By Craig Brown
The Pee Dee Academy Golden Eagles were the early season favorites to take the Region 2 Single A division this year, but the Dillon Christian School Warriors made a statement Friday night in Mullins that they were the defending champions and were not ready to give up their title coming away with a 58-28 win.
The Warrior offense was led by Diaz Alexander and Demontez Alford who produced 470 yards of the 528 total team yards.
The Warrior defense was led by Garrett Collins, John Rourke, Caleb Boykin and Azeon Brown assisted by the Warrior defensive secondary that intercepted three Eagle passes.
The Warriors finished their first offensive drive with a 27 yard Gage Bazemore field goal to put the Warriors up 3-0 with 7:39 left in the first quarter.
The Eagles struck back with quarterback Jake Lane hitting wide receiver Connor Gasque with a 18-yard touchdown pass.
Zachary Martin added the point after kick to put the Eagles on top 7-3 with 5:35 left in the first quarter. This would be the only lead for the Eagles in this game.
The Warriors finished their next drive with Diaz Alexander connecting with end John Rourke on a 25-yard touchdown pass.
Bazemore’s point after kick put the Warriors back on top 10-7 with 2:33 left in the first quarter. The quarter would end with this score.
On the Warriors first possession of the second quarter, Alexander found Demontez Alford open for a 13 yard touchdown pass.
Bazemore’s kick increased the Warrior lead to 17-7 with 11:06 left in the second quarter.
The Warrior offense continued their attack with Alford getting his second touchdown on a 35-yard run followed by Bazemore’s point after kick to give the Warriors a 24-7 lead with 7:08 left in the second quarter.
The Eagles were not about to lay down and die especially when playing their number one rival.
Jake Lane connected with Jesse Lane with a 24 yard touchdown pass.
Martin added the point after kick to close the Warrior lead to 24-14 with 3:09 left in the second quarter with the first half ending with this score.
The Warriors returned the third quarter kickoff to the 37 -yard line.
Alford took the handoff from Alexander and broke free of Eagle defenders on his way to a 63-yard touchdown run for his third of the night.
Bazemore’s kick was true to give the Warriors a 31-14 lead with 11:43 left in the third quarter.
Alexander was also playing defense in this game and intercepted an Eagle pass and returned it to the Eagles 21 yard line.
Alexander returned behind his center and saw Jackson Wolfe open and hit him with a 21-yard touchdown pass. Bazemore’s kick lifted the Warriors to a 38-14 lead with 11:15 left in the third quarter.
The Eagles fought back with Jake Lane connecting with Jesse Lane on a 60 yard touchdown strike.
Martin’s kick cut the Warrior lead to 38-21 with 9:43 left in the third quarter.
The Warriors fielded the Eagles squib kick and returned it to the Eagle 43-yard line.
Alford picked up touchdown number four with a 43-yard run up the middle of the Eagle’s defense.
Bazemore’s kick split the uprights to put the Warrior lead 45-21 with 9:24 left in the third quarter. The Eagles were not ready to quit and Jake Lane again found Jesse Lane open for a 61 yard touchdown pass. Martin added the point after kick to put the score Warriors 45 Eagles 28 with 8:00 left in the third quarter. With 3:23 left in the third quarter Alexander recovered from a busted pass play and broke tackles on his way to a 45 yard touchdown run. The point after kick failed holding the Warrior lead to 51-28. Garrett Collins took over on the Warriors next offensive possession and carried the ball three times with the final carry a seven yard touchdown run. Bazemore’s point after kick was the nail in the coffin to give the Warriors the 58-28 lead with 33 seconds left in the third quarter. The clock was run without stoppage the remainder of the game with no serious additional attempts by the Warriors to score. The win puts the Warriors in first place in the region. On offense for the Warriors, Diaz Alexander was seven of nine passing for 134 yards and three touchdowns and had 111 yards rushing on 12 carries with a touchdown, Demontez Alford had 196 yards on 11 carries with three touchdowns and caught two passes for 29 yards and a touchdown, Jackson Wolfe caught two passes for 56 yards and a touchdown, Garrett Collins had 48 yards on three carries with a touchdown, John Rourke caught a 25 yard touchdown pass, Bryan Edwards caught a pass for 28 yards and Daniel Camp had 10 yards on three carries. Gage Bazemore was seven of eight in point after kicks adding a 27 yard field goal. On defense, Garrett Collins had 10 tackles, three assists, John Rourke had nine tackles with an assist, Caleb Boykin had six tackles, Azeon Brown had five tackles adding a quarterback sack, Jared Ivey four tackles, three assists, Samuel Coleman had three tackles, two assists, Demontez Alford and Diaz Alexander had three tackles each with Alexander with an interception with a 20 yard return, Corbin Wethington had two tackles, two assists with adding an interception with a 42 yard return, Ian Patterson and Evan Paul had two tackles with an assist each with Paul adding a quarterback sack, Connor Hamilton had two tackles, Jackson Wolfe had a tackle with two assists adding an interception returned 15 yards, Barnes Causey and Hamilton Hodges added a tackle each, Gage Hunt and Ereck Eck had two tackles assists each. The Warriors will be off this week observing their bye week.
