Dukes Trounce Titans

Dukes Trounce Titans
By David Gravely

Dublin Middle School's Malik Eaves ran for three touchdowns and passed for another as the Dukes defeated the Blacksburg Middle School Titans 36-22 Thursday night at Dublin's Soldiers Field.  The win moves the Dukes to 2-0 on the season.

Dublin scored first after driving the ball sixty-one yards in the opening drive of the game, with Eaves taking the ball in from twelve yards out.  Levi Clark carried the ball through the left side of the line for the two point conversion.  With 4:40 left in the second quarter, Blacksburg got on the board with a 14 yard run by their quarterback, but the two point conversion failed, leaving the score at 8-6.  The Dukes would add another score with 1:01 left in the half when Eaves rolled out to the right from the quarterback position and tossed the ball over the heads of the Titans to Ryan Spangler for a 3 yard touchdown pass.  Jesse Draper ran the ball in for the two point conversion, and the half ended with Dublin up 16-6.

Blacksburg started the second half off strong, and with 4:27 left in the quarter #22 Hendricks took the ball in from 9 yards out.  Hendricks also ran in the two point conversion, bringing the score to 16-14 Dublin.   The Dukes were forced to punt on their next possession, but stood strong on defense.   Dublin's Austin Ellison, Kevin Smith, and Jesse Draper stepped up in a big play to end the drive. 

The Dukes took the ball back, and with 7:07 left in the fourth quarter Eaves broke loose on the left side of the line, got a good block from Spangler at wide receiver, and went 71 yards untouched for his second rushing touchdown.  The two point conversion was no good, leaving the score at 22-14 Dublin.  With Blacksburg back in control of the ball, the Titans began looking for a way to get into the endzone and tie the score, but Ellison sacked the Titan quarterback and forced a fumble, then he picked it up and ran the ball 22 yards into the endzone to put Dublin up 28-14 after another failed 2 point attempt. 

Blacksburg again went on the offensive, but another hard hit from a Dublin defender sent the ball loose, and Taylor Gee came out of the pile with the ball to put the Dukes back in business.  With the backups coming into the game, Kevin Smith rumbled 35 yards for a score on a quarterback keeper, but a holding call brought the ball back.   Dublin continued to leave the reserves in the game, and Blacksburg #22 Hendricks broke loose for a 65 yard touchdown run.  After #32 took the ball in for the two point conversion, the score moved to 28-22 Dublin. 

Dublin Coach Richard Lewis took no chances, and put the first team offense back in.  While trying to run out the clock, Eaves broke another long run for 43 yards for the final touchdown of the game.  Jake Callahan bounced in for the two point conversion to bring about the final score of 36-22 Dublin.  The Dukes hit the road for their first away game of the season next Thursday when they travel to Roanoke to face the Hidden Valley Titans.  Game time is set for 5:30.