Pirates sail over Two Rivers

4
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2016
thedovertimes.com
THE DOVER TIMES
SPORTS
Dover Pirates shut out Waldron Bulldogs in 41-0 victory
By Heather Sprinkle
The Dover Pirates defeated the
Waldron Bulldogs 41-0 in a shutout on Friday.
The Dover Pirates took the
field on Friday donned in special
military uniforms during a game
especially dedicated to honoring
our military.
The Pirates took control of the
game early on.
Less than two minutes into the
game, Chandler Signor caused a
fumble which Trey Lackey recovered.
Lackey ran for more than 30
yards on the play of the Pirate’s
first possession, which Ben Dale
followed up with several successful carries.
Jacob Sharp scored a touchdown with 8:42 on the clock and
Dale found the end zone for the
two-point conversion, giving the
Pirates an early lead of 8-0.
The Pirate defense held the
Bulldogs on their second possession. The Bulldogs never passed
midfield before punting on fourth
and one with 7:06 on the clock.
The Pirate offense made good
use of the clock on their next
drive. While they were unable to
score on the drive, the Bulldogs
took over on downs with less than
30 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Pirate defense proved
to be strong once again. Signor
stopped the Bulldogs for a loss of
yards on third and five with 11:40
on the clock. The Bulldogs punted
on 4th and six, which Jacob Sharp
ran back for an 84-yard touchdown.
Early in the second quarter,
the Pirates led 14-0.
On their next drive the Bulldogs fumbled on their first play.
Senior Josh Myers recovered the
fumble for Dover, making it the
Pirate’s ball on the 50-yard line
with more than 10 minutes to go
in the second quarter.
Dale carried the ball on second
and eight, pushing his way to a
“Dover Pirate first down.”
After a completed pass to
Lackey, Srutka and Dale carried
the ball to within the goal line.
Dale scored the touchdown
with more than five minutes on
the clock and Cheak kicked the
PAT to increase the lead to 21-0.
The Pirate defense continued
to dominate the Bulldog offense
on the next drive. Blake Massengale recovered a fumble behind
the line of scrimmage with four
minutes on the clock and great
field position.
It was once again the Pirate’s
ball and they made quick work of
getting within 10 yards of the goal
line.
Dale scored with 3:34 left in
the first half, increasing the lead
to 28-0 after Cheak’s field goal.
Cheak’s kick soared to almost
the end zone, giving the advantage once again to the Pirates as
the Bulldogs found themselves
trailing 28-0 on the six-yard line.
The Bulldogs were stopped by
“shipload of Pirates” for a gain on
only one yard. The Dale’s tackle
behind the line of scrimmage
pushed the Bulldogs back to the
one-yard line before they punted
on fourth and nine.
At the half, the score remained
28-0, Dover.
Dover received the ball in the
second half and quickly made
their way down the field, using
the clock to their advantage.
On first and 10 with 8:47 on the
clock, Dover fumbled the ball
which was recovered by the Bulldogs.
The tide quickly changed
when, on the first play, the Bulldogs fumbled, which was recovered by Dover Pirate Presley
Williams.
The Pirates were unable to
score on the drive, but did
manage to run the clock down to
less than five minutes.
With 42 seconds left in the
quarter, the Pirates recovered a
fumble on the 23-yard line after
a mix-up in the backfield.
The mercy rule went into
effect early in the fourth quarter
after Srutka scored a touchdown
with 10:36 on the clock. After
Cheak’s field goal the score was
35-0.
Dillon Duvall caused a
fumble on the punt return which
was recovered by the Pirates.
The Pirates found themselves
poised to score again with great
field position on the 19-yard line.
After Sharp carried for three,
Cheak scored on the next play
with a quarterback keeper.
Landon O’Bryant stopped the
Bulldogs on the punt return at
the 41-yard line.
The final score was 41-0,
Pirates.
Head Coach Greg Smith said
the offensive and defensive lines
played tough throughout the
game and he was impressed
with the stamina of the players.
“We established our run game
and played very physical defense,”
Smith said. “We seem to be getting stronger as the season progresses towards the playoffs. This
is the time of year we want to peak
and play great.”
Smith added that he was
pleased that the team came out
strong and took over the game
quickly.
Smith encouraged Pirate fans
to travel with the team to continue their support and spur them
to victory for their final game of
the season before playoffs.
