By Paul Keane

THOMASVILLE, Ala. — David Hodo threw three touchdown passes to DeJarvis Chambers, Dallas Sims rushed for a pair of scores and Wayne County High School's varsity football team held off a scrappy Thomasville squad, 41-28, here Thursday night in a spring football game.

The decision closed out spring workouts for both teams, and WCHS Head Coach Todd Mangum said his team learned quite a bit during the four quarters of varsity action.

"We gained over 500 yards in offense, but we gave up a lot defensively," he said. "I like the fact that we were balanced offensively, but defensively we need to be more consistent and do a better job of wrapping up and tackling.

"I saw some good things on both sides of the ball, and our effort and intensity was there. I also saw some things we need to work on, and we'll have a chance to do that before we play for real on Aug. 30. Overall, I was pleased, but we do have some work to do in order to be ready for the start of the season in August."

The War Eagles took the opening drive and promptly marched down to the Tigers' 14-yard line before a fumble thwarted the momentum. Thomasville took its first snap of the night and promptly turned it into an 83-yard scoring run, making it 7-0 with 10:36 left in the first quarter.

WCHS responded with a nine-play, 70-yard drive that ended when Hodo hit Chambers with a 3-yard touchdown pass. Brandon McCary booted the extra point to things things up at 7-7 with 8:06 remaining in the stanza.
The defense held on a fourth-down play on the next series, giving the offense possession at the wCHS 40. Seven plays later, Elijah Pugh plunged in from 6 yards out, and the McCary extra point opened up a 14-7 lead with 3:38 remaining in the period.

Benito Jones recovered a fumble on the ensuing series, but the War Eagles could not capitalize, punting the ball away after a three-and-out. The defense stopped the Tigers on the next possession, but a fumble on first down handed the ball right back to the host squad. After the defense held again on a fourth-down attempt, a WCHS interception kept the War Eagles from capitalizing again.

After a missed field goal by THS and a punt from the War Eagles, the Tigers took over at their own 40-yard line with 1:54 left in the half. On first down, Tyree Evans recovered a fumble, giving the offense possession at the Thomasville 36-yard line. Ten plays later, Sims bulled his way in from a yard out, and the McCary extra point made it 21-7 with 12 ticks left on the first half clock. WCHS took that same lead into the halftime locker room.
The defense forced a punt to start the second half, giving the War Eagles possession at their own 22. Seven plays later, WCHS had traversed the 78 yards needed to score after Hodo hit Chambers with a 19-yard scoring strike. The McCary extra pointed opened up a 28-7 advantage for the visiting team.

Thomasville answered with a pair of quick scores to make it a tight ballgame again, though. After putting together a 70-yard, eight-play drive to cut the margin to 28-14, a fumble on the ensuing series gave the Tigers possession at the wCHS 26-yard line. It took only one play — a pass attempt — for the home team to punch in another score, cutting the deficit to 28-21 just 11 seconds after it was 28-14.

The War Eagles answered on the next series, needing only two plays to travel 70 yards, with Sims racing the final 52 to pay dirt. The McCary kick made it 35-21 with 2:37 left in the third quarter.

Jamal Powe recovered a fumble at the Thomasville 42-yard line on the next series, but the offense couldn't capitalize, missing on a fourth-down pass attempt.

That allowed the Tigers to set up shop at their own 39-yard line, and it took 12 plays before a 4-yard run and the PAT cut the deficit down to 35-28. The War Eagles answered with a six-play drive that ended when Hodo hit Chambers with a 35-yard touchdown pass to make it 41-28.

For the night, the War Eagles rushed for 238 yards and passed for another 274, a total of 512. Hodo connected on 18-of-27 passes for 227 yards and Sims rushed for 171 while Chambers hauled in eight passes for 100 yards. The defense allowed 246 yards on the ground and only 86 through the airways.

In the junior varsity game, playing 12 plays on each side of the ball for two series, the War Eagles scored first and then held on to take the win.

WCHS scored on its first set of 12 plays, needing only 10 snaps before Deon Smith scored on a 15-yard run to make it 6-0. The defense would then make that score stand to take the victory.

The offense rushed for 78 yards and passed for another 62 during its 24 plays. The defense allowed only 22 yards rushing and 7 through the airways during its 24-play run.

