PICKENS — To say the Daniel High School football team was firing on all cylinders on Friday night at Pickens would be shortchanging the Lions.

By a long shot, that is.

With more than 500 yards of total offense, the defense surrendering just 175 yards and Marquez McDowell scoring on a punt return, the Lions dominated in all facets of the game, as they rolled to a 70-7 win in what was the largest margin of victory in series history against the Blue Flame.

Daniel (10-0, 5-0 Western 3A) has now finished each of the last two regular seasons undefeated, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished since the 1990 and 1991 seasons, and will head into its opening-round playoff game at Singleton Field against Berea riding high after a focused effort to close out the regular season.

“Last week we didn’t play Daniel football in the first half (against West-Oak) and I kind of challenged them,” Daniel head coach Randy Robinson said. “This was the last chance to get it right, because starting next week, it’s one week or you’re done, so we changed our attitude in practice a little bit and showed it tonight.”

And that started right off the bat in the running game after Pickens (3-7, 0-5 Western 3A) punted on its first possession, as C.J. Davidson busted a 64-yard touchdown run down the left side on the Lions’ fourth play of the night to open up a 7-0 lead.

After a three-and-out from the Blue Flame, they decided to punt away from Shrine Bowl selection DeAndre Hopkins. But kicking to McDowell didn’t prove to be any better, as the senior danced down the left sideline 50 yards to pay dirt.

By the end of the quarter, Davidson had another touchdown, which went 43 yards, to give the Lions a commanding 21-0 lead.

Davidson finished the night with 180 yards and three touchdowns on just seven carries, while Jaquil Durham added 142 yards and a pair of scores to help give the Lions 383 yards on the ground, which came at a staggering clip of 14.7 yards per carry.

“Honestly it was the offensive line and the receivers,” Davidson said of the Lions’ success on the ground. “The receivers did phenomenally, and you don’t hear about them doing good, but they opened some holes for me and I was able to break loose and get some long runs.”

With Daniel quarterbacks Colton Korn and Tevin Robinson combining for just one incompletion, those receivers were also busy catching passes on Friday, as Antonio Cannon led the Lions with four grabs for 58 yards, while Hopkins had two catches for 52 yards, including a 6-yard score from Korn during the second quarter to give Daniel a 28-0 lead.

Less than a minute later on Pickens’ ensuing drive, Hopkins intercepted a James Lawson pass at the Blue Flame 25-yard line before taking it the distance, steamrolling Lawson along the way at the 1-yard line on the way to the score.

After taking a 42-7 halftime lead, four different Lion running backs scored in the fourth quarter, as Davidson, Durham, Dylan Chapman and William Wingard all found the end zone to ride into the playoffs on a high.

“This is pretty good for the regular season going out undefeated with a region title, but we’ve got bigger goals,” Davidson said. “We came out and just wanted to make a statement for the playoff teams.”

Consider that mission accomplished by the Lions.

Daniel 70, Pickens 7

DWD 21 21 14 14 — 70

PHS 0 7 0 0 — 7

SCORING SUMMARY
First quarter

DWD — Davidson 64 run (Gammon kick) 7:20

DWD — McDowell 50 punt return (Gammon kick) 5:51

DWD — Davidson 43 run (Gammon kick) 2:24

Second quarter

DWD — Hopkins 6 pass from Korn (Gammon kick) 9:57

DWD — Hopkins 25 interception return (Gammon kick) 9:02

DWD — Durham 19 run (Treglia kick) 5:55

PHS — Hester 27 pass from Lawson (Gravely kick) 0:29

Third quarter

DWD — Davidson 14 run (Treglia kick) 7:40

DWD — Wingard 2 run (Treglia kick) 2:13

Fourth quarter

DWD — Chapman 2 run (Treglia kick) 9:54

DWD — Durham 77 run (Treglia kick) 5:43

TEAM STATISTICS

DWD PHS

First Downs 18 8

Rushes-Yards 26-383 30-56

Passing Yards 149 119

Com-Att-Int 9-10-0 10-20-1

Punts-Avg. 0-0 7-31.6

Fumbles-Lost 2-0 1-1

Pen-Yards 4-47 7-63

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing — Daniel, Davidson 7-180, Durham 6-142, Korn 4-22, Chapman 5-15, Wingard 3-13, Robinson 1-11. Pickens, Leslie 14-40, Davis 2-10, Rice 2-3, Lawson 7-2, Freeman 3-1, Cuthbertson 1-1, Harkins 1-(-)1.

Passing — Daniel, Korn 7-8-0 114, Robinson 2-2-0 35. Pickens, Lawson 8-17-1 113, Davis 2-3-0 6.

Receiving — Daniel, Cannon 4-58, Hopkins 2-52, McDowell 3-39. Pickens, Alexander 5-54, Hester 1-27, Childs 1-17, Rice 1-15, Harrison 1-4, Cuthbertson 1-2.