“We would like to encourage
the fans to travel to Ozark this
Friday and take over their field
and create a home field advantage
for the Pirates!”
Friday’s win on the Bulldogs
catapulted the current Pirate
seniors into a tie with the graduating class of 1997 as the “winningest class ever at Dover,”
Smith said.
A win on Friday against the
Hillbillies would not only give the
Pirates excellent placement in the
playoffs, it would make them the
“winningest” class at Dover, with
24 wins during a season.
The Pirates travel to Ozark on
Friday, Nov. 4th to play the Hillbillies.
photos by Aubrey Sprinkle
Wildcats resume winning ways with romp over Poyen Indians
By Ira Taylor
The Hector Wildcats
bounced back from last week’s
loss in a big way, scoring at will
Friday night against the Poyen
Indians and coming away with
a 54-6 conference victory at
Linton Stadium at Hector.
Junior wide receiver Jadon
Graham had four touchdown
passes and came within a yard
of having an interception for
another touchdown to lead the
offensive attack for the Wildcats. Quarterback Tanner Gaines, in
addition to those four touchdown strikes to Graham, rushed
for two scores and intercepted
a pass at midfield and returned
it for a touchdown. That interception and score came after
another apparent interception
at the Wildcat goal line that he
returned 100 yards for what
looked like a tremendous turnaround, but a penalty on the
Wildcat defense for roughing
the passer nullified that crowdpleasing effort by Gaines.
The Wildcats kicked off to
the Indians to start the game,
but the Indian offense couldn’t
overcome two holding penalties
and a false start on their first
offensive possession and the ball
went over on downs at the Hector
45-yard line. It took just three
plays for the Wildcats to light
up their side of the scoreboard. Gaines threw in the flat to wide
receiver Justin Walker, who
ran it to the Indian 38, then
Gaines found Graham on the
same play to the opposite side
of the field that got a first down
to the 18. From there Gaines
executed a great fake handoff
and kept around the left side of
the defense and got into the end
zone for the score. Gaines then
threw to Graham for the successful two-point conversion
and the Wildcats led 8-0 with
8:54 in the first period.
Poyen
fumbled
kicker
Camren Haralson’s kick and
it was recovered by Brenden
Landrum for the Wildcats at
the Poyen 38. This time it took
only one play for the Wildcats to
add to their lead as Gaines connected with Graham on a deep
pass down the home team’s sideline. Graham caught the pass at
about the seven-yard line and
dragged a defender into the end
zone for the touchdown.
Gaines ran around the left
side of the line to add the twopoint conversion and a 16-0
Wildcat advantage with 8:41 left
in the first quarter.
The two teams traded
possessions and the Indians
had another opportunity, but
failed to move the chains, and
the Wildcats took over at the
Poyen 47. Landrum got his first
carry of the night at that point
and made a great run, spinning
away from tacklers to the Indian
13. A face mask penalty against
the Indians moved the ball to
the six, but on the next snap the
Wildcats were flagged for a false
start and the ball was set at the
11. Gaines passed to Braxton
Hendrix for a four-yard gain,
Landrum got to the three on the
next play and then Gaines found
Graham for his second TD pass
and reception. Gaines threw to
Hendrix for the two-point conversion and a 24-0 lead just five
seconds into the second period.
At that point the Indians put
together a 14-play drive that
resulted in their only score of
the night.
That drive began at their own
32-yard line and the Indians utilized the pass and some key runs
to move downfield to the Wildcat 14. It was then that Gaines
picked off quarterback Jacob
Farmer’s pass and returned it
the length of the field for what
appeared to be a spectacular
play, but the roughing the passer
call brought the ball back and
gave the Indians a first and goal
at the Hector seven. A sack by
the defense pushed the Indians back to the 11, but Farmer
was able to connect with 6’3”
wide receiver Dustin Bailey for
the touchdown. Farmer’s pass
for the two-point conversion
was complete, but the Wildcat
defense kept the receiver out of
the end zone and Poyen had to
settle for six points with 5:57 left
in the half.
The Indians tried an onside
kick, but Ethan Church fell on
the loose ball for the Wildcats
at their own 48. Gaines went to
the air again on the first play, but
was intercepted by the Indians’
defensive back, who returned it
to the Poyen 40. But two plays
later Gaines picked off Farmer’s
pass near midfield and ran it
back for a touchdown, this time
with no penalty flags to mar his
effort. Landrum got the call on
the two-point try and scooted
into the end zone to push the
Wildcat lead to 32-6 with 4:41
left to play in the half.
