Danville’s regular starting running backs gained just two yards on two carries as coach Clay Clevenger decided to rest most of his team in anticipation of an undefeated showdown next week with Lexington Christian and the Admirals easily defeated Middlesboro 53-0 Friday night at Admiral Stadium.

Danville (9-0, 2-0) will have no worse than a second seed and will host at least one home game with the easy win. The Admirals grabbed a 13-0 lead after one period and put 27 more points on the scoreboard in the second quarter to set the running clock in motion during the second half.

The Admirals played without leading rusher Don Harris while D’Mauriae VanCleave and Zach Thornton ran the ball just once apiece for one yard each.

VanCleave, however, scored three times and gave the Ads quick 7-0 lead when he returned a Middlesboro punt 50 yards for a score just one minute, 38 seconds into the game.

“We came out and took care of business early to take control of the game and a lot of players got to see playing time tonight,” Clevenger said. “We decided to rest Don and let his injuries heal and I thought our younger kids came in and did a nice job. It was nice to see them drive the ball down the field and score. They practice hard to get us ready to play each week and deserve some playing time.”

Danville failed to score on its first possession of the night but scored on six straight possessions the rest of the half and did not punt during the entire game.

“We started off slow on our first drive but played well the rest of the game,” the Danville coach said. “I thought our defense did a good job all night, too.”

VanCleave would score on a 66 yard pass from Zach Thornton, who completed 9 of 12 passes for 181 yards and four touchdowns, to give Danville a 13-0 advantage after one period of play.

The second quarter was much of the same. David Walker rambled 41 yards to the Yellow Jackets’ 8 and scored on the next play. Thornton then connected with Tanner Ford for a 34 yards, VanCleave on a four yard catch and completed his outstanding first half with an 18 yard strike to Jaleel Warren to give the Ads a 40-0 lead at the half.

After Middlesboro (2-6. 0-2) came up a yard short on an onside kick to begin the second half, Danville’s starting unit went 49 yards in nine plays to score on its final series of the night. A run of 16 yards by Darrian Logan and 19 yard catch by Brennan McGuire helped set up Thornton’s one yard run.

Isaiah Miller’s interception at the Ads’ 42 helped Danville’s reserves get the final score of the night. With freshman Spencer Griffyn at quarterback, Miller had four runs of 20 yards and another freshman, Bryce Johnson ran for 16 yards before Griffyn connected on a 28 yard pitch and catch with Johnson down the sideline for the score.

“Griffyn doesn’t play much on the JV team but he did a real nice job for us tonight,” Clevenger said. “I thought all of our kids (Miller, Walker, Darrian Logan and Warren Griffith) did a nice job running the football.”

Griffin, a junior, led the Ads in rushing with 86 yards on 10 attempts while Walker ran for 51 yards and Logan 43.

Now it’s on to Lexington next week with an unbeaten season and number one seed on the line.

“It should be a heck of a game between two outstanding football team,” he added. “Both teams have a lot at stake. Hopefully, we can go in healthy.”

 

At Danville

Middlesboro    0    0    0    0 –     0

Danville     13    27    7    6 –     53

 

First Quarter

Danville – D’Mauriae VanCleave 50 punt return (kick failed), 10:22.

Danville – VanCleave 66 pass from Zach Thornton (Nathan Hazlett kick), 2:37.

Second Quarter

Danville – David Walker 8 run (kick failed), 10:51.

Danville – Tanner Ford 34 pass from Thornton (Hazlett kick), 8:28.

Danville – VanCleave 4 pass from Thornton (Hazlett kick), 3:56.

Danville – Jaleel Warren 15 pass from Thornton (Hazlett kick), :30.

Third Quarter

Danville – Thornton 1 run (Hazlett kick), 4:32.

Fourth Quarter

Danville – Bryce johnson 28 pass from Spencer Griffyn (run failed), 6:46.

 

       M         D

First downs       2          16

Rush-Yds         31-76    28-204

Passing            5          206

Total Yds          81        410

Comp-Att-Int    1-3-1    11-14-0

Fumbles-Lost    4-2    1-0

Penalties-Yds    3-15    3-20

 

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Middlesboro, Owen McWilliams 9-27, Michael Carroll 6-18, Alex Mason 7-7, Anthony Jackson 7-7, Jason Johnson 2-17. Danville, D’Mauriae VanCleave 1-1, Zach Thornton 1-1, Isaiah Miller 4-20, Spencer Griffyn 1-2, David Walker 4-51, Darrian Logan 6-43, Warren Griffin 10-86, Team 1-0.

PASSING — Middlesboro, McWilliams 1-2-0-5, Jackson 0-1-0-0. Danville, Thornton 9-12-0-181, Griffyn 2-2-0-25.

RECEIVING — Middlesboro, Corey Hairston 1-5. Danville, David Walker 1-4, Jaleel Warren 2-24, VanCleave 3-88, Tanner Ford 2-46, Brennan McGuire 2-16, Bryce Johnson 1-28.