“We need a horseshoe or a four-leaf clover or something,” Davie coach Doug Illing said. “We’re playing our hearts out on both sides. Gosh, little mistakes here and there hurt us.”
For every frustrated and perplexed coach, there’s a proud, relieved and victorious coach. West has Lady Luck on its side, winning in OT for the second straight week.
“I know it’s tough for those guys (at Davie),” West coach Adrian Snow said.
“It wasn’t pretty, but a ‘W’ is a ‘W. There’s ugly Ws. They can call it what they want, but it goes into the column to the left.”
What a defensive battle it was. Both offenses looked like they were shooting a battleship with BBs. The Titans, who had been nearly unstoppable through the air all year, finished with 100 yards of offense. Quarterback Patrick Midkiff went 7 of 20 for 64 yards, throwing four interceptions, including two to Zach Long. West’s star receiver, Ric Thompson, didn’t have a catch, and its main runner, Bobby Clark, had 4 yards on 10 carries.
Davie’s offense, missing QB Jacob Barber with a concussion, was just as rugged. It needed 36 carries to pick up 72 rushing yards, and Carson Herndon was held to 8-for-19 passing for 58 yards, although he was smart with the ball (one interception).
The game was marred by penalties. Davie was flagged 14 times for 122 yards, while West was whistled 11 times for 105 yards. It was 0-0 after three quarters.
The War Eagles had West on the ropes throughout the second half, but couldn’t make the hosts pay. They reached the West 20 before Matt Cusack barely hooked a 44-yard field goal.
The game’s first points came on a blocked punt by West’s Andrew Kibler, who blocked it, scooped it and scored from the 10 with 11:36 to play. But Davie’s stud linebacker, Jared Barber, who played the game of his life, rescued his team by picking Midkiff and returning it 63 yards to the West 2. Skeeter Montgomery took it in as Davie tied the game at 7 with 7:30 to go.
Long got his second interception and returned it to the West 40, but Nick Bohannon fumbled at the end of a 10-yard run.
“The encouraging thing I have to keep telling our kids is we’re so close,” Illing said. “We’re a good team. We’re so close to being really good. We’ve just got to keep practicing and get these mistakes taken care of.”
Davie got the ball first in OT, and Montgomery exploded behind left tackle for 9 yards to the West 1. The Davie euphoria was short-lived as Montgomery fumbled on second down. An unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty pushed West up to the Davie 5, and it scored from the 1 after handing the ball to Kersey Anthony three straight times.
“I thought Skeeter was in (on first down),” Illing said. “I thought he fell on the defender and rolled in. I’d like to have had instant replay, because I would have definitely challenged it. … It’s just unfortunate we made that mistake on the punt team and gave them seven points.”