Big plays do in Davis in football loss to Wood
It was a growth spurt gone bad.
Despite four touchdown passes from Shayne Reagan and a solid first-half performance, Davis High suffered through a fractured final 24 minutes, dropping a 33-26 nonleague football decision to visiting Will C. Wood on Friday at Ron & Mary Brown Stadium.
The loss was the first for the Blue Devils (2-1). The Wildcats are now 1-2.
Thanks to scoring tosses of 20 yards to Kris Mackewicz and 10 yards to C.K. Hicks, DHS fashioned a 13-0 lead at intermission.
During that time, the Devil defense — meeting the challenge of a Wood line that often averaged 270 pounds from tackle to tackle — forced the visitors into two punts, a stop on downs and a missed field goal.
“We had nice balance in the first half,” said DHS coach Steve Smyte. “The offense was humming. There was growth there. We finished a lot better, too.”
But the third quarter was a different story.
During the week, Smyte said the Wildcats were a much better team that its 0-2 record: “They wear on you and eventually something breaks. It’s that big offensive line.”
That “break” happened on the second scrimmage play of the third period.
Tailback Travis Lewis got a blow-out block from center Zack Thorton, then cut to the outside and rambled 68 yards for Wood’s first score of the night.
The Blue Devils looked to have things back on track when their next possession started with back-to-back 13-yard runs from sophomore running back Winfred Roberson. The runs briefly put Roberson over 100 yards — but the next two carries were a microcosm of a third period in reverse for the locals.
Roberson was stuffed for minus-five and minus-10 yards, falling back below the century mark, and Davis was forced to punt. (Roberson — because the Devils would soon be forced into catch-up mode — saw only three more carries on the night, finishing with 95 yards on 20 tries.)
Reagan’s kick pinned Wood back on its own 9-yard line. However, that big ’Cat offensive line was about to take over.
A 10-yard completion (Brian Stansbury-to-Quincy Crenshaw) gave WCW some breathing room. After DHS’ Jacob Schroeder laid wood to Wood, stopping Jimmy Primus for no gain, disaster struck.
Stansbury was flushed from the pocket and ran 40 yards before Blue Devil cornerback Marcus Charles saved the touchdown, momentarily.
Seven plays later, Fontine Adams would score from five yards out. The extra point failed, but the game was tied at 13.
On the ensuing kickoff, DHS’ Adam King brought the home crowd of almost 1,200 to its feet, returning the ball 60 yards to the Wood 42. Kicker Jared Magaoay’s tackle saved greater damage.
After Willie Hawkins’ 19-yard reception put the Devils on an apparent drive, which also included a 14-yard reception by Hicks, three straight incompletions set up the defining play of the night …
Lined up for a 26-yard field goal attempt, Thomas May’s kick was blocked by Primus — who collected the ball in full stride and went 68 yards untouched for a back-breaking score. Magaoay’s PAT made it 20-13.
After Davis and Wood exchanged punts, another Blue Devil turnover — this time a 27-yard interception return for a touchdown by Jonathan Camacho — put DHS down 26-13 with 8:52 left in the game.
“We’re a resilient bunch,” Smyte explained afterward. “We could have folded our tent when they started to take it to us. They came back. There’s no quit in these kids. There isn’t.”
To wit: a fumble recovery gave Davis possession near midfield with 5:24 to go.
The result was a two-play drive that ended with another touchdown reception — this time covering 30 yards — by Mackewicz, his second of three scoring grabs Friday.
May’s conversion made the deficit manageable, 26-20.
But that big ol’ Wildcat front — and Devil injuries — came back into play late.
First, DHS linebacker Mike McTygue suffered a knee injury. Out he came. Then Corey Nelson re-sprained his left ankle. Down he went. Already missing Austin Day (concussion in the game against Sacramento), the middle linebacker position got thin in a hurry.
So, wouldn’t you know: on fourth-and-one with 2:11 still to play, Camacho piled into the line, bounced outside and skirted 27 yards for the killer score.
“That last TD, we had no Mike (MLB) in there,” said Davis defensive coordinator Randy Malmgren. “Now, we’ve gotta get healthy again.”
But the “no quit” Smyte talks of was evident on the Blue Devils’ last hurrah.
A remarkable, eight-play, 72-yard scoring drive took just 1:01 to complete. Nineteen- and 37-yard pass completions to Hawkins and Grant Dickerson, respectively, were the keys before Mackewicz and Reagan hooked up for their third touchdown, this time from 12 yards out.
After the PAT kick sailed wide, Wood recovered the DHS onside kick and took a knee on three successive plays.
Reagan finished 18-of-40 for 249 yards and the four TDs; his one interception costly.
Dickerson caught eight passes for 96 yards and Hawkins gathered four for 60. Mackewicz’s three catches for 62 yards were all for scores. Hicks had the two grabs, 24 yards and a TD.
The Wildcats, who were led by QB Stansbury’s 114 yards, rushed for 285 yards, using nine ball carriers.
Next up for Davis is Homecoming on Friday (7:15 p.m.) against Colfax.
Notes: McTygue and Nelson were to have been evaluated this weekend as to the extent of their injuries and Smyte will have a report on Monday. … ”There were a lot of areas we improved this week,” the coach said. “This was a much tougher opponent (than Armijo or Sacramento).” Wood made the playoffs last season before meeting its Waterloo in the first round at Grant. “Some things went wrong in that second half,” Smyte continued. “Especially with the blitz pick-up package. We had some dropped balls. That hurt us. We dropped two touchdowns — and that’s something you can’t do against better teams.” … Defensive lineman Nick Denton carried The Sledgehammer onto the field Friday. The tool/award is voted to the player who had the biggest hit of the previous-week’s game. That said, maybe kicker Thomas May will carry it next week. On Davis’ first kickoff, May — his left wrist already wrapped from a previous injury — laid out kick-returner Trevor Rosser. Ryan Spinelli, the Wildcats’ top rusher the last two seasons, missed Friday with an ankle injury. … One area of big improvement? Davis had only four penalties for 20 yards. Far better than the 20 whistles in the first two outings.
— Reach Bruce Gallaudet at bgallaudet@davisenterprise.net or (530) 747-8047. View galleries or purchase prints of Blue Devil sports photos at http://davisenterprise.zenfolio.com
Short URL: http://www.davisenterprise.com/?p=82782
Posted by Bruce Gallaudet
on Sep 17 2011.
Last Login: Tue 22 May 2012 11:46:20 PM PDT
Filed under Blue Devils, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
