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Davie Nails Down 4th Straight CPC Title
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They sealed at least a share of the CPC championship for the fourth straight year and the sixth time in eight years. And they became the third team in their 51-year history to reach 10 wins in the regular season. Jack Ward’s ‘65 Rebels went 10-0, and the ‘04 War Eagles went 11-0.
But this title owns a special place in coach Doug Illing’s collection because the coaching staff had to rebuild the defense after losing college players in Raeshon McNeil (Notre Dame), Logan Buchanan (North Carolina), Jaspen Gray (Catawba) and ReShaun Parks (Brevard), because of season-ending injuries to stars Kenny Rivers and Michael Murphy and because the team stuck together after a nasty 24-21 overtime loss to Mount Tabor on homecoming.
Davie finished in a first-place tie with West Forsyth and Tabor, while East wound up 2-8 and 1-5 in the CPC.
“We felt like we had a lot of potential at the beginning,” said Illing, who ran his nine-year record at Davie to 80-34. “Through the injuries, we had to redefine the offense. The kids kept fighting and improving each week, and their passion has grown. When you’ve got kids with that kind of competitiveness, good things are going to happen. And when you’ve got coaches that have that kind of passion, they’re going to help the kids succeed. So we’re very fortunate to have that mix of players and great coaches, with a great community behind us. It’s a good mix for championship football, and we just hope we can keep it going for five more weeks (in the 4-AA playoffs).”
The War Eagles won for the 40th time in 46 games, but it couldn’t avoid a letdown four days after an enormous 30-6 win over West Forsyth, couldn’t stage the show road fans were expecting ... subscribe to the Davie County Enterprise Record, P.O. Box 99, Mocksville, N.C. 27028.