By Brian Pitts
sports@salisburypost.comMOCKSVILLE ó Smarting from three straight losses, Davie took out its frustrations on Senior Night.
“This is something we’ve been missing around here for a while,” Davie coach Doug Illing said after the War Eagles ripped the Reagan Raiders 33-2 to snap a three-game losing streak. “I’m real proud of our kids. They showed up tonight and played well.”
The win improved Davie to 4-6 overall and 1-3 in the Central Piedmont Conference. Reagan fell to 1-9, 0-4.
The Davie defense dominated for the third straight week. Reagan managed 243 yards, but 127 of them came on two Nick Hatch runs that came with the score 27-0.
The Raiders had as many turnovers (seven) as first downs.
They had half as many interceptions (two) as completions (four). They went 0-for- 10 on third-down conversions, and they were stuffed after drives to the Davie 7 and 11 in the second half.
D’Angelo Mayfield and Andrew Buchanan had picks, while Greg Brill, Chase Sampson, Anthony Ressa, Justin Miller and Jared Barber had fumble recoveries.
“They bowed their neck near the goal line twice and kept them out of the end zone,” Illing said. “They continued to play stingy defense. The thing this team has going for them is we’ve got a really good defense. When you’ve got a really good defense, they can keep you in games against anybody.”
A Davie offense that had been beleaguered for weeks got a morale boost from quarterbacks Jacob Barber and Carson Herndon and receiver Joe Watson.
Barber, who had missed the past two games with a concussion, came back strong, completing 9 of 11 passes for 108 yards. Herndon was sharp as well, completing 7 of 11 attempts for 79 yards. They connected with seven different receivers.
“We kept it simple, throwing the little bubble route, and they were giving us the corner route,” Illing said. “We’ve been looking for that kind of production for a long time. We’ve been looking for 85 percent or above for their grade, and hopefully they’re going to get that this week.”
Watson, who was limited to 109 receiving yards by Reynolds, West Forsyth and Mt. Tabor, enjoyed a five-catch, 107-yard outburst.
How refreshing was that?
Watson had four TD catches through nine games.
In this one, he had three TD catches in the first 14:54. Herndon hit Watson for a 26-yard TD before Barber completed 23- and 15-yard scores to the big fella.
An emphasis on quick, high-percentage routes woke up an offense that had scored 18 points in two games.
“We just kept putting Watson in different positions,” Illing said. “We’d put him wide, we’d bring him inside and still get him the ball from different spots.”
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NOTES: The War Eagles will close the regular season at North Davidson, which hasn’t beaten Davie since 2001. … Davie’s ground game is still looking for consistency. Nick Bohannon led with 42 yards on 10 carries. Barber did have keepers for 21 and 9 yards. Herndon kept an option for 22 yards.