By Brian Pitts
sports@salisburypost.com
MOCKSVILLE – Cade Carney rushed for 160-plus yards for the fifth time and pushed his season total to 991 in six games. As staggering as that stuff is for a freshman, Davie County’s 21-7 home win over Hibriten was a testament to Davie’s suffocating defense.
Carney played less than a minute of the first half because of a foot injury. More injuries followed, with safety A.J. Blaskievich (shoulder) and running back Stephon Smoot (shoulder) exiting early.
But the defense made sure Davie’s winning streak continued. The result was Davie’s fourth straight win for a 5-1 mark. Hibriten, Davie’s final nonconference opponent, fell to 3-3.
“(The defense) played enormous tonight,” coach Doug Illing said. “They put us on their back and took us to victory.”
Carney needed 172 yards to reach 1,000 in the shortest number of games in Davie history, and he was well on his way after running 18 and 67 yards on the first two plays of the game, the latter resulting in a TD and 7-0 lead.
But Carney was injured at the end of the TD and sat the rest of the half. The Davie offense didn’t score the rest of the night.
Hibriten stuffed a fourth-and-1 run late in the first half, turning back a 13-play, six-minute drive. That stop changed the Panthers’ vibe.
With 15 seconds left in the half, the Panthers completed their only pass of the game – but it was good for a 54-yard score that tied the game at 7. Davie had not allowed a 30-yard play all year until that bomb.
With Davie needing a jolt to break out of the tie, Devon Parks jumped in front of a short route and returned the interception 38 yards to the end zone. Woody Parrish’s 60th consecutive successful point-after kick made it 14-7.
“Parks was sitting there waiting on it and broke on it real nice,” Illing said. “It looked easy because he was in the right spot and saw it ahead of time.”
Davie all but put Hibriten away four minutes later, thanks to Caleb Mathis’ TD on a 17-yard punt return. It was an especially short punt-return score because Jamal Lackey’s pressure forced the punter to panic, and Mathis caught a line drive in stride.
“We had a block on,” Illing said. “Lackey caused him to kick it bad.”
Kyle Bullins experienced a defensive lineman’s dream, intercepting a pass. Lackey tipped the pass up in the air, Bullins had daylight until stepping out of bounds.
Hibriten’s long pass to end the first half was the first TD Davie’s defense had allowed in 11 quarters.
“(Bullins’ pick) was icing on the cake the way our defense is playing,” Illing said. “Kyle is wide open. He’s just everywhere.”