It had all the makings of trap game, but instead it turned into another rung on the ladder to the top of the Central Piedmont 4-A conference for the Reynolds Demons.
Reynolds grinded out a 14-0 win over North Davidson last night at Deaton-Thompson Stadium to move to 9-0 overall and 3-0 in league play, setting up a showdown next week against West Forsyth for the conference championship.
Reynolds hurt itself for much of the game with costly penalties and turnovers, but broke the game open late in the third quarter when Craven Knotts connected with Jake Gainey in the right corner of the end zone for a 35-yard touchdown pass and a 14-0 lead.
The play came right after Reynolds had forced North Davidson to punt from its own end zone against a stiff wind, which set the Demons up with excellent field position.
"We thought we picked a great spot there to make that play and be aggressive," Coach Mike Propst of Reynolds said. "Craven threw it up perfectly and Jake just ran under it. I really thought at that point, we were in firm control because of the way our defense was playing."
North Davidson, which had gained 85 yards of total offense through the first three quarters, opened the fourth quarter by driving down to the Reynolds 8, but Brennan Dodd's incomplete pass in the end zone on fourth down turned the ball over to Reynolds with 9:24 left.
The Demons chewed nearly seven minutes off the clock on a drive that ended with Knotts getting stopped just short of the goal line with 2:42 left. North Davidson drove down to the Reynolds 25 on its final series before an interception sealed the win.
"We had a great game plan defensively," said Coach Mark Holcomb of North Davidson. "We tried as hard as we could to make them run the football, because they are just so fast. All the game film we had seen on them usually was their players running by the other team, and we knew we couldn't let it turn into a vertical game. They ran the ball well to their credit, but they still had a couple of big passing plays."
Jermane Clark, who finished with 85 yards on 17 carries, was the workhorse for Reynolds and scored the opening touchdown on a 14-yard run. The Demons didn't attempt a pass until the first play of the second quarter.
Knotts finished 11 of 17 with 167 yards and one touchdown and one interception, while Gainey had five catches for 93 yards, including a key 42-yarder that kept the final drive going and the clock moving.
The score could have been higher, but Reynolds turned the ball over on an interception by Knotts on the goal line in the third quarter, and passed up a chance for a 27-yard field goal in the first quarter because of the wind.
"All week in practice, I thought they weren't really focused like they needed to be," Propst said. "We had the distraction of it being homecoming, and yes, I'll even admit that they were looking ahead to the West (Forsyth) game. No question. North Davidson always gives us fits. Always. But tonight, defensively, we were able to make what we call our ‘money downs' where we hold them on third or fourth down and get the ball back. While our offense has been prolific, our defense really gets it done, too. This feels absolutely great. Now we get to play for a conference championship next week."
North Davidson 0 0 0 0 -- 0
Reynolds 7 0 7 0 -- 14
REY--Clark 14 run (Andy Teasdall kick)
REY--Gainey 35 pass from Knotts (Teasdall kick)
Records--Reynolds 9-0 (3-0, Central Piedmont 4-A); North Davidson 6-3, (1-2)
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