DCS Gators win 42-6 against Beekman team

The Swamp – It seems like week after week this season I find myself saying, “I don’t think I’ve seen that before.” This week was no different as the Delhi Charter Gators and the Beekman Charter Tigers both faced third-and-thirty in their opening possessions. The only difference was the Gators converted for a 41-yard touchdown and went on to win the game 42-6.
Homecoming weeks are always interesting with all the distractions and both teams looked distracted early as Beekman fumbled on the first two snaps of the game and DCS had a negative play and a 15-yard penalty on its first two snaps.
However, on that third-and-thirty play, Quarterback Mason Hale threw a pass to Joshua Poland and he covered the 41-yards needed to get to the endzone. Poland’s 31-yard punt return allowed the Gators to start the drive at the Tiger 21. Trenton Jinks PAT gave Delhi Charter the 7-0 lead.
Beekman answered on the next series with a six-play 53-yard drive but the failed conversion pass kept DCS in front 7-6. The weirdest play of the night happened on the next series as Hale faked a dive handoff on the Gators first play from the 39 and kept the ball. He was past midfield with no defenders around him when the whistle blew with the officials and most of the Tigers thinking Michael Woods had been tackled for a three-yard gain. After a long conference and despite the fact Hale could’ve almost walked into the endzone, it was a three-yard gain and the Gators eventually punted. It was an adventurous night for this officiating crew to say the least with seven unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and several long conferences with little explanation given afterwards.
For the second week in a row, Delhi Charter’s offense and defense finally shook off the rust (or homecoming hangover) in the second quarter and scored 21 points.
Those points were acquired on an 18-yard run from Woods, a three-yard run from Hale, and a 37-yard pass from Hale to Desmond Longino late in the half after Koby Dorsey forced a fumble that Cameron McDaniel recovered. The Gators cruised to the 28-6 halftime lead and never looked back.
“That was a really weird half and homecoming games are sometimes like that,” Delhi Charter Head Coach Brett Raley said. “The main thing is we got the win and we just have to move on to next week.”
Longino continued his heroics on the opening kickoff of the second half as he weaved through the Beekman defenders and eventually wound up in the endzone with the 69-yard kickoff return TD. The Gator defense stymied the Tigers offense for most of the second half and after giving up 53 yards on the opening TD only surrendered a net 14-yards the rest of the game. Azavier Stubblefield capped the scoring and secured the homecoming victory for DCS when he bulled in from the 1-yard line with 4:32 left in the game. Jinks’ kick accounted for the final margin.
Delhi Charter will make the short trip down I-20 this Friday to take on the Rayville Hornets for the first time in program history. Rayville is coming off a 34-24 win over Mangham last week. Beekman will have a week off before they take on Rayville on Oct. 20. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.