DAVIDSON NIP LIONS IN SPRING JAMBOREE

VARSITY LIONS STUMBLE 24-10; JAYVEES DEFEAT DAVIDSON 20-14

Prattville High School ended its 2012 spring football practice Friday night May 18 in Mobile.  New head football coach/athletic director Chad Anderson and defensive coordinator Ryan Wilson took the Lions to Ladd-Peeples Stadium to engage the Davidson Warriors in a control scrimmage.

The restrictions for the game included no blitzes of the quarterback, no rushing the punter or extra point kicker, as well as no returns of kickoffs or punts. All punts and kickoffs would be placed at the 30 yard line. This was a safety factor to avoid any unnecessary contact that would cause injuries during the scrimmage.

For the first two quarters of action the two teams’ varsity players would participate.  The highlight of the two quarter scrimmage was the leadership of Davidson’s senior quarterback Brendan Jackson (6-2-185) and his ability to run the football.

Jackson consistently pulled the ball down and took off running picking up large chunks of yardage as the Warriors built an early 14-0 lead.  The Warriors then held off the Lions in the second quarter to win the two quarter varsity scrimmage, 24-10.

The second half consisted of a battle between the two teams junior varsity squads.

Prattville jumped out front early in the contest, 20-0, and then held off a late rally that saw the Warriors score two touchdowns.

VARSITY: DAVIDSON 24 PRATTVILLE 10

The Lions started out in a huge hole as the Warriors held a 14-0 lead after only 2 minutes and 15 seconds of play.

Austin MacGinnis’ kickoff sailed to the 2-yard line.  Under the rules of the controlled scrimmage, all kickoffs regardless where they landed was placed at the 30-yard line.

On first down Davidson’s Jackson, with an apparent called quarterback keeper, picked up 40 yards.  On second down he faked, pulled the ball down, and raced into the end zone for a 6-0 lead.

Prattville linebackers went for the fake and Jackson had clear sailings into the end zone. Michal Farni kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead with only 44 seconds having been played. Jackson had rushed for 70-yards on two plays.

On their initial possession, the Lions picked up 31 yards with four carries, three by Stanley Mays and one by Kamryn Pettway.  Kalen Whitlow then carried  for 7-yards and appeared to be down but the ball bounced loose with Davidson’s linebacker Nick Walley picking up the loose ball and raced 59 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead with 9:45 left in the first quarter.

Prattville wouldn’t roll over.  The Lions took the kickoff and put together an excellent drive alternating between Mays and Pettway, and one short pass from Whitlow to Anthony Lykes.  The drive bogged down at the Davidson 21 yard line.  MacGinnis kicked a 38-yard field goal to trim the lead to 14-3 with 6:34 left in the quarter.

Prattville’s defense was tested on the next series as the Warriors behind a 33-yard aerial from Jackson to Steven Watts, and two more quarterback draws from Jackson drove to the Lions 5-yardline and a first down.

Patrick Parks then sacked Jackson for a 6-yard loss back at the 11 yard line.  Parks then broke up a pass in the end zone.  Jackson failed to gain on third down forcing a field goal which was good for a 17-3 lead with 2:09 left in the first quarter.

Whitlow had Anthony Lykes open for a long touchdown on the Lions next possession, but overthrew him.  The Lions failed to make a first down.  MacGinnis got off a 41-yard punt.  The Warriors took over at its 30 as the first quarter ended.

On first down Jackson had another quarterback draw run good for 30- yards.  He then connected with his wide receiver down the right sidelines for a 40-yard TD toss and a 24-3 lead on the second play of the quarter.

Prattville got on the scoreboard with their next series.  Whitlock connected with Lykes for a 19-yard pass to the Davidson 49.  Stanley Mays picked up 9 yards, and then Pettway added 11-yards to the 29.  On first down Pettway blasted up the middle, broke in the clear and raced into the end zone.  MacGinnis added the extra point.

