No. 2 Danville (11-0, 7-0) stayed undefeated with a dominant effort against No. 15 McDonald (5-6, 1-5) in a 51-7 win in the first round of the Region 25 state football tournament, led by a six touchdown performance by senior quarterback Walker Weckesser.
Danville jumped out to a 22-0 lead after one quarter, setting the tone that the hottest team in KMAC was ready to play in the postseason. Weckesser had a 40-yard touchdown pass to Nate Stephens to go up 6-0, and then completed a seven-yard touchdown to Wesley Payne, and a two point conversion made it 14-0. Weckesser took the ball in himself from eight yards, and then rushed for a two point conversion.
The Blue Devils of Danville went up 28-7 at the half with Zachary Shobel scoring for McDonald first, with James Hippel hitting the extra point. Toward the end of the quarter, Weckesser scored on a 13-yard rushing touchdown.
Danville scored 16 points in the third, on a Cole Delaughder 29-yard touchdown run and two point conversion followed by a seven-yard touchdown pass by Weckesser. They scored another on a six-yard Weckesser pass to Delaughder in the fourth quarter to pick up the lopsided win.
Weckesser was 10-for-15 for 157 yards and four touchdowns in the air. He also ran the ball four times for 22 yards and two scores. Cole Delaughder had 13 carries for 142 yards and a touchdown to pace the ground attack. Delaughder also had four receptions for 55 yards and a touchdown, leading the team with 197 total yards of offense.
Nate Stephens caught three passes for 88 yards and a touchdown. He also had an interception on defense. Wesley Payne had a seven yard touchdown catch.
Josh Byers had 11 tackles and two for a loss, and a sack. Caleb Lucas recorded 10 tackles, two for a loss and 1.5 sacks.
Danville totaled 367 yards of offense and held McDonald to only 91 yards. They had a 14-7 first down advantage over McDonald, were 6-for-7 on third downs and forced three McDonald turnovers on interceptions.
“Very happy with our team following our first round playoff win over McDonald,” Coach Matt Blum said. “It was probably our most complete game of the year which is what you like to see this time of year. We allowed under 100 total yards defensively and allowed zero rushing yards. Furthermore, we forced three takeaways and a blocked punt from our special teams unit. Offensively, we were balanced and hit on some big plays. We had over 200 yards rushing as a team which was our ninth time in 11 games achieving this. Furthermore, we passed for 150 yards and 4 TDs with no interceptions.”
Danville now faces No. 7 Springfield on Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. Springfield last won 35-21 against No. 10 Monroeville.
