Admirals shut out Glasgow in state semifinals
Published 11:24 pm Friday, November 24, 2017
GLASGOW — Fourteen down, one to go.
Danville scored the first three times it had the football and never looked back as the Admirals (14- 0) punched their second-straight trip to the Class 2A State Championship with a surprisingly easy 43-0 win over host Glasgow.
D’Mauriae VanCleave scored three times while senior running back Don Harris gained 105 yards on 12 attempts and scored twice. Junior quarterback Zach Thornton continued to improve with each game while connecting on 12 of 19 passes for 229 yards and two scores.
After forcing a Glasgow punt, Danville immediately went to work. Taking over on its own six-yard line, the Admirals went 94 yards in just four plays to reach the endzone.
Thornton connected with VanCleave on a short pass and the speedy senior did the rest. After side wiping one would be tackler, VanCleave outraced everyone for a 77 yard touchdown. Nathan Hazlett tacked on the first of six straight extra point attempts and the Ads led 7-0 less than five minutes into the contest.
“We executed as well as we have all year in the first half and our speed caught them off guard,” Danville coach Clay Clevenger said. “We felt like they were giving us the short pass al night, then Don and D’mauriae ran hard and hit the holes all night. We wanted to get Don on the edge whenever possible and our running game was successful all night.
Defensively, the Ads limited the Scotties (10-4) to just 65 total yards (one yard rushing) in the first half and161 yards throughout the game.
“Defensively they were much bigger than us on the front line but once aagain our quickness caused them havoc all night. We controlled the line of scrimmage and didn’t let their quarterback get comfortable all night.”
Danville got every break and to every loose ball, especially during the first half. Things were working so well that a pass from Thornton to Jaleel Warren went off his hands into the waiting arms of Tanner Ford for a 12 yards touchdown catch and a 21-0 lead just before the half.
With the win Danville will face an old nemesis, Mayfield, next Saturday at 1 p.m. for the state title at Kroger Field. Mayfield defeated defending State Champion Christian Academy of Louisville 21-14.
Class 2A Playoffs
At Glasgow
Danville 14 7 15 7 – 43
Glasgow 0 0 0 0 – 0
First Quarter
Danville – D’Mauriae VanCleave 77 pass from Zach Thornton (Nathan Hazlett kick), 7:01.
Danville – Tanner Ford 12 pass from Thornton (Hazlett kick), 3:27.
Second Quarter
Danville – Don Harris 16 run (Hazlett kick),11:30.
Third Quarter
Danville – VanCleave 5 run (Hazlett kick), 9:20.
Danville – VanCleave 74 run (David Walker pass from Thornton), 4:12.
Fourth Quarter
Danville – Harris 41 run (Hazlett kick), 9:56.
D G
First downs 19 9
Rush-Yards 25-268 23-59
Passing Yds 229 102
Total Yards 497 161
Comp-Att-Int 12-19-0 10-18-1
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-1
Penalties-Yds 5-54 5-50
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Danville, Don Harris 12-105, D’Mauriae VanCleave 4-98, Zach Thornton 4-51, David Walker 1-1, Darian Logan 3-10, Warren Griffin 1-(minus 3). Glasgow,
Sielverrio Rescontellio 8-15, Dalvin Smith 1-7, Tanner Abernathy 5-(minus 18), Nick Mitchell 8-36, Griffin Murphy 1-19..
PASSING – Danville, Thornton 12-19-0-229. Glasgow, Smith 1-1-0-4, Abernathy 9-17-1-98.
RECEIVING – Danville, VanCleave 6-96, David Walker 3-97,Tanner Ford 2-25, Thornton 1-4. Glasgow, Griffin Murphy 1-16, Kris Horn 2-17, Smith 4-44, Rescontellio 2-21