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By Brian Pitts

Enterprise Record

Blake French and Javon Carter ran for touchdowns in the first quarter, and Davie’s JV football team was well on its way to its fourth win in four tries.

Reynolds, though, had other plans. The Demons rallied and upended Davie 14-13 in the CPC opener in Winston-Salem on Sept. 19.

Injuries and other factors proved to be too much to overcome. Draeton Nance was the quarterback for the first two games, but now he’s the varsity signal caller. That left the JV quarterback duties to Colin Harrison, but he was out with an injury. That meant Blake French had to move from receiver to QB. Davie was also without No. 1 runner Brandon Forrest, who was sidelined by an injury.

“It was not a great night,” coach Spencer Pasciolla said after the JV’s first loss to Reynolds in seven years. “We made some big mental errors. We definitely should’ve put more points on the board. We had guys who were trying to step up, but didn’t get a lot of practice time to do what they were doing.”

Davie roared to a 13-0 lead in the first quarter, but the offense was listless the rest of the evening. That was understandable. Not only was French asked to fill in at QB, he was playing with his own injury.

“And he only had two days of practice,” Pasciolla said. “He had a wrist injury and he did not get a lot of reps throwing the ball, and we all know quarterback is the hardest thing to do on the field. It’s not a knock on him at all. He had a huge responsibility, and that’s hard to execute.”

French hit 5 of 11 passes for 54 yards. He also gained 31 yards on the ground.

“Obviously he’s a very talented kid,” Pasciolla said of French. “The first two drives we did really well. I’m not worried about him.”

Carter was the top ground gainer with 16 carries for 50 yards. French connected with Jayce Bentley (two catches for 35 yards), Ian Patton (1-8), Carter (1-7) and Cole Spade (1-4).

On the plus side, the defense only allowed one score. Reynolds’ first TD, coming in the second quarter, was a pick-six. The Demons surged in front in the third quarter.

“They love to hit, which is always fun to see,” he said of the defense. “I’m super proud of them.”

Notes: Davie was hurt by three turnovers, including two fumbles. … Davie had won the past six meetings, including 32-6 last year. This was the first loss to Reynolds since 27-26 in 2017.