(by Don Meador, October 7, 2019)
An inability to cap drives with touchdowns coupled with a sluggish defensive performance proved costly last week for the Allen County-Scottsville Patriots. Danville broke open a close game at the half to cruise to a 41-13 win over the Patriots at the historic Stadium of Champions in Danville.
Four times in the game, the Patriot offense stalled in Admiral territory---with two of the drives stalling inside the Danville 15 yard line. In addition to not being able to score after advancing downfield, a pair of offensive miscues led to Danville scoring on a short field.
The first big play for Danville occurred on the kickoff. After the Patriots failed to field the kick, Danville recovered. Five plays and 30 yards later, Danville’s Caleb Burns scored on a four yard run to get his team on the board. The PAT gave the Admirals a 7-0 lead.
The next two Patriot possessions presented scoring chances. However, one drive ended on downs at the Admiral 40. The next drive---started after a Danville turnover---stalled at the Danville 15 yard line.
AC-S would find the end zone at the 11:01 mark of the second quarter. Immediately following a Trace McIntyre to Jax Cooper pass play, which involved Cooper breaking free for a long run on the 67-yard play, Landon Witcher’s five yard rushing touchdown and Thorny Walker’s PAT tied the score at seven.
However, before slow tweeters could post the score on Social Media, Danville was back in the lead. On the kickoff, Burns fielded Walker’s kickoff at his 15-yard line, darted to his left, avoided the Patriot pursuit, and sprinted down the Danville sideline for the 85-yard score. The point after lifted the Admirals to a 14-7 lead at the 10:46 mark.
After an exchange of punts, the Patriots appeared poised to score late in the second. This time, the drive stalled at the Danville 15-yard line as the Danville defense rose to the challenge and stopped AC-S on downs.
Leading by a single score at the halftime break, Danville broke the game open in the second half. On their first possession, the Admirals marched 62 yards in five plays to build a two touchdown lead. Quarterback Sage Dawson found Darrion Bell open along the sideline. Bells raced 47 yards to score with the PAT giving the hosts a 21-7 lead.
After the next Patriot possession stalled at the Admirals’ 40-yard line, Danville added a fourth touchdown---a touchdown in which the Patriot defense could not stop one player. Burns was the lone ball carrier on six consecutive plays. The big back overpowered the Patriots with his touchdown at the 3:40 mark giving the Admirals a 28-7 lead.
Following an interception on the next series, Danville again scored on a long play. Dawson connected with a wide-open Corydon Crawford for a 60-yard play as Danville built a 34-7 lead. On the next series, the Admiral defense recovered an AC-S fumble at the Patriot 16-yard line. Four plays later, Bryson Young capped the short drive with a touchdown reception giving his team a 41-7 lead with 6:39 remaining.
AC-S added their second score on the next series. Dillon Rookstool capped a nine-play, 60-yard drive with a score. The point after try missed.
The offensive numbers were not good for the Patriots. Unofficial stats showed AC-S’s ground game with 119 yards on 30 carries. McIntyre went seven of 19 in the air for 119 yards with the highlights being the 67-yard pass to cooper and a 17-yard strike to Tanner Stinson.
Defensively, Burns shredded the Patriot defense for 151 yards on 21 carries to lead a ground game that amassed 214 yards. In the air, Danville (2-4) gained 172 yards.
The non-district loss leaves the Patriots with a 1-6 record going into this week’s open date. AC-S (1-6, 1-1) will be back on the gridiron on October 18 against Warren East (4-3, 2-0) on the blue tuff in Bowling Green.