Homecoming was a little sweeter Thursday night, as the DMS Saints dominated on both sides of the ball, defeating the Carroll-Oakland Blue Devils by a final score of 38-16.
A swarming defense by the Saints held the Blue Devils to only two first downs in the first half, while DeKalb’s offense performed flawlessly, jumping up to a 38-0 lead at the break.
“It’s good to get a win, it was a good one and I’m glad to add it on,” said Saints head coach Justin Poteete. “Josh May, Brady Hale, Nathaniel Crook and Isaac Knowles played solid defense as they contained the edge when they had to and did a great job running those alleys tonight.
“They moved the ball pretty well on our twos. We got a lot of work to do on our twos, so they have a long mountain to climb but they’ll get there,” Poteete said.
Receiving the opening kickoff, Saints returner May gave DeKalb great field position, almost returning it for a touchdown. Knowles then took the pigskin down to 1-yard line for a first-and-goal situation. QB Kolby Kilgore handed off to Knowles again who punched it through into the end zone and a Kilgore to Silas Cross pass was good for the PAT attempt for the 8-0 lead.
Carroll-Oakland turned the ball over on downs on the following possession and the Saints lost no time driving downfield where it was May again who took Kilgore’s pass in for the score, leaving it 14-0 as the PAT was no good.
The Blue Devils again turned the ball over on downs, and Kilgore’s pass to Hale got them to the 16-yard line, followed by a keeper by Kilgore which left the Saints first-and-goal on the 5-yard line. A pitchout to Hale was good for another score and Knowles converted the PAT for a 22-0 Saints’ lead.
It was a tough night overall for the Blue Devils as on their next possession DeKalb’s May sacked Hall, making it a long second-and-20. Brady Hale got a hand on Hall’s second-down pass and May sacked Hall again to bring out the punting team. The punt went short and gave the Saints a first-and-10 on the 31-yard line.
Kilgore threw to Hale for a first down for DeKalb and a pass to Knowles sealed the deal, adding 6 points for the 28-0 lead as the PAT was no good.
The Saints got the ball back after a great open-field tackle by Kolby Barnes with seven seconds left before the half. Kilgore got off a quick pass to Andrew Vickers who dashed for 21 yards and a touchdown. May converted the PAT and the Saints went to the locker room with a 36-0 head start.
The Blue Devils managed to put some points on the board in the third quarter. Up against the Saints secondary, Blue Devil QB Brody Hall’s keeper finally paid off with six points at the 4:13 mark as he ran 39 yards for a touchdown and John Ellis added two points with the PAT for a 36-8 total.
DeKalb turned their next possession over on downs and Hall made the keeper work one more time adding six points on a fourth-and-goal situation. A pass from Hall to Zach Allen converted the PAT with the score 36-16.
With only seconds left on the clock, the Blue Devils kicked off to the Saints and Hale found some running room past midfield before he was finally brought down to end the contest.
The Saints play host to Macon County on Thursday. Game time is 6:30 p.m.