By By Paul Wilson, For the Hartselle Enquirer
DANVILLE - The Danville defense forced seven turnovers and held Priceville to just 56 yards of total offense in the second half en route to a 28-3 home win last Friday night.
The Hawk secondary had another strong performance as they intercepted the Bulldogs five times with Clint McAbee returning one 70 yards for a touchdown giving Danville a 14-3 lead late in the opening half.
Danville took the opening kick and drove 69 yards in seven plays with the touchdown coming on a 45-yard run by Tyler Beck.
Beck faked a handoff to junior Levi George and raced down the right side for the score. Parker Hogan added the extra point and Danville led 7-0 with 8:27 left in the opening period.
The Hawks were 2-for-2 on third down attempts in the drive with Beck and George converting first downs on runs of 10 and 7 yards respectively.
Priceville answered with a scoring drive of its own, taking the ball 61 yards in 12 plays.
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, they would only get three points on a 23-yard field goal by Justin Anderson.
Back-to-back completions to Allen Gladwell (19 yards) and Anderson (23 yards) gave the Bulldogs a first-and-goal at the Danville 4.
The Hawk defense came up big on 1st down, tackling Jeremy Hale for a loss of 3 yards.
A 5-yard penalty pushed Priceville back to the 12 and the Bulldogs were forced to settle for the field goal making the score 7-3 in favor of the Hawks late in the first period.
The two teams combined for six turnovers (four by Priceville and two by Danville) in the second quarter, but none was more costly than McAbee’s interception and return for a touchdown.
Priceville, following a missed 37-yard field goal attempt by Danville, had the ball at its own 20 with less than a minute remaining.
Hale took a handoff from Brooks and he burst up the middle for a gain of 42 yards. On the next play, Brooks tried to hit Anderson on a slant route.
Brooks’ pass sailed high, right into the hands of McAbee who returned the interception for a Danville touchdown. Hogan’s kick was good and Danville led 14-3 with 24 seconds left in the half.
The Danville defense took over in the second half shutting Priceville out while the Hawk offense added touchdowns in each of the final two periods to give Danville a 28-3 victory.
The Danville touchdowns came on a 54-yard pass from Beck to McAbee in the third and George finished the scoring as he ran 9 yards for the touchdown.
Hogan added the extra point after each score.
As a team, Danville rushed for 189 yards. Beck led all rushers with 103 yards on 12 carries while George rushed for 85 yards on 16 carries. Each had a touchdown.
Tomorrow night the Hawks will begin the final half of their regular season as they travel to Marion County for a Class 3A, Region 7 battle with the Winfield Pirates.
Game time is 7:00 p.m.