BNI Newswire

The Lowndes Academy Rebels came into Fort Dale riding a nine-game win streak Thursday night, but that all came crashing down.

The Fort Dale Eagles trounced the Rebels 32-0 off of a strong running performance by Mika Jones.

Fort Dale came out of the gates throwing the ball and capped a two and a half minute drive with a leaping 16-yard touchdown catch by Dalton Gregory from quarterback Ty Newton.

The one score would be all the points the Eagles would need.

“We came out in the spread and marched right down the field and scored,” Fort Dale coach James “Speed” Sampley said. “(Lowndes) made some pretty good adjustments after that but I think it came down to we are just more battle-tested than they are because we have played a tougher schedule.”

On Lowndes’ first possession of the game, the Rebels fumbled and Cory Johnson recovered. Turnovers would continue to plague the Rebels for the rest of the game.

After the Eagles punted following the fumble recovery, Fort Dale’s Barry Boan forced and recovered another Lowndes fumble, but the Eagles were not able to move the ball.

With Lowndes driving late in the first quarter, the Rebels once again turned the ball over as Newton picked off a pass, his 10th of the season.

This time the Eagles were able to take advantage of the turnover as Blake Mullins took the ball in from 5 yards out. After Newton added the two-point conversion run, the Eagles led 14-0.

With less than three minutes remaining in the half, Mullins once again got into the scoring action as he broke several tackles and raced 27 yards for the Fort Dale score. Jones added the two-point conversion run, making the score 22-0 at the half.

“(Fort Dale was) just too big and strong for us,” Lowndes Academy coach Art Sullivan said. “Our line just got whipped.”

The Rebels once again shot themselves in the foot to start the second half with a fumble on the opening play.

After Fort Dale recovered, Jones capped the drive with a 9-yard touchdown run, giving the Eagles a 29-0 lead.

The Eagles got great field position on the next possession after Blake Conway blocked a Lowndes punt, but the Fort Dale offense stalled at the 5-yard line.

With less than four minutes remaining in the third quarter, Gibson lined up for a 22-yard field goal and split the uprights, thus ending the night’s scoring at 32-0.

Offensively for the Eagles, Jones was the leading rusher with 127 yards on 20 carries and one touchdown.

Mullins had 56 yards on five carries and two touchdowns while quarterback Newton rushed for 33 yards on 10 carries. Newton also finished 5-of-10 for 58 yards and one touchdown passing.

“I think it might be (a shot in the arm),” Sullivan said. “They don’t take losing real well.”