Varsity Football

The 2023-2024 St. David's Varsity Football team moved to 3- 0 with a Homecoming Victory against vs. Father Capodanno HS (FCHS) on Friday, September 15th.  The Warriors dominated from the kickoff and didn't ease up the whole game. The high-flying passing attack was led by Davis Crowder (Sr) who threw for 251 yards and 2 touchdowns. Hutch Marshall (Jr) and Jamir Smoakes (So) were the recipients of the passing attack. H. Marshall hauled in 5 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown and J. Smoakes had 2 catches for 98 yards and a touchdown. The rushing attack was again led by Ben Young III (So), with 8 carries for 61 yards and 2 touchdowns and Parker Tolin (So) with 28 yards and a33 yard touchdown that was negated by a holding penalty. The Warrior defense pitched yet another shutout with standout performances by Luke Deihl (So), Jake Stickney (Jr), Connor Crenshaw (So), and McCauley Steele (So). Our Warrior defense has not allowed a score this year through 3 games. The Warrior's special team's unit was again led by Fletcher Steele (Sr) with a 29-yard field goal and 2 extra points.

What an awesome homecoming outing! Thanks to all those who came out to support the team and enjoy the homecoming festivities. 

On Friday, September 22nd, the Warriors will travel to Rocky Mount Academy for their toughest test of the season. Please come out and support!

Our Varsity Football hit the road to take on Sandhills Classical Christian School (SCCS) on Friday, September 8th.  Our Warriors started off the scoring on their opening drive with a TD run from Jamir Smoakes (So), who would go on to have 4 TD carries on the night. The SCCS defense stiffened on the second Warriors drive of the night however, Fletcher Steele (Sr) was able to put 3 points on the board with a 37-yard field goal. F. Steele would end the night with 1 FG, 5 XP, an interception, and a host of tackles. The Warrior defense bent but did not break throughout the game led by Luke Deihl (So), McCauley Steele (So), and several others. Jake Stickney (Jr), Phinehas Creel (So), J. Smoakes, Davis Webb (Sr), and the entire defensive unit was up to the challenge. The Warriors ended the scoring in the 4^th quarter with a TD run from Ben Young, his first on the season.  "This week's success was well-rounded and could not have been obtained without the entire offense, defense, and special teams units playing well. The hard work of off-season workouts and long summer days showed up Friday night. Thanks to all those who came out to support the team." - Coach Young

IT'S HOMECOMING WEEK!!!  We look forward to seeing you everyone Friday night at 7 pm as we face FCHS at home. 

After being on hiatus, our Varsity Football Team took to the gridiron in their season opener on Friday, Sept. 1st.  From the opening kick-off, which was booted out of the back of the endzone by Fletcher Steele (Senior), it was a great Friday evening for the Warriors! The Warriors scored on their first offensive play of the season, a 25-yard dash by Jamir Smoakes (Sophomore), and he wasn't done yet. While J. Smoakes would only touch the ball 2 more times throughout the game, each touch was for a rushing touchdown, 24 yards, and 55 yards. Parker Tolin tacked on a 23-yard run and carried the ball 5 times to keep the ground attack churning. Next on the scoreboard was Luke Deihl (Sophomore) with a 38-yard punt return for a touchdown, followed up shortly after with a 7-yard touchdown run giving him 2 touchdowns on the night. The scoring continued with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Davis Crowder (Senior) to Hutch Marshall (Junior) and touchdown runs by Jake Stickney (Junior.) and F. Steele, 45 yards and 15 yards respectively, to close out the game in the 2^nd half. This offensive performance was made possible by our stout offensive line Jack Fletcher (Senior), Davis Webb (Senior), Luke Fletcher (Sophomore), and Connor Crenshaw (Sophomore).

Defensively the Warriors held the Lee County Christian Falcons to less than 50 yards of total offense. With interceptions from F. Steele and McCauley Steele (Sophomore) and a pass breakup by Gavin Hitmar (Sophomore), the skies were safe from the Falcons air attack. The defensive line kept much-needed pressure on the Falcon's ground game bolstered by efforts from Jack Fletcher (Senior), Davis Webb (Senior), and Connor Crenshaw (Sophomore). L. Deihl led the defense with double-digit tackles for the game and C. Crenshaw came up with a blocked punt to help close out the game.  "We are proud of our Warriors.  What a great start to the 2023-2024 season." - Coach Young

The Warriors will be in action again on Friday, Sept. 8th as they travel to Sandhills Christian Academy to take on the Lions for a 7pm kickoff.  

