By GALE CAVNESS
pressbox1.com

NEWBERN - Outmanned, overwhelmed and emotionally shaken, winless Chester County was simply no match for Dyer County’s well-balanced efforts for Homecoming 2007 at Choctaw Stadium.

The Choctaws scored early and often on the way to a 48-0 romp past the Eagles, improving their record to 4-1 in the campaign. Chester County falls to 0-5.

Dyer County picked up points on its first six possessions of the game, failing to reach the end zone on its seventh possession only when the clock ticked down to intermission.

The Choctaws got touchdown passes from both Adam Clark and Peyton Lucas, scoring receptions from Kyle King, Erick Bernard and Jared Hunter and six-pointers on the ground from Corey Windle and B.A. Davis in the lopsided win.

While the DC offense was easily picking up 13 first downs and adding up 399 total yards, the Choctaw defense was stifling Chester County when it had the ball. Dyer County defenders forced the Eagles into minus seven yards of offense in the game and did not yield a first down in the contest.

"I’m proud the team for a lot of reasons," DC mentor Adam Renshaw said. "We got good production from our quarterbacks, our offensive line gave us good protection and we ran the ball well.

"We’ve been working on throwing the ball downfield and we challenged our receivers to catch the football and make plays and I thought we improved there. And the defense again played extremely well.

"It was just a good team effort."

Next week, the Choctaws get back into Region 7-3A play when they travel to Haywood County. The Eagles entertain Lexington in a Region 6-3A contest.

A young Chester County squad entered the game at Newbern with troubles on both sides of the football. In its first four games, the team had been outscored 180-74. In their previous outing, the Eagles dropped a 61-20 region contest at Fayette-Ware in which the host Wildcats set a Tennessee prep record with 752 yards of total offense.

Overshadowing the woes of Eagles head coach Jeff Cupples and his team’s difficulties on the field was a personal tragedy. His father died earlier in the week prior to the DC game.

"It’s not a good situation to be in," Renshaw said. "Still you’ve got to go out and play, try to be respectful, and try to get better."

Following pre-game ceremonies that featured the crowning of DC senior Mallory Roberson homecoming queen, the Choctaws went to work.

Just 1:30 into the game, the Eagles committed the first of their four turnovers - all fumbles - deep in their own territory. Less than two minutes later, Clark hit King with a 14-yard scoring strike, Gabriel Millan booted the first of his six conversion kicks and the romp was on.

Windle scored from two yards out and Lucas hit Bernard with a 33-yard pass as the Choctaws put 21 points on the scoreboard in the opening stanza.

Just nine seconds into the second period, Jared Hunter hauled in a 30-yard scoring strike from Clark. The point-after made it 28-0. Exactly one minute later, following another Chester County fumble, Davis rambled in from 13 yards out to push the gap to 34-0.

When Clark hit Bernard with a 14-yard scoring pass with 4:16 to play in the half and Millan found his range on the conversion, it was 41-0.

"We talked to our kids about taking care of business, doing things right, playing right," Renshaw said. "Tonight, we went out and took care of business."

Hunter caught his second touchdown pass of the night, an 18-yarder from Clark with just over five minutes to play in the third quarter, to close out the scoring.

The entire second half was played under the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association’s new "mercy rule," meaning the clock ran constantly.

Statistically, Clark finished the night with a 15-of-20 passing night for 188 yards. Lucas was 7-of-9 for 76 yards. Hunter snagged five passes for 80 yards, Millan hauled in six for 79 with Bernard grabbing four for 52.

Next up for the Choctaws is the first of five consecutive region contests. The first is a trip to Brownsville to face a Haywood County team with a 5-1 record. The Tomcats’ lone setback was a 21-14 loss in double overtime at Dyersburg in Week Two.

Haywood County opened the year with a win over Jackson Central-Merry in Week 0 and has already played six games.

"Now it’s time to bear down in the region schedule, get in the playoffs and get as high up as you can in the standings," Renshaw said. "It’s a challenge for our football team, especially our seniors.

"It’s going to be an interesting race."