By Craig Brown
The Robert E. Lee Academy Cavaliers dominated the Dillon Christian School Warriors on offense and defense Friday night at Warrior Field to come away with a 21-6 non-region win.
Cavaliers Head Coach, David Rankin has been in the game a long time and has had some very successful teams coming to the Cavaliers after several years at the helm of Williamsburg Academy.
The win gives Rankin seven in a row against the Warriors. The Cavaliers did not run a complicated offense with their leading ground gainer, quarterback Nick Stokes. Stokes ran in all three Cavalier touchdowns and one two point conversion. The Cavalier defense seemed to have the Warrior offense covered like a blanket.
The Warriors put up over 400 yards rushing last week, but the Cavaliers held them to 99 yards Friday.
The Warriors did produce 130 yards in the air, but the cost was three interceptions and the Warriors were fortunate not to have had at least three more. When a game is going bad the comments from the fans on the sidelines varies from remarks that are clear that the fan is out of line to others that maybe they have a point.
One spectator pointed out that the Warriors have arguably three of the best running backs in SCISA with TeShaun Lane, Kelvin Stackhouse and Tyreck Toomer and not using them. The three backs were only used 13 times in this game. Rankin is known for his mastery of the pass and over the years has learned how to defend the pass.
Another question was why when you team is behind does the quarterback have to run to the sideline to meet with the coach to get the next play off using up valuable time and allowing the opposing defense to rest. One Warrior coach did state that the Warriors did not have a hurry-up offense. If your team is in the lead, time consuming meetings like this would make sense, but when you are playing catchup it does not seem to be a good idea. Some teams rotate linemen or receivers to bring in the next play with the player standing by the offensive coordinator ready to receive the play.
One fan pointed out that the Warrior quarterback was running twenty yards to the sidelines and twenty back to the huddle every play that had to add to his fatigue. One old football coach once told me that every game is full of arm chair quarterbacks and what they think might not work either but they pay to see the game and have a right to state their opinion. He also added that sometimes they do make sense.
The coach also stated that as long as you are winning nobody cares how you do it or what plays you run, but lose and you will be judged. It is noted that the Cavaliers did not run a complicated offense which seems out of character for Coach Rankin.
About fifty percent of the Cavalier offense consisted of using quarterback Nick Stokes handing the ball to his tailback moving around the right side or Stokes keeping it and running to the left. The exchange or fake was so good that it seem to divide the Warrior defenders on who had the ball. The big Cavalier QB was hard to bring down and this is where the Warriors miss the strength and power of Luke Price at linebacker. Price is out for the year pending surgery on his leg.
What plays the Cavaliers ran seemed well practiced. Old Green Bay – Lombardi school of thought, the fewer plays you have the more you get to practice them and the more perfect they become and the harder to stop. The Cavaliers took the opening kickoff and Stokes marched his team down field finishing the drive with a two yard quarterback keeper run. The point after kick was blocked holding the Cavaliers to a 6-0 lead with 9:50 left in the first quarter. The first quarter would end with this score. It looked as if the first half would end with this score but the Cavaliers put together a late second quarter drive after intercepting a Warrior pass that ended with Stokes crossing the goal on a one yard keeper run and then running in the two point conversion to give the Cavaliers a 14-0 lead with 15 seconds left in the first half.
The Warriors dodge a bullet allowing the Cavaliers to recover an onside kick giving them two pass attempts at the end zone before the half ended.
The Warriors got the ball to start the second half. The drive ended quickly as the Cavaliers intercepted a Warrior pass on third down and returned it to the Warrior five yard line. It took Stokes one try to get it into the end zone for his third touchdown.
Weston Green added the point after kick to give the Cavaliers a 21-0 lead with 10:09 left in the third quarter. Tyreck Toomer found a hole in the Cavalier defense and outran the defenders on his way to a 19 yard touchdown run with 3:33 left in the third quarter. The extra point kick was blocked leaving the Warriors trailing 21-6.
The Cavaliers attempted a 30 yard field goal in the fourth quarter that was off to the right closing the scoring with the Cavaliers taking the 21-6 win.
Were the Cavaliers that much better than the Warriors? Many fans favored the Warriors by three touchdowns. In sports things don’t always go as planned. The Warriors had a faster backfield, but the Cavaliers had a size advantage.
The Cavaliers were a well-coached physical team that came to town to win Friday night.
On offense for the Warriors, Michael Minges was 9 of 17 passing for 130 yards with three interceptions and had 48 yards rushing on 13 carries, TeShaun Lane had 18 yards on 9 carries and caught a pass for 18 yards, Anthony “Red” Williams caught five passes for 80 yards, Tyreck Toomer had 33 yards on two carries with a touchdown and Jackson Wolfe caught three passes for 32 yards. On defense, Ethan Shackelford had eight tackles with three quarterback sacks and four tackle assists, TeShaun Lane had seven tackles, two assists, Jake Boykin had six tackles with an assist, Garrett Collins had five tackles, four assists with two quarterback sacks, Kelvin Stackhouse had five tackles with an assist, Red Williams had four tackles with a batted down pass, Hunter Tyner, David Williams and Tyreck Toomer had three tackles with two assists each with Tyner adding a quarterback sack, Michael Minges and Bradley Patterson had two tackles with an assist each. Patterson is also credited with fielding an onside kick with perfect form and Dallas Feeko added a tackle.
The Warriors travel to Mullins this Friday for a region match up with their number one rival, Pee Dee Academy that has won three straight games. The Warriors better be prepared because the Eagles are hot and would love to upset the Warriors.
Game time is set for 7:30.