The Wildcat defense forced a
turnover on downs at the Hector
37 with just under two minutes
left in the half. But that was time
enough for the Wildcat offense
to strike again. Gaines kept for
a first down to his own 49 and
then found Graham again and
the junior receiver made some
great moves in eluding tacklers
and scored his third touchdown
of the evening. Running back
James Sims got the call on the
extra point attempt and made
it into the end zone, standing
up for the two-point conversion
and a 40-6 Hector lead.
Gaines and company took
up right where they left off to
begin the second half, scoring
in just three plays on a pass to
Graham. The Poyen defender
was able to grab Graham’s jersey
on the pass over the middle, but
he couldn’t hold on and Graham
took it 51 yards for his fourth TD
of the game. This time Camren
Haralson kicked the extra point to make the score 47-6, invoking
the mercy rule for the rest of the
night.
After the kickoff, the Indians
got just two plays with Graham
intercepting
Farmer’s
pass
on the second of those and
displayed the same skill as he
does on catches from his own
quarterback, returning that
errant throw all the way to the
Indian one-yard line. From
there Sims took it in for the
touchdown with Haralson again
Basketball and cheer leagues
offered by First Baptist Church
First Baptist Church of Dover
is now accepting registrations
for its Upward Basketball and
Cheerleading, two fun and exciting sports leagues for boys and
girls, Kindergarten – 6th Grade.
The eight-game season will
open Saturday, January 7th and
run through Saturday, February 25th. Players will have a
one-hour practice and a onehour game each week. All games
and practices will be held in the
Family Life Center at First Baptist Church of Dover.
Basketball player evaluations will be held on November
10th at the Family Life Center.
Kindergarten boys and girls will
be evaluated from 6:00 – 6:45
p.m. 1st and 2nd grade boys and
girls will be evaluated from 6:45
– 7:30 p.m. 3rd, 4th, 5th and
6th grade boys and girls will be
evaluated from 7:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Cheerleader orientations will
be held in conjunction with the
above dates and times.
Registration is $60.00 for
basketball and cheerleading,
if received by November 9th.
Late registrations received after
the deadline will be $70.00.
Discounts available for families with more than one player;
2nd child - $5.00 off, 3rd child
- $10.00 off, 4th and above $15.00 off. The final registration
deadline is November 11th. Registration forms may be picked
up and dropped off at the church
office between 8:00 a.m. – 4:30
p.m., Monday – Friday, or you
can register online at upward.
fbcdover.com.
adding the extra point to close
out the scoring for the night.
The Indians’ first team
offense, playing against Hector’s
second team defense put
together a 12-play drive late in
the game that appeared to be
headed for a score. But that
second team defense showed the
same grit and determination as
the starters, keeping the Indians
out of the end zone after the
Poyen offense had a second and
goal from the two, and the Indians had to turn the ball over on
downs at the five. From that
point the Wildcats were able to
run out the clock, but not before
sophomore Ethan Church picked
up a key first down for the Wildcats that enabled them to retain
possession and end the game.
In
his
after-the-game
comments, Head Coach Kyle
Russell said, “This was a good
opportunity for us to bounce
back after a tough loss last
week. But our goal is to line
up and beat the teams in front
of us from here on out. Jadon
Graham had a breakout game
for us and offensively we had the
fire back in our eyes. Defensively
I thought we played well for the
most part. We kind of had a
letdown on that one drive, but
it’s hard to stay focused sometimes when you get a big lead
early. I thought Cody Day had
his best game of the year and I
was pleased with the total team
effort tonight.”
The win keeps the Wildcats in
second place in the conference
with a 5-1 conference mark and
and 8-1 season record. They will
close out their regular season
on Thursday night this week,
hosting the Quitman Bulldogs.
Game time is set for 7 p.m. The win also guarantees the
Wildcats a first-round playoff
game if they defeat the Bulldogs
this week. Coach Russell
said the playoff opponent will
either be Bearden, a team the
Wildcats defeated earlier this
season, or Rison, a playoff
nemesis the past two years.
Bearden will play Strong this
week and if Bearden wins by 10
or more points, Hector will host
Rison, but if Bearden wins by
less than 10, the Wildcats will
host Bearden.
2015 Sr. Hector Football
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11-4-16
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