Dukes Pound Pioneers

By David Gravely

Dublin Middle School running back Malik Eaves took the opening kickoff of Thursday nights matchup between the Dublin Middle School Dukes and the Ft Chiswell Middle School Pioneers 83 yards for a touchdown, and the Dukes never looked back as they defeated the Pioneers 44-6 in Ft. Chiswell.

The opening kickoff return for a touchdown was a tone setter for the game, which was filled with big plays by the Dukes on both sides of the ball.  The two point conversion was no good for the opening score, but there would be many more to come.  After the Dukes kicked off to Ft Chiswell, the Pioneers looked like they were going to drive the ball down the field on Dublin, but a hard hit at the two yard line sent the ball to the ground, and Jake Callahan came out of the bottom of the pile with the ball to put Dublin back on offense.  Dublin put together a few first downs, and with 2:42 left in the first quarter Callahan finished what he started when he took the pigskin off the left side of the Dukes line and ran over and through several Pioneer defenders for a 22 yard touchdown run.  Eaves took the pitch from quarterback Jesse Draper to earn the two point conversion, putting the Dukes up 14-0.

Ft Chiswell had the ball to start the second quarter, but were denied and turned the ball over on downs on a fourth and short yardage situation.  Dublin took over the ball, and with two minutes left in the half Eaves dipped and ducked his way through the line before speeding down the hash marks for 32 yards and his second score of the game.  A two point conversion pass from Draper to Ryan Spangler was no good, leaving the score at 20-0 Dublin.  Ft Chiswell would have another possession in the second quarter, but the Dukes held them and the half ended.

The second half found the Dukes kicking off to the Pioneers, but the Callahan kickoff sailed out of bounds, giving Ft Chiswell the ball at the 35 yard line.  On the next play, another hard hit sent the ball bouncing again, and this time it was Eaves who recovered the fumble.  Dublin took the ball at the Pioneers 37 yard line, and two plays later with 5:44 left on the clock Eaves scored his third touchdown of the game on a 32 yard sprint.  Adam Lawson took the ball on a criss cross play and crossed the goal line for the two point conversion.  The Dukes defense held strong near the end of the third quarter, and the Dukes coaching staff began to send in the reserves up 28-0.

Seventh grader Kevin Smith came into the game at quarterback for the Dukes, but on his first drive the Pioneer defense held strong and Dublin was forced to punt.  On the Pioneers first possession of the fourth quarter, they finally broke the shutout at the 6:38 mark when Dallas Moore took the ball through the right side of the Dukes defense and into the endzone from 19 yards out.  The two point conversion attempt failed, putting the score at 28-6 Dublin.   Dublin took over the ball and Smith again began to march the offense down the field.  With the aid of strong runs from Darion Brown, Adam Lawson, Bren Stamper, and Jared Lucado the Dukes were able to effective keep the chains moving until Jared Lucado finally took the ball in from 2 yards out for another Dublin score.  Mark Southern ran the ball in for the two point conversion, giving the Dukes a 36-6 lead.  The final Dukes score came with 1:05 left on the clock when Darion Brown broke loose down the left sideline and went 50 yards to paydirt.  Southern took in the two point conversion again, putting the final score at 44-6 in favor of the Dukes.

The Dukes finish out their season on Thursday October 14th when they host the Pulaski Middle School Orioles.  Kickoff is set for 5:30 at Dublin Soldiers Field.