WCHS 41, THOMASVILLE 28
SCORE BY QUARTERS
WCHS     14     7    14    6   —   41
THS          7     0     14   7   —   28
SCORING SUMMARY
FIRST QUARTER
THS — 10:36, 83-yard run. PAT good.
WCHS — 8:06, DeJarvis Chambers 3-yard pass from David Hodo. Brandon McCary kick.
WCHS — 3:38, Elijah Pugh 6-yard run. McCary kick.
SECOND QUARTER
WCHS — 0:12, Dallas Sims 1-yard run. McCary kick.
THIRD QUARTER
WCHS — 5:47, Chambers 19-yard pass from Hodo. McCary kick.
THS — 3:12, 5-yard run. PAT good.
THS — 3:01, 26-yard pass. PAT good.
WCHS — 2:37, Sims 52-yard run. McCary kick.
FOURTH QUARTER
THS — 6:05, 4-yard run. PAT good.
WCHS — 4:35, Chambers 35-yard pass from Hodo. Kick failed.

TEAM STATISTICS
FIRST DOWNS: WCHS 25, THS 17
RUSHES-YARDS: WCHS 39-238, THS 52-246
PASSES: WCHS 20-32-1, THS 7-11-0
PASSING YARDS: WCHS 274, THS 86
FUMBLES-LOST: WCHS 3-3, THS 5-3
PENALTIES-YARDS: WCHS 7-49, THS 7-44
PUNTS-AVERAGE: WCHS 2-18.0, THS 2-32.0
RETURN YARDS: WCHS 0, THS 41
3RD DOWN CONVERSIONS: WCHS 6-of-11, THS 3-of-13
4TH DOWN CONVERSIONS: WCHS 1-of-2, THS 1-of-6
TIME OF POSSESSION: WCHS 18:57, THS 29:03

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
Dallas Sims 18-171, David Hodo 8-45, Elijah Pugh 8-27, Freddy Jordan, Jr. 3-(-2), Reggie Steward 2-(-3).
PASSING
David Hodo 18-27-1 227 yards, Reggie Stewart 2-4-0 47 yards, Deon Smith 0-1-0 0 yards.
RECEIVING
Dejarvis Chambers 8-100, Cortlen Sims 6-69, Ramik Wallace 1-43, Dashon Philon 1-25, Davonte Ramey 2-18, Dallas Sims 1-18 and Wesley Franklin 1-4.
TACKLES
Jamal Powe 9, Palmer Hutcherson 8, Benito Jones 8, Tramond Lofton 7, Vintorius Gandy 7, Cadarrius Pannel 6, Quenton Hogan 5, DeCarlos Walker 5, Hayden Shelby 5, Ronald Ollie 4, JacQuan White 3, Roy Arrington 3, Tymdrick Parker 2, Mike Sims 2, Larry Carter 2, Tyree Evans 2, Tyler Hopkins 2.
QUARTERBACK SACKS
Quenton Hogan 1.
QUARTERBACK PRESSURES
Tramond Lofton 1.
CAUSED FUMBLES
Tramond Lofton 1.
RECOVERED FUMBLES
Jamal Powe 1, Benito Jones 1, Tyree Evans 1.

WCHS JV 6, THOMASVILLE 0
SCORING SUMMARY
WCHS — Deon Smith 15-yard run. No extra point attempted.

TEAM STATISTICS
FIRST DOWNS: WCHS 10, THS 2
RUSHES-YARDS: WCHS 12-78, THS 17-22
PASSES: WCHS 8-12-0, THS 1-4-0
PASSING YARDS: WCHS 62, THS 7
FUMBLES-LOST: WCHS 0-0, THS 2-1
PENALTIES-YARDS: WCHS 2-10, THS 2-10
3RD DOWN CONVERSIONS: WCHS 2-of-3, THS 0-of-4
4TH DOWN CONVERSIONS: WCHS 0-of-1, THS 0-of-3.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
Roy Arrington 3-27, Reggie Stewart 3-21, Freddy Jordan, Jr. 4-16, Deon Smith 2-14.
PASSING
Reggie Stewart 7-9-0 46 yards, Deon Smiht 1-3-0 16 yards.
RECEIVING
Dashon Philon 3-21, Jonathon McDougle 2-12, Xavier Lampley 1-16, JaVonta McCann 1-8, Wesley Franklin 1-5.
TACKLES
Tyree Evans 8, Hunter James 3, Dakota Crager 3, Rashard Parker 3, Denzel Bonner 2, Kendarius Gray 2, Jeffrey Ramey 2, KeShaun Bradley 2, JaGuan Briggs 2, Joey Lacey 2, Corey Polite 1, DeAndre Gandy 1, Jesquavius Leggett 1, JacQuez McDougle 1, Vernon Sumrall 1, Justin Hinton 1, Timothy Stokes 1, Troy thacker 1, Jamarius Hundley 1.
CAUSED FUMBLES
Tyree Evans 1.
RECOVERED FUMBLES
DeAndre Gandy 1.
PASS BREAK-UPS
Roy Arrington