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Danville's Ace Ray (12) runs the ball after a catch in the third quarter of the Admirals¿ 51-7 win over Lincoln County in the Bob Allen Pigskin Classic. Ray had five receptions for 134 yards and two touchdowns in the win. (Clay Jackson / August 26, 2012) |
Danville displayed considerably more firepower on offense in its second game than in its first, and it was far too much for Lincoln County to handle.
The Admirals went to the air often and effectively and used a number of running backs, and the Patriots simply couldn’t stop them all.
Fourteen different players ran the ball or caught passes for Danville, and five of them scored as the Admirals routed Lincoln County 51-7 in the Bob Allen Pigskin Classic at Admiral Stadium.
Danville (1-1) scored four rushing touchdowns and four passing touchdowns, and its 445 yards of total offense — nearly double its total in its season-opening loss to Simon Kenton — was split fairly evenly.
“We took advantage of what they were giving us. They were bringing stunts on the inside, and that was causing us some problems early. But by doing that it also gave up some things, so we just took advantage of that,” Danville coach Sam Harp said.
Quarterback Devonta Alcorn was named the game’s most valuable player and was again the Admirals’ statistical leader on offense, but the statistics were much different than a week earlier.
He led the team in rushing attempts for the second straight week, but with only six. And after throwing the ball only eight times with two interceptions against Simon Kenton, he went 12 for 19 against Lincoln for 237 yards with three touchdowns and no picks.
“Last week we didn’t throw it much because we didn’t have good enough protection, but it was better this week,” Alcorn said. “Our physicality was better, too.”
Too good for Lincoln (1-1), which stopped Danville only once after scoring the game’s first touchdown.
The Admirals scored on three consecutive possessions in the first half to take a 22-7 lead, then scored twice in less than 2 minutes in the third quarter to leave the Patriots in the dust and win in their bowl game for the fifth consecutive year.
“We knew they had a great offense, and obviously they proved it tonight,” Lincoln coach Mike Settles said.
And while there were mistakes — Danville fumbled the ball four times in the first 8 minutes — the Admirals’ big plays effectively nullified those errors.
Their three first-half touchdowns came on plays of 39 yards or more and changed the momentum after Lincoln had stopped them on their first two series and taken a 7-0 lead.
“We did a great job early, but there’s so many weapons and so many different things their offense does that are so hard to stop. We didn’t tackle well, and we gave up the big play,” Settles said.
Lincoln struck first with a big play of its own, the second fumble recovery in less than 6 minutes by Trevor Gaines. Gaines scooped up the ball after it was stripped from Danville receiver Nolan Spann and returned it 55 yards for a touchdown that gave the Patriots an 8-7 lead.
But the Patriots’ offense never got to the end zone, and they totaled just 172 yards.
“I wish we’d been better offensively,” Settles said. “We got beat in all three phases tonight.”
The Admirals answered Lincoln’s score quickly, scoring four plays following the kickoff on a 39-yard pass from Devonta Alcorn to Jawan Grey and taking an 8-7 lead when Grey threw a halfback pass to Alcorn for the two-point conversion.
Danville scored on its next two possessions as well to go up 22-7 midway through the second quarter.
The Admirals covered 84 yards in just five plays, scoring on a 57-yard run by Alcorn, who broke a tackle near the line of scrimmage on a run up the middle, then added to their lead on Alcorn’s 74-yard touchdown pass to Ace Ray, who outjumped Gaines to catch the ball near the Lincoln 40-yard line, then cut back across the field on his way to paydirt.
Meanwhile, Lincoln’s offense sputtered for much of the first half. The Patriots had only one first down before a drive late in the first half took them from their own 20 to the Danville 4 before time expired after they opted to go for it on third and goal rather than attempt a field goal.
Danville was stopped on its first series of the second half, but that was the last time. Ray caught his second touchdown pass and Damani Del Rosario ran for a score in the third quarter, and Alcorn and backup quarterback Chris Davis added to the lead with rushing touchdowns in the fourth.
Lincoln never threatened the end zone in the second half, returning to Danville territory only on the final drive of the game. Logan Martin led the Patriots with 43 yards rushing, and Justin Hubble was 5 for 10 passing.
“Our defense did a good job, I think, overall,” Harp said. “We had a few lapses, but I think overall we did well. We had some good performances out here tonight, and we’ve got to improve on this because we’ve got a tough one next week.”
Statistics
At Danville
Lincoln County 7 0 0 0 — 7
Danville 8 15 15 14 — 51
First Quarter
Lincoln — Trevor Gaines 55 fumble recovery (Boone Baird kick), 4:14.
Danville — Jawan Grey 39 pass from Devonta Alcorn (Alcorn pass from Grey), 2:22.
Second Quarter
Danville — Alcorn 57 run (Damir Karapandzic kick), 9:16.
Danville — Ace Ray 74 pass from Alcorn (Karapandzic kick), 6:36.
Third Quarter
Danville — Damani Del Rosario 5 run (Karapandzic kick), 4:34.
Danville — Ac. Ray 17 pass from Alcorn (Ac. Ray pass from Chris Davis), 2:39.
Fourth Quarter
Danville — Alcorn 8 run (Karapandzic kick), 8:36.
Danville — Chris Davis 25 run (Karapandzic kick), 2:38.
LC D
First downs 10 16
Rushes-yards 35-120 32-208
Passing 52 237
Total Net Yards 172 445
Comp-Att-Int 5-12-1 12-19-0
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 4-2
Penalties-Yards 5-35 4-25
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Lincoln, Logan Martin 17-43, Deonte Coulter 7-35, Justin Hubble 5-19, Connor Patterson 3-14, Chris Wilkinson 1-5, Marvin Robinson 2-4. Danville, Devonta Alcorn 6-115, Chris Davis 1-25, Tyquan Matthews 4-22, Jadarius Brown 4-13, Stephen Ray 1-11, Olyjawan Ford 4-9, Ray Bradshaw 5-9, Damani Del Rosario 3-6, Hamilton Young 1-2, Jawan Grey 3-minus 4.
PASSING—Lincoln, Hubble 5-12-1-52. Danville, Alcorn 12-19-0-237.
RECEIVING—Lincoln, Patterson 3-34, Trevor Gaines 1-11, Gerald Miller 1-7. Danville, Ace Ray 5-134, Akeem Ray 2-34, Josh Singleton 2-22, Grey 1-23, Ford 1-18, Nolan Spann 1-3.
