DAPHNE, Alabama – A visiting Dothan Tiger team that scored 35 points in a loss to Fairhope earlier this year managed a first-half field goal and a fourth-quarter touchdown against a stiff Daphne “D” but the Trojans went on to a 29-10 homecoming-night, region win at Jubilee Stadium Friday.

Daphne remains unbeaten in 6A Region 2 and improved to 4-2 overall while the 4-2 Tigers fell to 2-2 in the region standings.

"We knew it was going to be a battle with them," said Daphne head coach Glenn Vickery. "Dothan has a good team, we have a lot of respect for them. As coaches, we knew that we were going to have our hands full. This was a huge win for our team, it was a big one."

The Trojans scored on their first drive of the game capped by T.J. Reed’s 11-yard touchdown and two-point conversion runs less than halfway into the first period. But Dothan’s Luis Pimentel boomed a 45-yard field goal with air to spare while the Tiger defense made big plays to hold Daphne to an 8-3 first-half lead.

Dothan coach Kelvis White said his team played a good first half but the Trojans offense kept his defenders on the field too long.

"In the first half, our defense played great but they didn't get much help from the offense," he said. "Our defense had been on the field for around 40 snaps in the first half and that was too much. I challenged our offense to step up. We have to learn to play four quarters of football and be consistent, we can't just play in spurts. We're going to have to go back to the drawing board now. My hats off to Daphne. We were only down 8-3 at halftime.”

Daphne’s offense apparently went back to school in their locker room as well and came out of to score on their first possession. Brandon Perdue returned Pimentel’s deep kickoff to the Trojans 38 and 11 plays later Kameron Mitchell scored the first of his two second-half TDs from the Dothan 2-yard line. The scoring drive was kept alive with a big 4th-and-7 pass from Zack Morgan to C.J. Yelding for 12 yards. The score was set up with Morgan passes to Will Cooper  and  Tamaruice Tolbert.

Morgan had a pair of interceptions courtesy of Dothan’sOctavius Baxter and Jordon Small but the Daphne defense forced punts both times.

“Zach had a good game for us,” Vickery said, “Made a couple of throws maybe didn’t go where he wanted but he had some pressure and he handled that well. He’s a smart player and we have confidence in him.”

Morgan also rushed well at times including a 21-yard pickup and twice more for 10-plus yards for 84 total yards. He also found Wheylan Tolbert and Perdue open on key swing passes. Reed scored his second TD ( 3 yards ) between Mitchell’s pair in the second half. Dominick Brisolara was 3-for-3 on point-after kicks.

On defense DHS safety Tanner Lee picked off a Kirian Williams pass to stop a third quarter Dothan drive. Kalil Yelding and Devonte Young each had two sacks and shared one for the Trojans.

Josh Bighems’ 8-yard fourth-quarter TD run and Pimentel’s PAT came with 7:10 left in the game to make it 22-10.

Daphne recovered the onside kick at the Trojan 44 and finished the final scoring series from the Tiger one on Mitchell’s 4th-and-goal slant with 2:59 to play.

“I was proud of our offensive line. That was an important drive,” Vickery said. “And our defense did a good job tonight, too. Dothan has a good team but we stopped them when we had to. Our kids are smart and they executed and made plays in the third quarter. I thought that was the turning point, the difference in the game. Our defense played hard for us all night long. Our defense kept us in the ballgame in the first half and gave us some momentum, then the offense finally got things going in the second half."

The Tigers threatened on their final possession but were stopped at the Trojan four as time ran out.

With three weeks of region play left the Trojans will host Robertsdale next. Dothan travels to Enterprise.