By Marty Warren
Contributing Writer

Tied at 7-7, Danville’s defense came up with a pick six and that proved to be the difference as the Admiral’s held off Lincoln County 13-7 to win the Whitaker Bank Pigskin Classic Saturday at Admiral Stadium.

It was the second straight week that the Ads’ defense put points on the boardb and this time it proved to be the winning score.

“Our defense bailed us out again on a night where we just couldn’t get a lot going offensively,” Danville coach Mark Peach said. “For our guys (defensive unit) to play like this a week after Lincoln got nearly 500 yards against Somerset was amazing. We have a lot of fight in us. Our defensive line played well tonight. I was concerned after watching the film of last week’s game and I thought our line executed well tonight. I couldn’t be more proud of their effort.”

It took a great effort because Danville struggled at times to move the football.

Danville did receive a herculean effort from senior running back Caleb Burns, who led all ball carriers with 138 yards in 21 attempts and had 72 percent of the Admirals offense during the game.

“Caleb is our Mr. Everything right now,” Peach said. “He is a great kid and a great leader. He has been willing to do whatever we have asked him to do.”

After a scoreless first period, Danville scored on the opening play of the second period. Senior quarterback Brady Morse capped a 75 yard, 13 play drive that used seven minutes, 20 seconds off the clock. Burns had six carries for 32 yards during a drive and Morse connected with Malachi Arnold for 16 yards and Xzavion Brown for 13 more. Keegyn Wilcher tacked on the extra point to give the Ads’ a 7-0 lead.

Not to be outdone, Lincoln came right back with a 74 yard, 13 play drive of its own, taking six minutes, 45 seconds off the clock. Davis had 39 yards in eight carries during the drive and scored on a 12-yard run. Kolby Towns added the conversion to knot the score at 7-7 at the half.

Both teams struggled offensively during the scoreless third quarter. Lincoln did reach the Ads’ 10-yard line after a 44-yard pass from Sawyer Horton to Nathan Carter but the drive stalled and Danville took over from there.

Lincoln was hobbled somewhat when Amon went down with an injury during the second half and Danville’s defense bottled up Davis from that point on.

“Defending the Wing T is all about angles,” Peach added. “Everyone has to trust each other to make the right read. No one has assignments and the kids work really well together.”

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Jalen Dunn’s jarring tackle caused a fumble and Demauriah Brown scooped up the loose ball and raced 57 yards down the sideline for what proved to be the winning score with 11:20 left to play. The PAT attempt, however, was blocked to give the Ads a 13-7 advantage.

Following the touchdown, the Patriots (1-1) used a 15 play drive that used 10 minutes off the clock and had the ball at the Danville one-yard line, but a motion penalty pushed the ball back to the six. On the next play on fourth and six Davis came up just inches short and Lincoln turned it over on downs.

Whitaker Bank Pigskin Classic
At Danville
Lincoln County 0 7 0 0 – 7
Danville 0 7 0 6 – 13

Second Quarter
Danville – Brady Morse one run (Keegyn Wilcher kick), 11:49.
Lincoln – Clayton Davis 12 run (Kolby Towns kick), 2:35.
Fourth Quarter
Danville – Demauriah Brown 57 fumble recovery (kick blocked), 11:20.
Lincoln         Danville
First downs          15                  11
Rushes-Yds      45-193         32-151
Passing Yds          93                40
Total Yds            286               191
Comp-Att-Int   4-8-0          4-6-0
Fumbles-Lost     2-2              2-1
Penalties-Yds     5-40           8-64

RUSHING – Lincoln, Clayton Davis 20-102, Lee Amon 8-34, Sawyer Horton 5-5, Dalton Board 7-19, Elan Lane 4-12, Caleb Morgan 1-21. Danville, Caleb Burns 21-138, Demauriah Brown 2-4, Keelan Story 1-minus 3, Brady Morse 6-9, Corydon Crawford 2-3.
PASSING – Lincoln, Horton 4-8-0-93. Danville, Morse 4-6-0-40.
RECEIVING – Lincoln, Davis 2-42, Nathan Carter 2-51. Danville, Malachi Arnold 1-16, Xzavion Brown 1-13, Demauriah Brown 1-7, Jerome Johnson 1-4.