Delhi Charter Gators tame Sicily Island 39-8
Sicily Island – Despite the 1980s era lighting, Delhi Charter School Quarterback Mason Hale connected on two touchdown passes and Alandis Stubblefield scored twice on the ground in the first half to lead the Gators to a 39-8 win over the winless Sicily Island Tigers.
The Gators jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter putting up 25 points thanks to a stingy defense, great field position and several Tiger miscues. Stubblefield opened the scoring on a 22-yard run to cap the first drive of the night and Trenton Jinks added the kick for a 7-0 lead. Hale cashed in on the first Sicily Island fumble of the night on the ensuing kickoff with a 4-yard run. Hale then punctuated the next DCS offensive series when he found a wide-open Joshua Poland coming out of the backfield and Poland jogged into the endzone to complete the 26-yard scoring play. Freshman Demontral Williams added an 11-yard run with 2:29 left in the opening stanza to finish out the scoring in the quarter.
“We won the coin toss and got out quickly scoring on our first few drives,” Delhi Charter Head Coach Brett Raley said. “Coach Nix and the defense shut them down and caused a couple turnovers which really helped our cause tonight.”
Hale continued the scoring barrage in the second quarter finding Desmond Longino running through the Sicily Island defense and that 14-yard pass play TD moved the score to 33-0 before halftime. Longino had three grabs for 30 yards on the night. Stubblefield’s 4-yard run proved to be the final points of the night for DCS at the 6:49 mark of the second quarter with the Gators substituting liberally the rest of the way. On the night, Williams was the leading rusher with 2 carries for 45 yards, followed by Poland and Jinks with 36 while Kaleb Offord and Stubblefield each had 33. Hale finished the night 4-5-56 yards with 2 TDs passing.
“I think the offense is starting to come around with our option game and Mason is throwing the ball a little better lately which can only help us going forward,” Raley added. “We had some guys nicked up on defense but they’re getting back into playing shape which we’ll need the next three weeks for sure.”
Once again the Gators were a little slow coming out after halftime as the Tigers got a big kickoff return into DCS territory and then SI running back Courtney Boatner capped the drive with a 1-yard run. He added the conversion run cutting the lead to the final margin of 39-8 early in the third quarter. A Stubblefield fumble on the next series quickly setup the Tigers in scoring position inside the Gator 20. However, the DCS defense turned away the threat and the game was never in question after that point. Sicily Island had 10 fumbles on the night and DCS recovered five by contest’s end.
DCS improves to 4-2 on the year and will travel to Ferriday, LA for the first time ever to take on the Delta Charter Wolves. Delta Charter is 1-5 on the year after a 32-29 loss to the suddenly powerful Tensas Panthers. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Ferriday.