By Brian Pitts
sports@salisburypost.com
MOCKSVILLE ó It was a bad time for inexperienced Davie to face a seasoned Page, and the result was a brutal 41-7 loss by the host War Eagles in Fridayís season opener.
Page bolted to a 27-0 lead in the first quarter and coasted.
ěWeíre really a green team, and itís going to take time for them to become good,î Davie coach Doug Illing said after his team lost to Page for the third straight year. ěWe need to play a lot of football, and we need to learn how to play it. I think the more we play, the better weíre going to get. Weíve just got a lot of young kids.î
The first quarter was a hair-raiser for Davie. Page returned a punt 48 yards to the Davie 18, and it was 7-0 three plays later. Page quarterback James Summers scored on a 46-yard run, barely getting touched.
Two plays later, Page was in the end zone again, this time courtesy of its defense. William Henry picked off Adam Smith and went 37 yards. Pageís third offensive possession resulted in a third score, this time on a Summers 10-yard pass to running back Drew Rogers.
With 1:15 left in the first quarter, it was 27-0. Yikes.
Summers, a N.C. State commitment, put on a Godzilla-sized performance, running for 248 yards on 16 keepers. The 6-3, 200-pounder added 85 passing yards.
Rogers piled up 69 yards on nine carries before leaving early in the third with cramps.
ěItís a very good team we played,î Illing said. ěWe saw real quick the level that weíve got to play at to be good. Theyíre good all the way around.î
Davie started to gain traction when Russell Anthony took over at running back in the second quarter. He ran eight times for 52 yards during a 10-play series, but he fumbled into the end zone at the end of a 12-yard pickup. The score remained 27-0.
ěHeís going to give you everything heís got,î Illing said. ěHeís hard-nosed and you canít fault him for running as hard as he can.
ěWe feel like weíre pretty good offensively. But you turn it over (four) times, you canít be very good. You donít give yourself a chance.î
You could sum up Summersí night when Page was backed up at its 12 with 8:29 left in the third. Rogers had just been carted off with cramps. Summers kept the ball around left end and romped 88 yards, bumping the margin to 34-7.
ěIím glad heís on our team,î Page coach Kevin Gillespie said. ěHeís a special kid. When things are going down, our tailback is going out cramping, he comes up and says: ëCoach, give me the ball.í Thereís only certain players that Iíve coached in 20-plus years that look you right in the eye and say, ëCoach, Iíve got you,í and I believe them.î
With the outcome settled early, Illingís focus from the second quarter on was about finding positives. He came away encouraged that Davie was outscored 14-7 over the final three periods.
ěThis team is not going to quit,î he said. ěYouíll see a better team next Friday just because of the experience we got tonight. Weíre not a very good tackling team right now, but we probably played one of the best offensive players in the state (in Summers).î