SOMERSET — D’Mauriae VanCleave gained 207 yards on eight rushing attempts, caught eight passes for 54 yards and scored twice on runs of 77 and 84 yards as Danville grabbed a quick 14-0 lead and never trailed while defeating host Somerset 37-26 Friday night.

Jaleel Warren also had a pair of touchdowns while junior quarterback Zach Thornton completed 14 of 24 passes with one interception and three scores to lead the Danville attack.

“That was as good a first half as we have had in awhile, then we hit a little lull in the third quarter before we regrouped in the fourth quarter to put the game away,” Danville coach Clay Clevenger said. “(D’Mauriae) really ran the ball hard. If he can get to the corners or is able to hit a seam, he can take it to the house at any time.”

Danville took the opening kickoff and, like they have done in seven of their eight games, immediately put points on the board.

Beginning the drive at their own 39, the Admirals (8-0, 1-0) went 61 yards in 13 plays with their best drive of the season while taking 6 minutes, 18 seconds off the clock.

Don Harris had gains of 23 and nine yards during the drive that concluded when Thornton connected with Warren for a four yard touchdown catch. Tres Walker added the conversion for a 7-0 lead.

After a Somerset punt, Thornton connected with Tanner Ford for a 51 yard touchdown and 14-0 lead with 3:11 to play in the first period.

“It’s obvious we dug ourselves a big hole to start the game,” Somerset coach Robbie Lucas, a former coach and player at Lincoln County, said. “(VanCleave) has a ton of speed and even able to run through some tackles. Once he was able to get outside, though, we didn’t have anybody to stop him.”

Somerset (5-3, 0-1), however, was able to cut the lead to 14-6 on its next possession. Ty Tevis, who led the Briar Jumpers with 95 yards on 14 carries, ran for 21 yards and Mason Reese connected with Josh Cornett for 36 yards to the Danville one and Tevis scored from there.

VanCleave took over the rest of the half. He had scoring runs of 77 and 84 yards virtually untouched to close the half and gave the Admirals a 27-6 lead at the half.

“We big played them in the first half and it felt good going in with a 27-6 lead at the half,” Clevenger said. “The we came out flat in the third quarter and that was disappointing.”

Danville’s David Walker stripped the football on the second half kickoff and the Ads recovered the fumble at the Somerset 37. However, a snap over Thornton’s head gave the Jumpers the ball back at the 23. Reese scored three plays later from the 15 and the Jumpers cut the lead to 27-12.

Three plays following the score, Cornett picked off a Thornton pass at the Ads’ 31. The scoring threat ended, though, when Chance Stayton missed wide right on a 34 yard field goal attempt.

Somerset was able to cut into the lead late in the third quarter when Reese ended a 52 yard, seven play drive with a one yard score to trim the lead to 27-18.

“We tired somewhat defensively, especially in the second half,” the Danville coach said. “We played a lot of snaps because we scored so quick, and then turned the ball over inside the 30 twice. But when we had to make a play, though, we were able to do that that .”

Two plays into the fourth quarter, Danville struck again. Harris ran for nine yards to the Somerset 16, and Thornton connected with Warren again on the next play to give the  Ads a 34-18 cushion with 11:22 to play.

“We couldn’t stop the Harris kid up the middle all night,” Lucas said. “I’ve liked that kid a long time. He is one of the best backs, if not the best, in the state of Kentucky. If that’s not enough, when they needed yardage in the passing game, they would look for Warren. I really like that kid, too. He has size, speed and a great set of hands. If they get the ball close to him, he will catch it.”

Clevenger agreed.

“Jaleel had two really big catches for us,” he said. “He has such a big body and what people don’t realize is he is an excellent blocker, too.”

Danville would increase the lead to 37-18 with a 32 yard Nathan Hazlett field goal, and Somerset would add one final score on a 15 yard pass from Reese to Alex Miller and completed a pass to Stayton to completed the scoring.

 

At Somerset

Danville    14    13    0    10-     37

Somerset    6    0    12    8 –     26

First Quarter

Danville – Jaleel Warren 5 pass from Zach Thornton (Tres Walker kick), 6:18.

Danville -Tanner Ford 51 pass from Thornton (Walker kick), 3:11.

Somerset – Ty Tevis 1 run (kick failed), 1:46.

Second Quarter

Danville – D’Mauriae VanCleave 77 run (Nathan Hazlett kick), 7:54.

Danville – VanCleave 84 run (kick failed), 2:23.

Third Quarter

Somerset – Mason Reese 15 run (pass failed), 10:11.

Somerset – Reese 1 run (kick failed), 1:32.

Fourth Quarter

Danville – Warren 16 pass from Thornton (Hazlett kick), 11:22.

Danville – Hazlett 32 FG, 4:06.

Someret – Alex Miller 45 pass from Reese (Chance Stayton pass from Reese), 2:25.

 

D    S

First downs    19    15

Rush-Yards    35-253    30-145

Passing    144    190

Total Yards    397    335

Comp-Att-Int    14-21-1    14-24-0

Fumbles-Lost    4-1    1-1

Penalties-Yds    6-49    4-20

 

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Danville, Don Harris 17-66, D’Mauriae VanCleave 8-207, Zach Thornton 7-2, Team 3-(minus 22). Somerset, Mason Reese 12-35, Alex Miller 2-11, Ty Tevis 14-95, Jase Bruner 2-4.

PASSING – Danville, Thornton 14-21-1-144. Somerset, Reese 14-24-0-190.

RECEIVING – Danville, VanCleave 8-54, David Walker 1-5, Jaleel Warren 2-21, Harris 1-9, Tanner Ford 2-55. Somerset, Josh Cornett 5-65, Kade Grundy 2-21, Zach Childers 1-4, Alex Miller 3-62, Ty Tevis 2-4, Adam Hembree 1-25.