Diivonta Phillips rushed for 234 yards and three touchdowns Friday night, leading Davidson Academy to a wild 55-35 win over host Boyd Buchanan.
The victory was the 27th straight for the Nashville program, which moved up to Division II-AA due to TSSAA reclassification in the offseason after winning the past three DII-A state championships. The host Buccaneers, 63-0 winners at Greenback a week earlier, dropped to 1-1.
In a game loaded with big-yardage scoring plays, the two teams traded haymakers until the Bears finally pulled away late.
“The biggest thing we’re taking away from this game is that we didn’t blink,” Boyd Buchanan coach Jeremy Boskin said. “We kept fighting. We didn’t lose faith in each other. We looked for solutions and didn’t point fingers.”
Davidson Academy’s first scoring drive was short, and all Phillips. Starting from the Bucs’ 31, he got five straight carries, the last of which resulted in a 4-yard run with 4:05 left in the opening period.