Sixty-one football teams have taken the field for Davie. There have only been four to walk away as outright conference champions.

The 2016 War Eagles joined that short list Friday against visiting Parkland, thrashing the Mustangs 34-0 in the regular-season finale as Davie finished alone in first place in the Central Piedmont Conference for the first time in 12 years. The other three teams to achieve the feat came in 1965, 1999 and 2004. The eighth win in a row lifted Davie to 10-1 overall and 6-0 in the CPC.

“We really worked hard in the offseason for it and it paid off,” senior cornerback Angel Perez-Hunt said. “We had a talented group last year; we were just young. This is the year now.”

“We were (predicted) like sixth in the conference before the season and we used that as motivation,” senior center Bailey Sloan said.

It was a night of overflowing emotions. Not only was it Senior Night, it was the final regular-season game on the current campus at War Eagle Stadium, a field that opened in 1961.

“It was an emotional night all the way around with this being the ceremonial last game at War Eagle Stadium,” interim coach Tim Devericks said. “This group went on a mission after the Scotland (County playoff game last year). They were dedicated in the offseason, and they kept working. I couldn’t be prouder.”

Parkland’s defense did a solid job against Davie’s passing game. Quarterback Chris Reynolds was held below his averages in completions and passing yards, but he was hardly complaining – Davie can run the ball a bit, too. Reynolds had 15 carries for 122 yards, scoring twice on the ground to go with two TD passes. Peyton Hampton had 11 carries for a career-high 103 yards. And Adrian Cranfill had 12 carries for 61 yards as the trio averaged 7.5 yards a run.

“We came into the game thinking we could pass the ball because we were thinking they were going to run man coverage,” Reynolds said. “But they changed it up a little bit. We made adjustments, and next thing you know, we changed the game plan.”

It’s not like Parkland (7-4, 2-4) shut down the passing game. Cooper Wall had six receptions for 122 yards. It was his eighth career 100-yard game, putting him in a tie for second in that category.

“Cooper and me have a lot of chemistry,” Reynolds said. “We’ve been playing together since sixth grade. He knows how to get open and he gets yards after the catch.”

“They were trying to take away the over-the-top stuff on first and second down and trying to make us take the underneath stuff,” Devericks said. “And Cooper turned some underneath stuff into some big gainers.”

Davie outgained Parkland 212-136 in the first half and had no trouble moving the ball, but the scoreboard didn’t cooperate as the War Eagles led just 10-0 at the break.

They opened with a good-looking drive – had first-and-goal at the 3 – before settling for a Jared Griggs field goal of 21 yards for a 3-0 lead.

When Hampton rumbled for Davie’s longest run of the year (36 yards), it had first down at the Parkland 18. But Davie stalled and Griggs missed his second FG try of the season from 37 yards.

Davie finally earned some separation with four minutes left in the half. Wall had 30- and 20-yard receptions on back-to-back plays, and Cranfill darted 17 yards to the Parkland 10. On third-and-goal from the 7, Reynolds hit Mason Wilson on a slant for a touchdown that made it 10-0 at the half.

“They were thinking Mason was going to run a corner route,” Reynolds said. “So he faked the corner and the slant was wide open.”

But Davie missed a chance to extend the margin on its final possession of the half. It was first down from the Parkland 12 when Tyeous Sharpe, who plays quarterback and defensive back for the Mustangs, intercepted a pass intended for Wall at the Parkland 3.

“It was going to take a lot more than we brought in the first half,” Hampton said. “I was happy with the way we brought it in the second half. We wanted to finish the game and get that trophy.”

In the second half, the War Eagles attempted just seven passes, compared to 28 running plays, and bulldozed their way to four scores on five possessions.

They opened the third by pounding out 60 yards on five straight runs by Hampton and Reynolds, who faked an option pitch and went around right end for 14 yards to the end zone.

One possession later, all 57 yards were gained on the ground. This time Reynolds pitched to Cranfill on the option, and he rolled 11 yards to the Parkland 5. From there, Davie unveiled the hammer team, with James Boyle at tight end and Beau Byerly at fullback. Reynolds ran over right tackle for the TD and Parkland was down and out at 24-0.

“It really helps us when we can balance it and not just rely on our passing game,” Sloan said. “We found that we could run a lot. They were in some bunched up stuff. We didn’t really know what it was. We had our assignments like coach (Jimmie) Welch tells us and we played til the whistle.”

