Davenport’s Bulldogs zoomed past Savanna, 46-0, on Friday to notch their third straight shutout and third straight mercy-rule win.
The Dawgs are now 3-0 and face Weleetka this week in a measuringstick game. The Outlaws have been in the state finals the last two years and are 2-0 after dispatching Wetumka and Laverne the last two weeks.
Davenport is ranked No. 1 in Class B-II by MaxPreps this week, and Weleetka is ranked No. 6 in Class B-1.
“If anyone in Lincoln County isn’t doing anything Friday night, it’s going to be a game to watch,” Davenport coach Grant Powell said.
“Weleetka travels well and we’re going to have a lot of fans there. I think this is one of the bigger games Davenport has had in a while and I’m just glad we’re getting to host it.”
Last week’s game was Davenport’s third straight romp.
The Dawgs caused and recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff, scored shortly after and never looked back.
“Jaxson Brinkley and Chace Buchanan hit the returner and Aydan Stancell recovered the fumble and that set the tone for the whole game,” Powell said.
Davenport’s defense was oppressive, allowing Savanna just one first down and seven yards of total offense on 25 plays.
The Bulldogs, meanwhile, racked up 257 yards of total offense in the mercy-rule shortened game.
Quarterback Chase Mitchell completed six of seven throws for 12 yards and four touchdowns.
Brody Robinson ran the ball 12 times for 88 yards and caught a pass for 17 yards and a touchdown.
Stancell carried eight times for 33 yards and Reece Murfin caught three balls for 79 yards and three touchdowns.
Buchanan had a highlight reel game, recovering a fumble for a touchdown, causing a fumble to set up another score, rushing three times for 24 yards and a touchdown and catching two passes for 16 yards.
Davenport finished with 112 yards passing on six completions and 145 yards rushing on 23 carries.
“We had a goal Friday night and that was to stop the quarterback,” Powell said. “We thought if we could contain him and our defensive ends could turn him back inside, we had a really good shot to win the game.
“A lot of guys stepped up. Carter Marshall at cornerback made a bunch of good open field tackles.
“Our defensive line is not very big, but those guys get after it and our speed helps put us in a good position.
“Our boys were fired up from the warm-ups and that translated right to the opening kickoff.” Although MaxPreps has his team atop the class, Powell wasn’t ready to claim that position.
“I think we’re up there,” he said. “But I don’t know if I’d put us at number one. We still have some stuff to prove for that to be the case.
“Friday night is going to be a really good test for us. Weleetka is a good football team and they have some players from those championship teams that are taking a bigger role this year.
“They know what winning looks like, so we’ll have a big test to see if we have earned the right to be number one in our class.”
Powell said this year’s team has a high ceiling, partly because of the cohesion on the team.
“The sky’s the limit. Our number-one goal coming into the season was to win the district championship, and that’s what we’re shooting for right now,” he said. “I told them ‘you win that, you put yourself in a great position for the playoffs and then anything can happen.’
“If we can stay healthy, we have some weapons. “Our line has gotten tremendously better from last year. Everyone has bought in and is sharing their part on offense and defense.
“No one has gotten the big head and they’re all pulling for each other. We almost got a flag Friday night because we scored that first touchdown and all 30 of them are out on the numbers cheering like we’d won the state championship.
“That’s the kind of close-knit group these boys have and I think that bond is what made us so successful.
“Everybody wants everybody to do good, no matter who’s in the spotlight.”