The Warriors played Cary Christian at home on Friday October 15th in their homecoming game. The final score of the game was Cary Christian 56 - Warriors 0. There was a great crowd out supporting the Warriors. The Warriors were glad to have Clay Matthews back on offense. The Warriors had good drives on offense that was set up by long kick returns by Nolan Homeister and then catches by Clay Matthews and Grayson Chesson when they really needed it on tough drives.  The Warriors defense stretched out Cary Christians drives but Cary Christian had long runs and long plays caused by missed tackles. The defense did get a spark from Fletcher Steele. The Warriors will play back at home against John Paul next Friday on October 22nd at 7 pm.

The Warriors got off to a rough start on Monday October 11^th at Grace Christian in Cary when Grace Christian recovered the opening onside kick and continued their fast start with a very early touchdown due to a miscue on the snap exchange. In this rescheduled game - The Warriors played on Monday due to the chance of rain on Friday October 8th - they weren't able to recover after such a strong start from the opponent. They were without Nolan Homeister who has contributed on both sides of the ball all season, but along side their team Davis Crowder and Grayson Chesson filled in the role and the Warriors managed to string together some long sustained drives which took time off the clock and gave the team confidence. Chesson helped the Warriors defense with an interception. Seniors Henry Koon and Luke Nelson led the team and kept our spirits high throughout the game with timely 1st down conversions and catches. Defensively the team was supported by good effort from Henry Koon (Sr.), Davis Wall (Sr.) and Fletcher Steele (So.) Koon was leading the Warriors offense and defense catching tough balls on offense when they needed it and flying around the field on defense. The Warriors have a quick turnaround and will face Cary Christian for their homecoming game on Friday October 15^th. 

The Warriors played a tough game on Friday, September 3rd, against Rocky Mount Academy in front of a full and supportive crowd. The team got off to a bit of a rough start with the opponent going up quick but the Warriors in the second quarter were able to get on the board with a 22-yard pass from Luke Nelson to Henry Koon. Rocky Mount held their ground and the defense was unable to buckle down and stop them. "Turnovers and missed tackles put us in an insurmountable hole going into halftime", Coach Young said, "but after the half, we settled down and outscored the Eagles 14-7 the rest of the game". The Warriors took their first loss of the season in a 20-57 game. Standouts included Sadler Powell and Nolan Homeister who led the team in strong rushing attacks. Freshman Christian Shaw showed great poise in the second half rushing for two touchdowns. Overall the team played all four quarters as hard as they could and everyone was contributing trying to do whatever they could to pull the team to victory. Coach Young adds, "we have to start faster and not play catch-up the entire game. It's evident we can play better as we have shown so in the second half of our first 2 games but we must have this same sense of urgency at the start of the games." The Warriors will play at home against Faith Christian Friday, September 10th at 7 where they will bounce back from their loss.

The St. David’s Warriors hosted Greenbrier Christian Academy on August 27^th at home in front of a supportive crowd for their first game of the season. The boys got off to a slow start where it seemed first game jitters and nerves really showed early but they soon overcame this lack luster start and started to unify – especially as special teams and defense put some real pressure on important plays. The offense started rolling and Senior Nolan Homeister and Senior Clay Matthews really stepped up their game to provide some momentum shift. Seniors Henry Koon and Hart Miles showed real poise in their leadership of the defense after the nerves wore off and the great effort by Freshman Christian Shaw was an important contribution to the team. Coach Young was proud of his team’s perseverance. “We overcame a slow start, some mental mistakes and injuries to pull out this exciting win”, he said. The win against the Gators was a strong victory but there are of course next games to keep their eyes on. “While we are happy about getting this win”, Coach said, “there is opportunity for improvement, and we will continue working hard in practice to improve each week.” The Warriors play at home again next week against Rocky Mount at 7pm. Come give our team the best support yet!