“We didn’t take advantage of (scoring opportunities in the first half),” Reynolds said. “We made the adjustments, coach Bum (Todd Bumgarner) made some great calls and we kept going down the field.”

The hammer team was summoned again on first-and-goal from the Parkland 8 with 5:15 remaining, only this time it was Cody Hendrix at tight end instead of Boyle. The unit was successful again, although the manner in which it happened was unexpected as Reynolds tossed a TD pass to Hendrix.

“When James and Cody know they’re going in on offense, they’re jacked up,” Devericks said of the star linebackers. “James and Cody play the same position.”

Hendrix blocked a punt and George Cuthrell fell on the ball at the Parkland 1. Three plays later, Griggs banged through his second FG to close the scoring.

•

Davie’s defense was quite good while holding a sixth opponent to seven points or less.

Boyle and Hendrix piled up 21 and 16 tackles, respectively. Each had three tackles for loss. Outside linebacker Kinston Whitener and lineman Jalen Redmond had six tackles apiece as Davie turned back 11 of 14 third downs, forced seven punts and held Quantay Kobe-young to two yards on eight second-half carries, after his 88-yard first half. Whitener, Mitchell Ijames, Ronald Wilson, Jesus Olmedo, Anthony Olmedo and Spencer Wilson had tackles for loss.

Ta’saun Martin (three pass breakups), Perez-Hunt (two pass breakups) and the secondary helped force 15 incompletions on 23 attempts by three Parkland QBs.

The final horn set off a raucous celebration. The War Eagles claimed their 11th conference title and their ninth since 1999. They pushed their CPC winning streak to eight since 2015, the best run since the 2003-05 teams won eight in a row. They also reached 10 regular-season wins for just the fourth time. The others were 1965 (10-0), 2004 (11-0) and 2006 (10-1).

“This is amazing,” Boyle said. “This is what I’ve been hoping for and dreaming for all four years I’ve been here.”

“Everybody chipped in in every single way,” Reynolds said. “All three phases of the game did a great job and it led to our result now.”

“Their community should certainly be proud of their football team,” Parkland coach Martin Samek told the Winston-Salem Journal.

After playing on losing teams at Forbush, Dex Bray decided to transfer to Davie for his senior season. The 6-2, 295-pound right tackle soaked up the euphoria.

“When I got here and I realized how close a family this county really is, I knew I had made 100 percent the right choice,” Bray said. “It’s a life-changing event. Like I’ve said before, I’ve never experienced this in my life. It’s just the greatest thing I’ve ever experienced. I’m glad I could be apart of it and help bring this to DC.”

Parkland        0    0    0    0   – 0

Davie       3    7    14  10 – 34

First Quarter

D – Griggs 21 FG, 7:02.

Second Quarter

D – M. Wilson 7 pass from Reynolds (Griggs kick), 4:01.

Third Quarter

D – Reynolds 14 run (Griggs kick), 10:09.

D – Reynolds 5 run (Griggs kick), 6:10.

Fourth Quarter

D – Hendrix 8 pass from Reynolds (Griggs kick), 5:09.

D – Griggs 24 FG, 1:31.

TEAM STATISTICS

P D

FD1224

Rushing 36-135 42-280

Passing 108 161

C-A-I 8-23-0 11-24-1

Punts 7-26 1-29

F-L 2-0 0-0

Penalties 6-35 2-15

3rd conv. 3-14 6-11

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Parkland

RUSHING – Kobe-Young 18-90, Samuels-Brown 4-30, Sharpe 7-15, Dean 6-8, DeLeon 1-(-8)

PASSING – Sharpe 6-18-0-63, Kobe-Young 1-1-0-37, Register 1-4-0-8

RECEIVING – Dean 3-23, Barnes 2-28, Thomas 1-37, Delarosa 1-13, Cobb 1-7

Davie

RUSHING – Reynolds 15-122, Hampton 11-103, Cranfill 12-61, Lytton 1-0, Robinson 2-(-2), Hall 1-(-4)

PASSING – Reynolds 11-24-1-161

RECEIVING – Wall 6-122, Roberts 2-15, Byerly 1-9, Hendrix 1-8, M. Wilson 1-7