It was the Cole Delaughder show in the Division VII regional semifinal on Nov. 10, with the senior running back running running for 238 yards and scoring five times to lead the No. 2 Blue Devils (13-0, 7-0) to a 41-21 win over No. 6 Lowellville (11-2, 5-1).
Danville scored first on an Aidan Burke nine-yard touchdown run, and Delaughder took it in for the two point conversion with a minute left in the first quarter. Lowellville responded with three minutes to go in the second quarter, tying the game 8-8. At the end of the half, Delaughder scored for the first time on a 15-yard run, but the two point conversion failed and it was 14-8 Blue Devils.
In the third quarter with five minutes left, Delaughder put Danville up 20-8 with a three-yard rushing touchdown. Two minutes later then Rockets made it 20-15, but Danville scored quickly after on a 51-yard touchdown run by Delaughder to make it 26-15.
Delaughder caught a touchdown with 11 minutes left in the game, and a two point conversion put the Blue Devils up 34-15. He then scored on an eight yard rushing touchdown, and Javier Sica-Gonzalez hit the extra point to make it a 41-15 game. Lowellville scored with two minutes to go, but the deficit was far too great and the Blue Devils will move onto the finals.
Delaughder averaged 10.3 yards per carry in the win, with 23 carries for 238 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. He also had two catches for 12 yards and a score. Walker Weckesser was also a force with 126 yards on 10 carries. Burke had three carries for 40 yards including a touchdown.
As a team, Danville had 415 yards on 42 carries, averaging 9.9 yards per carry.
Josh Byers had another great defensive performance, leading the way with 22 tackles and a sack. Delaughder and Kendall Carter also had sacks. Aiden Burke and Bryer Boeshart had 11 and 10 tackles respectively. Caleb Lucas tallied 10 tackles. Wesley Payne tallied nine tackles in the win for Danville, and Dakota Ricketts had eight tackles. Nate Stephens deflected three passes and had a pair of tackles.
“Cole Delaughder had a huge night with 250 total yards and five Touchdowns,” Coach Matt Blum said. “He did a nice job staying patient in the run game and allowing vertical seams to open up on our run schemes. Furthermore, Josh Byers had another great defensive performance recording 20 plus tackles for the 3rd week in a row. I thought our defensive secondary had a really nice game containing the explosive play makers Lowellville had on the outside. Dalton will be a tough test for us, but we are looking forward to the opportunity of competing in our 10th total regional final in school history.”
Danville takes on No. 1 Dalton (11-1, 7-0) in the regional finals on Nov. 17 at Dover Crater Stadium, in what should be an exciting matchup between two red hot teams. Both teams are riding huge winning streaks, with Danville at 13 and Dalton with 11 straight wins.
