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By Brian Pitts

Davie Enterprise Record

Davie’s football team has, to put it mildly, work to do.

In the season opener at Mooresville on Friday, the War Eagles slammed face-first into a brick wall and lost by 46. It was the wrong kind of perfect storm. Mooresville returned 15 starters (eight on offense, seven on defense) from an 11-1 team. Davie is completely rebuilding on offense.

That chemistry, experience and confidence was a devastating advantage for the Blue Devils, who crushed Davie 66-20.

“Mooresville is a fantastic team and we have youth at some positions,” coach Tim Devericks said after the worst loss in 29 years. “That’s OK, we just can’t let that be an excuse. I think there’s plays we left out on the field.”

In the worst start imaginable, the Blue Devils drove 78, 36, 54, 47 and 60 yards to take a 35-0 lead in the first quarter. They scored twice in nine seconds as two TDs sandwiched a successful onside kick. In that disastrous first quarter, they bulldozed Davie to the tune of 265 yards and 12 first downs. Conversely, Davie had 16 yards and zero first downs in three possessions.

Things only got worse in the second quarter. The Blue Devils rolled 95 yards to make it 42-0 and their all-star linebacker, Indiana commit Jamari Farmer, sacked Aiden Hall for a 16-yard loss. He forced a fumble on the play, scooped the ball and eased 17 yards to the end zone.

Mooresville got the ball with 1:15 remaining in the half. It moved 61 yards in nine plays and closed the half with a 27-yard field goal. The nightmare halftime score was 52-0.

In the half, the Blue Devils scored on all eight possessions (seven TDs, one FG), picked up 424 yards, went 8 for 8 on third-down conversions and averaged 9.4 yards per play. By contrast, Davie went 1 for 8 on third downs and averaged 2.6 yards per play.

Devericks is hoping the emotional impact is not devastating as Davie prepares for its home opener against West Rowan.

“It was 14 points, 21 points, 28 points – it snowballed,” Devericks said. “We just can’t let the season snowball on us. I think we’ll get better (this) week.”

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Braddock Coleman, a senior receiver who was looking to do big things after making 42 catches in 2023, had to be helped off the field in the first half with a knee injury. One of the team’s biggest talents could be lost for the year. What a shame. On top of that, the main man on the defensive line, senior Landon Barber, left in the first half and didn’t return. Fortunately, he’s expected back this week.

“I couldn’t be prouder of Braddock,” Devericks said. “Obviously he was very disappointed in getting injured, but he didn’t stray very far from the white line (on the sideline) and he was yelling out there positively and trying to encourage those guys.”

The second half saw a mercy-rule running clock. Mooresville called off the dogs, only attempting two passes, and Davie found the end zone three times, twice on offense and once on special teams.

“I challenged them at halftime and I saw a spark in them, and that’s something we can build off of,” Devericks said.

The most positive sign was Hall, the backup QB who replaced Leon Bradshaw at the start of the second quarter on Davie’s fourth possession. The junior completed 13 of 22 passes for 179 yards, without an interception.

“Getting his chance, he made some good, quick reads and got rid of the ball,” Devericks said. “We had two freshmen (Landon Hughes and Noah Dulin) who made catches; that’s a positive.”

Davie suffered its sixth-worst loss in 69 years despite the greatness of receiver Ethan Driver (six catches, 122 yards). Not that it’s breaking news, but the junior is absurdly good. He hauled in 34-, 32- and 38-yard grabs, including acrobatic catches that evoked looks of disbelief from Mooresville faces.

“I don’t know what the word is to describe Ethan other than special,” Devericks said. “He is a silent leader. If we can get people to get on his bandwagon with his work ethic, we’ve got something brewing. I know the score doesn’t reflect that, and that’s OK, but there’s something brewing.”

When it was 59-0 late in the third, Driver’s 32-yard reception led to Braxton Bowling’s 5-yard TD to get Davie on the board. Hall’s 37-yard completion to Landon Waller came one snap before Davie’s biggest play of the game, a 43-yard TD run by JamariusPelote. Davie’s special teams capped the scoring with 80 seconds remaining. CJ Moore blocked a punt and Zi Robinson jumped on the ball in the end zone.

While the season began with optimism that Davie’s defense was going to be much improved in 2024, a trio of Blue Devils ran wild against Davie. Eric Heal (13 carries, 109 yards), Ja’Darius McCombs (8-68) and third-stringer Malachi Gwyn (5-90) barreled downhill all night as Mooresville racked up 351 rushing yards. Junior quarterback Brody Norman was splendid, hitting 16 of 22 passes for 239 yards and three TD passes. When he wasn’t throwing precise passes to open receivers, he was running for 90 yards and two more TDs.

Meanwhile for Davie, Bowling did well in his first action in the varsity backfield. A sophomore who played in the secondary in 2023, he ran 15 times for 68 yards. Pelote (5-56) averaged 11.2 yards per carry thanks to the long TD run. And Driver enhanced his reputation as a star by surpassing 100 receiving yards for the seventh time in 12 varsity games.

Notes: The Blue Devils resumed their skyrocketing success by extending their regular-season winning streak to 29. … Davie has dropped three straight in the series. … This was the most points allowed since a 69-37 loss at Grimsley in the 2022 playoffs. … This was the worst setback since 64-0 to Salisbury in 1995. … The top five losses, in terms of margin, in Davie history: 64-0 to Salisbury in 1995, 63-0 to Mooresville in 1974, 60-0 to Anson County in 1990, 55-0 to Statesville in 1985 and 58-6 to Concord in 1957. … Davie will be at home this Friday night at 7 against West Rowan.