Jacob Abraham and Daniel Schmidt opened a big hole for Pettway, while Denzel Jones took out the linebacker to clear Pettway’s path to the end zone.

Late in the quarter Prattville drove to the Davidson 14 yard line with a first down.  The drive fizzled when Prattville was assessed with a holding penalty.  MacGinnis missed a 40 yard field goal attempt with 2:24 left.

Unofficial statistics had Pettway with 12 caries and 86 yards.  Mays had 11 carries and 77 yards.

Chad Anderson was pleased with the results of the game.  “I liked what I saw from the offense.  We ran the ball and I was pleased with our execution and tempo of the game.  We had the one fumble that hurt us on offense,

“We are young and in-experienced, but as the game went on, we settled in and made some good plays.  Our running backs ran well, and the offensive linemen blocked well opening up some nice holes for our backs, and for most of the game gave Kalen time to look for his receivers,

“We made some mistakes, but our young quarterback was poise and handled the offense very well.  We didn’t throw the ball much, but that’ll come with the summer workouts," Anderson said.

"The defense has some work to do over the summer.  We lost 11 starters from last year’s state championship team, so we have our work cut out.  Defensively I felt Joseph Anderson did well, and both outside linebackers had a good game.

“Take away the fumble return and the first series when we had to adjust to their quarterback’s ability to make big plays with his running ability, it was a close game,” he added.

PRATTVILLE JUNIOR VARSIRTY 20 DAVIDSON JUNIOR VARSITY 14

Prattville took the opening kickoff and motored 70-yards on 13 plays to take a 6-0 lead.

Jeremy Goodson had two big runs in the drive, one good for 11-yards and the other good for 12-yards.  All toll Goodson had 41 yards rushing with six carries during the drive.  Quarterback Austin Rolling attempted two aerials, one was caught out of bounds by Moore and the other was short of his target.

Goodson scored the touchdown with a 9-yard run.  The Jayvees did not have a kicker and went for two points.  Rolling’s pass was over thrown into end zone, 6-0 with 7:09 left in the first quarter.

MacGinnis’ kickoff sailed out of the end zone.  The Warriors’ Jayvees went three and out, and was forced to punt. Prattville took over at its 40-yardline.

The Lions scored in ten plays.  Rolling hit Stanley Edwards with a 37-yard aerial, after a bad snap had lost 15-yards.   Rolling then rifled an aerial to Edwards for 2-points and a 14-0 lead with 1:21 left in the third quarter.

Prattville kicked off to Davidson with MacGinnis’ kick going into the stands.  The Warriors’ wide receiver fumbled a lateral pass on first down with Reuben Gardner picking it up for the Lions and rambling 41-yard for a touchdown and a 20-0 lead with 9:44 left in the second half.

Prattville began to substitute freely.  After MacGinnis’ kickoff sailed completely out of the end zone again, the Warriors took over and ran two plays for no gain.  On third down the Warriors' running back broke clear down the right sidelines as Prattville’s safety missed the tackle.  Davidson scored with the 69-yard run, trimming the lead to, 20-7.

On the Lions next possession a bad snap to Chris Stuckey moved the ball back to the Prattville 25.    Kendall Bowman then broke free and raced 65-yard to the Davidson’s 11-yardline.  The beautiful run was negated due to a blocking in the back penalty moving it back to the Lion 31.

It didn’t faze the Lions offense, as Eric Graham ran three straight times for 12, 4, and 11 yards.  DeAndre Days broke free for 12 yards with a first down at the Davidson 29.  Graham got 8 to the 21 and then Zack Higman added 3 to the 18.  A bad snap then rolled around in the Lions’ backfield with Davidson falling on it at the 29.

Rodney English picked up 4-yards on first down, and then broke free around left end on second down.  English scooted down the sidelines for 67-yards and another Davidson touchdown.  The Warriors kicked off to the Lions as the game ended.