Dauphin wins Wiregrass crown in wild rematch with Coppinville

Two weeks after defeating the Coppinville Junior High Eagles (6-2) for the Enterprise City Championship, the Dauphin Junior High Fins (7-1) defeated the Eagles again to win the Wiregrass Athletic Conference (WAC) Championship Thursday night 28-21.

Just like the first matchup between the rival schools the WAC Championship was a seven-point win in a slugfest of a game. DJHS defeated Coppinville just two weeks prior by a score of 27-20 for the city championship.

“We were super excited for our guys to win the conference championship,” Dauphin coach Mark Sieving said. “I felt like our defense was the biggest factor in the game. We got two interceptions and recovered a fumble. That put us winning the turnover battle, which turned out being the difference in the game.”

The Fins jump-started the WAC Championship with a 76-yard kickoff return touchdown by Mykel Johnson to take a 7-0 lead right off the bat.

Running back Payton Easterling extended the lead to 14-0 midway through the first quarter on an 11-yard touchdown run following a Fins interception.

Coppinville was not ready to give up, however, and cut the lead to 14-7 when quarterback Kaden Cupp found receiver Cy’Air Boyd for a 45-yard touchdown pass late in the opening quarter.

Cupp threw a second touchdown, this time to receiver Corey O’Conner on a 34-yard pass, to tie the game up 14-14 just before halftime.

Dauphin, however, was not done as it recovered a Coppinville onside kick attempt near midfield. The Fins took back the lead 21-14 when quarterback Quentin Hayes threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Johnson with less than a minute remaining in the half.

Cupp threw yet another touchdown pass on a 73-yard bomb to receiver Dylan Gilbert midway through the third quarter to tie the game up once again at 21-21.

The Fins responded with a 23-yard touchdown run by Easterling to retake the 28-21 lead with less than 5 minutes remaining in the game.

Coppinville moved into Dauphin territory on its final drive but on fourth down Fins defensive back Konye Graham intercepted a Cupp pass to secure the game and the championship for the Fins.

“The Coppinville-Dauphin game is always going to be a tough one,” Sieving said. “To play them twice, though, really makes things tricky because you know that it’s going to be a completely different game.

“Coppinville played us tough and did a good job stopping our offense, but we won the special teams battle and our defense was really the difference with the turnovers.”

Coppinville coach Barry Burns was proud of his Eagles despite the second loss to Dauphin.

“We fought hard and really gave good effort,” Burns said. “We didn’t get the result we wanted but we left it all out there. I can’t fault my kids one bit. We played hard, it just wasn’t our night.”

Sieving said that he watched his team grow up over the last two years.

“We’re really proud of them,” Sieving said. “They’ve come a long way from when they were seventh graders.

"They grow so much from that first time you see them and we really ask a lot out of our guys. It’s a big step up from rec ball and they had a great season and we really hope it carries over into next season with our next group.”

Burns was also proud of the way his team has grown.

“The season really went well,” Burns said. “This group has grown up a lot over the year. They’re not as talented as some of the other groups we’ve had in the past, but as far as grit and heart goes, they’ve come a long way. That’s a testament to them.”