Staff reports

DAPHNE – Daphne’s offense picked an opportunistic time to start clicking again.

After being handcuffed for most of the game last week in a loss to Davidson in their last regular season contest, the Trojan offensive unit ran wild against Selma here on a chilly Friday night.

Daphne routed the Saints 55-16 in a 6A first-round playoff game. With the win, the Trojans, now 6-4 on the season, move on to the second round of the 6A state playoffs and will host Central-Phenix City Friday night at 7 p.m.

Central-Phenix City advanced to the second round by eliminating Murphy, 31-21.

Daphne coach Glenn Vickery said that he knows that Central-Phenix City will be ready to play.

“They’re a class program and they have a good football team,” Vickery said.

Vickery added that his kids answered the call against Selma.

“I’m proud of our coaches for getting our team back ready to play after the loss last week,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about. I’m proud of our players, too. We asked our kids to step up to a different level this week and they did. That’s a challenge, but we’re going to do that one week at a time. I’m also proud of the community for coming out on a cold night.”

Carliss Johnson and Bryon Mosley led the Trojan attack on the ground. Mosley rushed for 79 yards on 10 carries as the senior scored on a 27-yard dash and also tossed a 50-yard touchdown pass to Tashawn Green. Meanwhile, Johnson scored twice, on runs of 1 and 3 yards, plus rushed for 62 yards on 10 carries.

Meanwhile, the Trojan defensive front of Adam Newton, James Winston, Bryant Turner and Nick Davis pressured Selma quarterback Cajun Prichett relentlessly on an evening that saw the Saints throw on just about every play.

“We felt like Selma would throw the football against us and they did,” Vickery said. “Our kids rushed hard and defense set the tone. Coach (Rick) Chancery and the defensive coaches had a good game plan for Selma.”

The Trojans were perfect in the first half, scoring on all six of their possessions to take a 42-0 lead. The rout started as Daphne opened the game by driving down the field on its opening series to score in nine plays.

Johnson ran the ball in from three yards out while Mark Wetzel kicked the point after to give the Trojans the early 7-0 advantage with 7:16 left in the first period.

After Green stepped in front of a Pritchett pass to get the interception for Daphne on Selma’s next series, the Trojans went for broke and cashed in as Mosley hit Green on the first play on a 50-yard scoring strike. Wetzel again split the uprights on the PAT to leave the Trojans ahead 14-0 with 5:04 left in the first quarter.

“After the interception, I thought that Selma was back on their heels a little bit,” Vickery said, “so we came at them with the halfback pass. “We wanted to try to catch them emotionally down.”

Selma quickly punted the ball away and Daphne followed by tacking on more points. This time, Daphne scored after five plays as Johnson ran the ball into the end zone from one yard. Wetzel again nailed the extra point after to put the Trojans ahead 21-0 with 1:23 left in the opening quarter.

The second period was more of the same.

Selma surrendered the ball on downs on its next series. The Daphne offense went to work again, scoring after only four plays as Mosley scored on a 27-yard run. The PAT mae it 28-0 with 8:18 left in the first half.

The Saints immediately turned to the pass in an attempt to get something going offensively, but didn’t get much done. After three incomplete passes forced the Saints to once again punt, Daphne watsted little time scoring again. Trojans’ quarterback Patrick Frayer connected with Wendell Maye on a 45-yard touchdown reception and the DHS lead was 35-0 with 7:42 left before halftime.

After another Selma punt, the Trojans scored again before intermission when Arnil Stallworth ran in from 23 yards away to make it 42-0 at halftime.

Selma came out with more punch in the second half, however, as the Saints scored on their opening series of the third quarter. Pritchett hooked up with Quinn Parnell on a 19-yard scoring reception. The two also connected on the two-point conversion to narrow the margin to 42-8 with 8:17 remaining in the third period.

Daphne answered right back. Justin Smith did the honors for the Trojans. The junior running back scampered in from four yards out and the Trojans led 49-8.

Neither team could get much going again until the final minutes of the fourth quarter. Daphne picked up its last touchdown when Michael Jones rambled on a 15-yard touchdown run. The PAT try failed, but DHS owned a 55-8 advantage with 4:58 to go.

Selma capped the scoring on a 41-yard touchdown strike from Pritchett to Parnell. The two-point pass also was good.