By GALE CAVNESS
pressbox1.com

NEWBERN – Dyer County’s offense was out of sync in the early minutes of Friday night’s contest against Ripley, but the Choctaws really took off when they found the groove.

After some early confusion and a special teams error, Dyer County got a boost from its defensive unit. The offense responded with two touchdowns in the final 4:18 of the first quarter and rolled to a 35-0 victory over the visiting Tigers.

Adam Clark found Erick Bernard for a 49-yard pass-and-run play that got the offense into gear and later tossed scoring strikes to Jared Hunter and Gabriel Millan as the Choctaws remained unbeaten in Region 7-3A play. The win gives DC a perfect 4-0 mark against region foes and a 7-1 overall slate.

Since dropping a 38-7 loss to McNairy County Central in Selmer on Sept. 14, the Choctaws have won five consecutive games.

Ripley falls to 1-3 in region competition, 4-4 overall.

The Choctaws visit undefeated Dyersburg for a regional showdown next week. The Trojans, 4-0 in 7-3A and 8-0 overall, kept their slate spotless with a 21-7 triumph over Crockett County at Alamo.

Dyer County opened the game against Ripley with the football, but gave it up on downs at midfield when a fourth-down play and an intended punt turned into comedic confusion. After the ball was snapped, players on both sides stood still and looked as if the play had been whistled dead. Officials made no signal and players remained motionless until the DC coaching staff began to yell “run.”

The rushing effort failed and the Tigers took over. The Choctaws defense forced a quick three-and-out, but the ensuing punt was high and short and struck a DC athlete on the bounce.

Ripley recovered the live ball and set up its second possession at the Choctaw 35.

Again, the Dyer County defense responded with a strong effort and the Tigers were forced to punt.

The Tigers helped the Choctaws on fourth-and-one with a penalty, one of 14 in the game, and set up DC with a new set of downs at the Ripley 49. On first down, Clark lofted a pass toward the right sideline to Bernard for the points and the “run” was on.

B.A. Davis capped a brief 34-yard drive with a one-yard scoring plunge on the final play of the opening frame and the Choctaws were coasting.

Blake Oliver intercepted a Ripley pass to set up DC’s next possession, a one-play, 46-yard drive. Hunter grabbed a screen pass and scored untouched to make it a three-score game with more than nine minutes remaining in the half. He added a two-yard touchdown run just seconds before the break as the Choctaws built a 28-0 edge.

Clark hit Millan with a 26-yard TD strike for DC at the 8:17 mark of the third quarter. Millan’s fifth point-after kick capped the scoring and kept the clock moving in the new “mercy rule” situation.

The Choctaws finished the game with 279 yards of total offense while holding the Tigers to just 94 total yards. On the ground, Ripley managed 39 yards on 27 carries.