Lions devour Devils

By Mike Moguin
mike.moguin@news-star.com

CHANDLER — The game between Prague and Chandler was supposed to be a highly- anticipated battle for District 2A-5, although the Red Devils had lost its last two games.
But it was not.
Chandler, ranked second in Class 2A by CoachesAid,  dominated as it streamrolled to a 57-16 victory Friday night on its home field and upped its record to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the district.
The Lions rolled up 556 yards of offense — 331 on the ground and 225 in the air — and held Prague to 286 yards, with a vast majority coming with the game already decided. The Red Devils (2-3, 0-2), who have now lost three straight since a 2-0 start, could only get eight yards of passing on 1-of-10 attempts, with one pickoff.
Chandler scored on every first-half possession en route to a 36-0 lead at halftime.
Sharing the wealth was a common theme for the Lions, with several skill players contributing to the scoring.
“Of course, I know coach (Prague coach) Chuck Atchison doesn’t like to use excuses, but (his team) is all beat up, and we knew offensively we could move the ball on them and we did,”  Chandler coach Neil Bacon said.
The Red Devils have been dealing with injury problems since their skid began and have one key player out.
Quarterback Jack Gray ran for one touchdown and threw for another, running backs Johnny Morton and T.J. Tillis each scored twice, fullback A.J. Woodall ran for one TD and caught another and Brandon Cummings got a score.
“That’s what we’re striving for, putting ourself in a position where we can use a lot of people and have them be successful, and we can do some different things offensively that we weren’t able to do last year.”
Getting the ball first, the Lions conducted an 11-play, 74-yard drive, with Morton scoring from one yard.
The Red Devils were forced to 3-and-out before Chandler scored again on a QB sneak from Gray, capping an 8-play, 87-yard drive and it was 14-0.
Prague appeared to be making the game competitive as expected by producing a solid drive late in the first quarter.
But Red Devil signal caller Dakota Harris was intercepted in the end zone by Austin Major on a 4th-and-22 play from the 30.
Cummings scored from four yards to make it a 21-0 game.
After holding Prague to 3-and-out again, Chandler cashed in on its fourth TD with Woodall going up the middle from 16 yards. That made it 28-0.
After Morton scored the next TD on an 18-yard run by Morton, the Lions had to overcome a botched snap on the point-after-try, with Cummings retrieving the ball and tossing to Gray, who crossed the goal line for the 2-point conversion.
A 73-yard run by Major on Chandler’s first possession of the second half set up a nine-yard scoring strike from Gray to Woodall. That made it 43-0.
Prague got on the scoreboard on the ensuing drive, with  Harris getting a 3-yard run. Harris then scored from nine yards with 8:10 to go in the half. The Red Devils went for two after both TDs and were successful on rushes by Kyle Moore and Harris.
Tillis scored the last two TDs for the Lions on runs of 53 and four yards.