Finch, Eagles crush Daphne (PHOTO GALLERY, VIDEO)

NICEVILLE — It only took 35 seconds Friday for the Daphne (Ala.) football team to get a firm understanding of what Florida already knows about Niceville.

And the Trojans will undoubtedly be grateful for only having to see Roy Finch once.

Niceville scored on its first two plays, Finch found the end zone four times in the first half and the Eagles whipped visiting Daphne 49-14.

Click here to view a photo gallery of the game.

Niceville (8-0), the state’s top-ranked Class 4A team, shell-shocked Daphne (4-6) right from the start and not surprisingly it came compliments of Kody Williams and Finch. After Williams opened the game with a 40-yard kickoff return, Finch took a pitch left on Niceville’s first play and raced 55 yards for a touchdown.

By contrast, on the Trojans’ first play, Sam Gresham’s pass deflected off the helmet of Niceville’s Michael White and fell into the waiting arms of Tanner Hansen. Eagles quarterback Kyle McDorman then immediately fired a 35-yard touchdown pass to Williams as Niceville led 14-0 after only 35 seconds.

White was in on another Daphne turnover two possessions later when he forced a fumble on a sack and recovered it himself. Finch, on his third carry of the game, broke off a 41-yard touchdown run and the rout was on.

Finch would proceed to haul in touchdown catches of 32 and 29 yards, one from C.J. Scroggins and the other from McDorman. The Oklahoma commit finished with 119 yards rushing, 69 yards receiving and four touchdowns in one half of play.

Finch was tended to by trainers for a short while after being knocked down on his last touchdown catch, but he walked the sidelines in the second half without any noticeable pain.

Niceville took a 35-0 lead into halftime behind a dominant effort. The Eagles piled up 314 yards by the break and 464 overall. They had good balance, with 279 coming on the ground and 185 by air.

Williams added a 5-yard touchdown catch from Scroggins in the third quarter before Daphne finally scored. The Trojans got on the board on Darius Baker’s 52-yard catch-and-run from Israel Lamprakes, who also had 88 yards rushing. Daphne’s other touchdown came when T.J. Yeldon returned a kickoff 96 yards.

Garrett Fletcher capped Niceville’s scoring with a 2-yard touchdown run. He finished with 57 yards rushing, Spencer Pullen had 83 and Aaron Moore made four catches for 60 yards.

Niceville had an efficient night at quarterback as McDorman, Scroggins and Steve Strano combined to go 11-of-16 for 185 yards and four touchdowns. McDorman had the bulk of the worky by completing seven of his 10 attempts for 132 yards.

Niceville 49, Daphne 14

Daphne             0        0     14          0—14

Niceville         21     14     14          0—49

First quarter

N – Roy Finch 55 run (Tanner Hansen kick); 11:40

N – Kody Williams 35 pass from Kyle McDorman (Hansen kick); 11:25

N – Finch 41 run (Hansen kick); 4:37

Second quarter

N – Finch 32 pass from C.J. Scroggins (Hansen kick); 10:35

N – Finch 29 pass from McDorman (Hansen kick); 40.9

Third quarter

N – Williams 5 pass from Scroggins (Hansen kick); 7:38

D – Darius Baker 52 pass from Israel Lamprakes (kick blocked); 6:22

N – Garrett Fletcher 2 run (Hansen kick); 3:21

D – T.J. Yeldon 94 kickoff return (Tyler Robinson pass from Brandon Roberts); 3:04

                                                      D             N

First downs                           16          16

Rushes-yards                  38-192     29-279

Passing yards                      175          185

Comp./Att./Ints                10-16-1    11-16-0

Fumbles-lost                         2-2           5-1

Penalties-yards                    8-50         5-40

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Daphne: Israel Lamprakes 10-88, T.J. Yeldon 9-68, Tyrell Holloway 5-20, Tyler Robinson 3-19, Justin Jackson 1-6, Travis Snyder 8-2, Sam Gresham 2-(-11). Niceville: Roy Finch 6-119, Spencer Pullen 6-81, Garrett Fletcher 5-57, Marquis Pratt 5-28, Kyle McDorman 2-9, C.J. Scroggins 3-7, Kody Williams 1-(-21), Team 1-(-1).

PASSING— Daphne: Sam Gresham 4-7-1 48; Israel Lamprakes 3-4-0 75; Travis Snyder 3-5-0 52. Niceville: Kyle McDorman 7-10-0 132; C.J. Scroggins 3-4-0 42; Steve Strano 1-2-0 11.

RECEIVING— Daphne: Justin Jackson 4-61, Darius Baker 2-61, Michael Hobbs 1-35, Israel Lamprakes 1-13, Tyler Robinson 1-4, T.J. Yeldon 1-1. Niceville: Aaron Moore 4-60, Roy Finch 3-69, Kody Williams 3-45, Ladon Morris 1-11.