Demons go to 8-0

Jake Gainey of Reynolds had his sense of humor firmly intact in the aftermath of his team's 28-21 win over Mount Tabor last night.

"We needed another win like this," Gainey said on the soggy turf of Deaton-Thompson Stadium. The he added with a smile: "It was really just another conference game. Just another conference game."

Sure, Jake.

On a night when the Demons' high-octane offense was bottled up in the first half, Gainey, a junior speedster, and safety Vance Matthews supplied the two big plays to keep the Demons squarely in the game. Quarterback Craven Knotts and the No. 8-ranked Demons heated up in the second half, and they had to withstand a furious late rally from the Spartans to move to 8-0 overall and 2-0 in the Central Piedmont 4-A.

The Demons took the best shot of the Spartans, who fell to 5-3 overall and 1-1 in the CPC, but Chris Manns, a star defensive tackle for Mount Tabor, said his team wasn't going away.

"We've got to play harder, play smarter and play better, that's all," Manns said. "We make mistakes but it's all good. We can get over this."

The Demons got their final touchdown when De'Vyne Julius caught a tipped ball in the end zone to complete a 26-yard pass from Knotts with 5:39 left, helping the Demons go ahead 28-14.

The Spartans closed the gap to 28-21 when quarterback Brad Morton hit Willie Ashford on a 20-yard touchdown pass with three minutes left, and after holding Reynolds, the Spartans got the ball back at their 20 with 1:36 left.

Five plays and less than a minute later, the Spartans had a first down at the Reynolds 22 with 49 seconds left, but they wouldn't get any closer. Morton was chased out of bounds on first down, sacked on second down, and the Spartans committed three costly penalties the rest of the way, the final one an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty that pushed them back across midfield, where the drive and their hopes died with 10 seconds left.

Coach Mike Propst of Reynolds said he never felt good about the 14-point lead because of Morton, who completed 12 of 28 passes for 266 yards and three touchdowns, and also three interceptions.

"I didn't feel real good," Propst said. "We only had one timeout and I didn't feel real good. Morton has gotten so much better than last year it's incredible, and he is a really good quarterback. We had our backs to the wall there and fortunately for us they made a couple of mistakes."

Mount Tabor, normally more of a ball-control team, hit Reynolds on the first play from scrimmage when Morton connected with Ashford on a 56-yard touchdown pass to help the Spartans go ahead 7-0.

Reynolds, which gained four first downs in the first half -- including two off Mount Tabor penalties -- needed a boost, and Matthews provided it midway through the first quarter by picking off Morton and returning it 55 yards for a touchdown to tie the score.

Mount Tabor answered with a 71-yard drive, and Morton found Corey Parker Jr. wide open on a 7-yard touchdown pass that moved the score to 14-7.

On the ensuring kickoff, Lawson Furr of Mount Tabor kicked the ball out of bounds. Instead of taking the ball at the 35, Propst asked for a rekick. Furr kicked the ball to Gainey, who caught it at the 14 and blazed through the Spartans' coverage for an 86-yard touchdown that helped tie the score at 14 late in the first quarter.

The Demons took their first lead after Matthews hauled in his second interception at midfield early in the first quarter, and Knotts threw a right side screen to Gainey on first down.

Gainey cut a diagonal path across the field and received one final clearing block from Jamel Baker to cap the 50-yard touchdown play.

"That interception return in the first half was huge for us by Vance Matthews, and he was an MVP tonight," Propst said. "On the kick return, everyone was fussing at me to take it at the 35 but with Jake Gainey back there we are going to make everybody kick to us.

"If I saw Jake Gainey on film I would never kick it to him. We see him every day and we don't kick it to him because he is so explosive, and the guys up front on the kickoff return team did a great job of blocking."

Ashford caught six passes for 126 yards to lead Mount Tabor, and Dixon caught four passes for 118 yards.

mlinker@wsjournal.com | 727-7324

Mount Tabor 14 0 0 7 -- 21

Reynolds 14 0 7 7 -- 28

MT -- Ashford 56 pass from Morton (Furr kick)

RJ -- Matthews 55 int. return (Teasdall kick)

MT -- Parker Jr. 7 pass from Morton (Furr kick)

RJ -- Gainey 86 kick return (Teasdall kick)

RJ -- Gainey 50 pass from Knotts (Teasdall kick)

RJ -- Julius 26 pass from Knotts (Teasdall kick)

MT -- Ashford 20 pass from Morton (Furr kick)

Records -- Reynolds 8-0 (2-0), Mount Tabor 5-3 (1-1)