Pirates Sail Over Seahawks

9/25/08
By: Clint Cox

The Sneads Pirates jumped out to an early lead, then battled a pesky band of Seahawks from Franklin County in the third quarter before sailing on to a 40-19 win. In doing so they granted Head Coach Don Dowling his first win at the helm of the Pirate ship. "They say the first one is always the hardest to get and I believe them" said Dowling after the victory. Mark Lawson and Jeff Davis had big nights for the Pirates as Lawson racked up 100 yards of rushing and 3 touchdowns. Davis had 250 yards of total offense (125 yards of rushing, 33 yards of receiving and 92 yards on kickoff / punt returns) and 2 touchdowns. Davis also picked off three Seahawk passes on the evening.
The Pirates set sail quickly as they jumped out to a 20-0 as Lawson scored twice and Davis scored once. Lawson had a 2 yard run and 26 yard run to score and Davis scored on a 1 yard run. Franklin County scored late in the first half to make it a 20-7 game but Davis came right back on the ensuing kickoff and returned it 80 yards for a score. Taylor Edge added the point after kick and Sneads led 27-7 at the half.
Franklin County came out and scored early in the 3rd quarter to make it a 27-13 game. The Pirates then hit a stretch where they just could not seem to get going and the Seahawks appeared to be gaining momentum. Late in the third quarter though the Pirate defense came up with back to back sacks to drop Franklin County back to their own 5 yard line. As the game moved into the fourth quarter Sneads mounted a drive that included a 30 yard pass from Edge to Davis to the Seahawk one yard line. Lawson then scored his third TD of the night to make it 33-13. On the next Seahawk possession Josh Rogers picked off a pass and returned it for a Pirate score. Edge added the point after kick to increase the Pirate lead to 40-13. Late in the game the Seahawks scored on a touchdown pass to make the final 40-19.
Dowling had both praise for his squad but acknowledged they still have work to do. "Our defense got us started and then the offense made some big plays. I saw a lot of good things tonight but we also made some mistakes. We’ve got to work on those things to get ready for a very good West Gadsden team," said Dowling