On October 17, the Davie County War Eagles hosted the Mooresville Blue Devils at home. Though the War Eagles lost to the Blue Devils 10-42, the stands were filled with family and friends celebrating Senior Night with our football team, cheer team, dancing boots, and marching band.
The game started out with Mooresville kicking off to Davie’s offensive line, placing the team at their own 20-yard line. Seven minutes into the first quarter, Davie scored its first points on a 32-yard field goal secured by junior Dylan Cassetta. Cassetta follows up his field goal by kicking the ball off to the Blue Devils’ offense. With five minutes left in the quarter, Davie stayed strong, stopping play after play that Mooresville tried to execute. The first quarter ended with Davie in the lead by three points.
Within the first minutes of the second quarter, Mooresville was able to break through Davie’s defensive line, scoring a touchdown and a PAT. This placed Mooresville at a four-point lead. After the kickoff, Davie completed a first down on a pass from Dreaton Nance to Ethan Driver, slowly pushing the line towards their end zone. As the game progressed, Mooresville was back on offense, and Davie was starting to be outperformed on defense. Though the War Eagles were able to make stops, it wasn’t enough—the Blue Devils were able to fight their way closer and closer to their end zone. With a timeout by Davie with 4:30 remaining in the second quarter, the boys tried to regroup and get their heads back into the game.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, as the Blue Devils scored a touchdown twenty-three seconds later along with a PAT, pushing the Blue Devils’ lead to 11. After the teams had set themselves up again, senior Gavin Reese was able to get a first in ten for Davie. Following Reese’s lead, Nance led Davie to a first down with 2 minutes and 47 seconds remaining. Davie then called another timeout, the third of the quarter, in an attempt to put Davie in a better position. Alas, these timeouts were used to Mooresville’s advantage, catching Davie off guard, allowing Mooresville to complete a 67-yard pass that led to a touchdown and a successful PAT. Going into halftime, the score was 3-21 with Davie having an eighteen-point lead to fill if they wanted to win the game.
Davie started the third quarter with a kickoff to Mooresville. With ten minutes to go in the quarter, Mooresville scored a 13-yard rushing touchdown, placing Mooresville at 27 points. Mooresville followed up with a successful PAT. As Davie continued to battle the Blue Devils, the clock ticked down. There was under a minute on the clock when Davie failed to make a stop, which allowed Mooresville to score another touchdown and PAT. At the end of the third quarter, the score was 3-35.
The fourth quarter started off similarly as the first three, with Mooresville scoring another touchdown and PAT four minutes into the quarter. With one minute to go, Davie was finally able to break through the Blue Devils’ defense. Senior Jay Pelote scored Davie’s first touchdown of the night, a four-yard rushing touchdown. Cassetta then followed it up with a successful PAT. The game ended with Davie losing 10-42.
Senior Night Celebrations
Though Davie’s last home game ended in a loss, the celebrations of senior night and the emotions that come with these achievements flourished.
Thirty minutes before the game started, Davie took the time to recognize the seniors on the football and cheer team. The cheer team was recognized first, with eleven girls graduating. Each of the girls was embraced by both coaches and principal Cindy Stone, and given a handshake from the Athletic Director Ben Baity while their senior statements were read.
“Senior night was a closing chapter for me, after four years as a Varsity Cheerleader,” senior Ellie Deas said. “It allowed me to get recognition for all the things I’ve done for four years.”
The football team recognized nineteen players across all positions. As with the cheerleaders, each of the boys was embraced by their coach, principal, and athletic director. At the end of each senior statement, all of them stood on the sidelines facing the crowd, posing for photos taken by Marnic Lewis.
Later in the game, instead of the typical halftime show with the dancing boots and marching band playing, the seniors on these teams were recognized. The dancing boots went first, recognizing four seniors. The girls wore senior sashes that matched the senior cheerleaders and the seniors in the marching band. As the girls were recognized, dance coach Gianna Goslen embraced all of them after missing parts of their senior season due to her maternity leave.
Next was the marching band with nineteen seniors being recognized. Out of the nineteen seniors, nine are section leaders within the band. Though the marching band has lots of staff to support them, Matthew Brusseau stands out, as the band teacher at the high school and the staff point of contact for the marching band. He and each one of the seniors had a special moment with warm embraces that touched the souls of the crowd and parents.
“Senior Night showed me how far I have come, how much fun I’ve had, and what more fun is to come.” Senior Roman Christensen remarked. “Marching band is a large part of my joy in high school and it helped me connect in ways I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. I have also made friends that have changed my life for the better.”
