Danville’s defense forced four first half turnovers and the Ads offense turned all four miscues into points and the Admirals easily defeated East Ridge 57-16 in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs Friday night at Admiral Stadium.

The win sets up a rematch with Somerset, a 42-0 winner over Shelby Valley, next Friday at Admiral Stadium. The Admirals defeated the Briar Jumpers 37-26 on Oct. 6 in Somerset.

Danville’s longest scoring drive in terms of time of possession was 53 seconds and it was that long only because the running clock started after the Admirals’ fifth score of the first half — a 75 yard interception return by 5-10, 275 pound lineman Jaylon Brashear.

“That is definitely a lineman’s dream,” Danville coach Clay Clevenger said. “Most times when a lineman gets an interception it’s in the middle of the field, Jaylon had to earn his, and his teammates made sure he made it to the end zone. They set up a convoy at about midfield and he huffed and puffed all the way for the score.”

East Ridge (5-6) ran 34 offensive plays for just 48 yards in the first half and turned the ball over twice each on interceptions and fumble recoveries. Darrian Bell and Ethan Downey each had a fumble recovery while David Walker and Brashear intercepted passes to set up scores.

Taking over at the East Ridge 34 following a short punt, Danville (11-0) used just three plays and 20 seconds to reach paydirt.

After junior quarterback Zach Thornton threw his only incompletion of the night on the opening play, he connected with Tanner Ford for five yards to the 29, Thornton, who completed 4 of 5 passes for 115 yards and three touchdowns, connected with D’Mauriae VanCleave for a 29 yard touchdown. Nathan Hazlett added the PAT for a quick 7-0 lead.

“We felt like we had more speed than (East Ridge) and took advantage of that in the first half,” the Danville coach said. “We came out and took care of business early and were able to get our JV team in the game in the second half. We wanted to get our starters a little more but it is what it is. In fact, our JV team came in and moved the ball well and scored twice.”

Thornton connected with David Walker for 72 yards and Jaleel Warren on a nine yard scoring strike and Danville carried a 21-0 lead into the second quarter.

It was much of the same for the Ads in period two.

It all began with a 23 yard run by VanCleave before Brashear rumbled and stumbles down the sideline for his 75 yard interception return. Hazlett added the Pat after the first score and Don Harris run in the conversion following the second score to give the Ads a 36-0 lead and set the running clock in motion.

Harris put the finishing touch on a perfect first half with a 23 yard scoring run and Danville led 43-0 at the intermission.

East Ridge’s Zachary Ramey, who led the Panthers with 107 yards on 20 attempts, scored twice in the second half against Danville reserves on runs of 13 and two yards. However, Isaiah Miller scored Danville’s final touchdown on a 59 yard run and reserve quarterback Griffin Spencer passed to Brennan McGuire for the two-point conversion and the final score of 57-16.

Next up- a rematch with Somerset.

“These two teams have a great rivalry,” Clevenger said. “We jumped on them (27-6) in the first half in the first game but we had a terrible third quarter to let them back in the game. They have improved and are putting a lot of points on the board since we played them the first time. Hopefully, we come out and are ready to play for four quarters next week.”

At Danville

East Ridge    21    22    6    8 –    57

Danville    0    0    0    16 –    16

First Quarter

Danville – D’Mauriae VanCleave 29 pass from Zach Thornton (Nathan Hazlett kick), 9:17.

Danville – David Walker 72 pass from Thornton (Hazlett kick), 4:53.

Danville – Jaleel Warren 9 pass from Thornton (Hazlett kick), 3:59.

Second Quarter

Danville – VanCleave 23 run(Hazlett kick), 11:23.

Danville – Jaylon Brashear 75 interception return (Don Harris run), 8:25.

Danville – Don Harris 48 run (Hazlett kick), 4:31.

Third Quarter

Danville – Darrian Logan 4 run (pass failed), 6:30.

Fourth Quarter

East Ridge – Zachary Ramey (C.J. Branham run), 11.39

Danville – Isaiah Miller (Brennan McGuire pass from Griffin Spencer), 9:32.

East Ridge – Ramey 2 run (Ramey run), 2:42.

 

ER    D

First downs    16    11

Rush-Yards    40-142    11-195

Passing Yds    32    118

Total Yards    174    313

Comp-Att-Int    3-6-2    5-6-0

Fumbles-Lost    4-2    0-0

Penalties-Yds    3-9    7-93

RUSHING – East Ridge, C.J.Branham 1-(minus 5), Zachary Ramey 20-107, Seth Ferguson 5-17, Chase Caudill 13-36, Team 1-(minus 13). Danville, Don Harris 2-51, D’Mauriae VanCleave 1-23, Isaiah Miller 4-90, David Walker 1-14, Darrian Logan 1-8, Griffin Spencer 2-9.

PASSING – East Ridge, Seth Ferguson 1-3-0-(minus 1), C.J. Branham 2-4-0-33. Danville, Thornton 4-5-0-115, Griffin Spencer 1-1-0-3.

RECEIVING – East Ridge, Ramey !-19, Jacob Caldwell 1-14, Ramey 1-(minus 1). Danville, Van Cleave 1-29, David Walker 1-72, Jaleel Warren 1-9, Tanner Ford 1-5, Brennan McGuire 1-3.