Dadeville escapes LaFayette

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LAFAYETTE — Apparently, slow and steady doesn’t always win the race.

LaFayette used ball-control offense to keep the high-octane Dadeville offense off the field and further frustrated the Tigers with pressure on the defensive end to take a lead in the fourth quarter.

But it wasn’t enough to match Dadeville’s big plays in a 35-22 Tiger win.

“That was our gameplan,” LaFayette head coach Ike Grant said. “We felt like we could run the ball on them. We were able to do whatever we wanted to do in our gameplan, we just broke down a little bit in the fourth quarter.”

The Bulldogs (3-4, 2-3 Class 3A-Region 3) took a 22-21 lead with 11:54 remaining in the game when Javontae Holloway hit Justin Schuelke on a 12-yard touchdown pass and then found Tobius Ray on the 2-point conversion pass.

LaFayette then had a chance to put the game away when it got the ball back midway through the quarter still holding the lead. The Bulldogs had fourth-and-less than a yard on their own 30-yard line and elected to punt.

Two plays later, previously-struggling Dadeville quarterback Eric Vickers took off on a 60-yard touchdown run to regain the lead, and then had a 26-yard touchdown run with less than three minutes remaining to seal the game.

Dadeville improved to 7-0 for only the second time in school history., and this after an 0-10 season last year.

The Tigers won despite running only 36 plays on offense for just 218 total yards and a 5-for-14 passing night from Vickers, who also threw an interception.

Vickers did rush for 111 yards thanks to the two long touchdown runs.

Dadeville coach Richard White said LaFayette’s ball-control offense played a big role in his offense’s lack of rhythm.

“They definitely got the offense off balance,” Dadeville head coach Richard White said. “We only had the ball two series in the first half (the Tigers actually had three possessions).

“We were lucky our quarterback made some big plays in space and our special teams and defense made some big plays.”

The majority of those big plays came from senior wide receiver Tre McKinney.

McKinney returned the game’s opening kickoff 53 yards to the LaFayette 36, then caught a 29-yard pass to the 1-yard line to set up the Tigers’ first touchdown, a 1-yard run by Quin Jones.

Dadeville then answered with a 20-play, 82-yard drive that took 9:36 off the clock, culminating in a 4-yard pass from Holloway to Ray. Dijon Tucker added the 2-point conversion to give the Tigers their first lead.

Then McKinney struck in a big way.

He took the ensuing kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown, and then intercepted a Holloway pass and returned it 86 yards for a score to give Dadeville a 21-8 lead with 10:53 remaining in the first half.

McKinney was shaken up a bit on Dadeville’s next drive and left the game briefly, but was not a factor after his return.

Lafayette pulled to within 21-14 in the third quarter with a 13-yard pass from Holloway to Antoine Heard. The 2-point conversion failed.

Holloway had a strong night at quarterback for LaFayette, completing 13-of-25 passes for 118 yards with three touchdowns and an interception.

Chris Ashford had 132 yards rushing on 24 carries for the Bulldogs.

Grant felt the loss would benefit his team.

“I think they’ll play as hard as they did tonight or even harder,” Grant said. “I’d hate to line up across from this bunch, knowing they could have won this game. We had a chance to win, and they’re disappointed.”

Dadeville hosts B.B. Comer next week, while LaFayette travels to Beulah.

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