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By Brian Pitts

Sports Editor

Four of the last five seasons ended with Davie holding a winning record. That’s been primarily due to the offense being able to score points by the bucketload.

In 2019, when the War Eagles finished 7-6, their 35.1 scoring average offset a defensive scoring average of 33.

In the spring of 2021, when it finished 5-2, Davie allowed 31.8 points but made up for it by scoring 40.5.

In the fall of 2021, Davie scored exactly the same amount of points as it allowed (438, or 39.8 on average), but managed to keep its head above water at 6-5.

And in 2023, the 7-4 War Eagles delivered the most wins and their finest CPC finish (tied for second) in four years by averaging 38.2 points. The maligned defense took a step forward with a 27.9 scoring average.

The glass-half-empty view for 2024 is the War Eagles will slip a notch or two because they lost many offensive pieces to graduation.

The glass-half-full view: If the offense can just be adequate, good things could happen because there’s significant optimism on the other side of the ball. A defense with heavy experience is looking for a fresh start with a new 3-4 scheme.

“I’m excited for the defense because they’re hard to block,” offensive line coach Spencer Pasciolla said. “Landon (Barber) and (Elijah) Chaffin are the big ones, but they’ve got a bunch of guys over there.  They’ve got plenty of guys who have done great throughout spring and summer practices.”

“I think our defense could be a lot better than it’s been in the last couple of years,” defensive line coach Randy Athey said.

The season opener at Mooresville, though, is not the ideal opponent for breaking in many new faces on offense.

“We have a new quarterback, a new running back and a new offensive line,” coach Tim Devericks said. “So, yeah, in the spring and in the summer, there were some growing pains. The offensive line, quarterback and running back groups have really improved from where we started in the spring to this point.”

“We definitely have a young team,” offensive coordinator Matt Gould said. “It’s a very small senior class, so we’re definitely still growing. But I think the future is exciting with all the young guys we have.”

Davie at Mooresville is not David vs. Goliath, but it might be David vs. Hulk Hogan. The Blue Devils are loaded on both sides of the ball, returning 15 starters (eight on offense, seven on defense) from an 11-1 team in 2023, including quarterback Brody Norman and running back Eric Heal.

“(Norman) has the ability to throw the ball and run it,” new Mooresville head coach Zach Mayo told highschoolot.com. “He definitely looks to pass first, but he has the ability to create plays when stuff gets off time.

“(Heal’s) a big kid that has track speed. He finished third in the state in the 110 hurdles, but he’s 195 pounds. When you can run like that at that size, I definitely want to hand you the football quite a few times.

“We’ve got a lot of weapons on offense. It should be a really good year offensively.”

The Devils have a bevy of proven playmakers on defense as well. All three defensive linemen are back. Linebacker Jamari Farmer has committed to Indiana, and defensive back AJ Graham is a Division-I recruit.

“We have to be fast, physical and relentless, and (Farmer) does that day in and day out,” Mayo said. “He wears eye black to practice.; that’s how much he loves it. He’s not concerned with girls, he’s not concerned about what clothes he has on. All he wants to do is play football and knock people’s faces off.

“AJ’s got some of the best ball skills in the state. We have a very strong back end.”

Notes: Kickoff on Friday at Mooresville is set for 7 p.m. … Mooresville went 21-3 the past two years, winning back-to-back conference titles before losing in the second round of the 4-A playoffs each time. … Mayo said “we’ve got 170 kids in the program.” … The War Eagles lead the all-time series 17-16-1 but have dropped the last two. Mooresville won 44-28 in 2022 and 31-24 last year.