David Emanuel Academy’s middle school football team is steamrolling through their season, having picked up three wins in the last three weeks. With the wins, the Eagles are now 3-1 on the year.
On September 16, the Eagles went down to Cordele and beat the Crisp Academy Wildcats 26-6.
Brody Fleming scored David Emanuel’s first touchdown on a 64-yard run. Richard Braddy connected with John-Nathan Martin to add on the 2 extra points.
Braddy would then look downfield to Ethan Fields, passing the pigskin 28 yards through the air for a second Eagle touchdown. The following 2-point conversion was no good, and the score stayed 14-0 until the Eagles’ next drive, which saw Fleming take it in on a 47-yard run to make the score 20-0.
Again, the 2-point conversion was unsuccessful. KaRon Gray, however, made that null and void as he went on a 96-yard run to make DEA’s lead 26-0, and DEA missed its third 2-point conversion of the afternoon but had done enough damage that it wouldn’t matter.
The Wildcats would manage to squeak in one touchdown before the buzzer sounded for a 26-6 Eagle win.
Coach Clint Inman and his crew then hit the road again exactly a week later, traveling to Covenant in Macon to take on the Rams. Again, the Eagles’ opponents were no match as DEA won 42-12.
The old saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” literally came into play as the coaching staff again looked to catalyst Fleming to get the Eagles on the board first in this game as well, and he delivered on a 46-yard touchdown run. The 2-point conversion was unsuccessful, and the score 6-0 lead held only for a short time as the Rams exchanged punches on a touchdown and 2-point conversion of their own to make the score 8-6.
David Emanuel, not to be deterred, came back quickly for a 12-8 lead as Braddy found his footing and started what would be his best, most complete game yet, hooking up with Martin on a 42-yard pass for the Eagles’ second touchdown of the night. Braddy then ran in the 2-point conversion for a 14-8 lead.
Braddy and Martin would work together again for a 75-yard touchdown to make the score 20-8, then Ethan Fields ran in the 2-point conversion and the score was 22 – DEA, 8 – Covenant.
Again, the Rams answered, scoring for the second and final time of the game, making the tally 22-14.
Braddy, however, got the offense going again, scoring David Emanuel’s fourth TD of the afternoon on a short, effective 4-yard run, followed by a 2-point conversion scored on foot. With that, the Eagles led 30-14.
Revan Fortner then came up big with a fumble recovery, running it 42 yards to the end zone for a touchdown of his own and the score, after a missed 2-point conversion, was 36-14.
DEA’s last successful drive saw Braddy pass the pigskin 18 yards through the air for a 42-14 lead. The 2-point conversion would be missed, but the Eagles’ complete effort on both sides of the ball sufficed for their second victory in as many weeks, putting the middle school team in prime position for the next week, which would see them hit the road for a third straight away game.
On September 30, the Eagles loaded the bus and traveled to Sparta to take on the Rebels of John Hancock Academy. At the end of the afternoon, DEA came back to Stillmore with a 30-14 win.
Gray opened scoring for David Emanuel on a long 62-yard run, and DEA came up short of the 2-point conversion.
Tucker Free kept the offensive effort going, footing his way past the Rebel defenders on a 4-yard run to quickly tack on a second Eagle touchdown. Braddy then ran in the 2-point conversion, and the score was 14-0 in favor of the Eagles.
Gray would go on another long haul, an 80-yard mad dash, for his second and DEA’s third touchdown of the game, upping the score to 20-0. Fields ran in the 2-point conversion, and the score sat at 22-0.