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Now a junior, Davis is a true dual-threat weapon for FHS, possessing both a great arm and the ability to make nearly any throw and enough speed to make plays with his legs. And the signal-caller has cashed in a bunch of touchdowns using both methods.

He scored Freedom’s first touchdown of the game on Friday night at Ashe County, too, but not long after, the Patriots found themselves having to find a way to play on without him after Davis injured his throwing shoulder at some point in the second quarter.

The QB’s teammates proved that the remainder of the team’s 70-man roster is plenty capable of picking up the slack as backup quarterback Jaiveon Belin, the running game led by power-back Jaiden Belin, and the defense and special teams rallied to the cause to preserve a 35-14 Northwestern 3A/4A Conference win.

“I told our guys that this was one of the more enjoyable wins that I’ve had, just because of the adversity we faced,� said first-year FHS head coach J.K. Adkins, a reigning back-to-back NCHSAA 1A state champion with Mount Airy. “Not just in the quarterback injury, but there were some other things that happened through the course of the game that weren’t favorable in our way. But we overcame and we never flinched. We just kept plugging. We were able to impose wills.

“We decided that we were not going to let (Ashe County) throw the ball around the yard. Defensively, we did a tremendous job against what they do (with the air raid offense). Then, offensively, for most of the game, they knew we were running it, we knew we were running it, and it didn’t matter. We just battled up front and won the line of scrimmage. The Belin brothers did a great job back there operating, protecting the ball and getting downhill. When you can impose your will, that’s a good sign. We did that on both sides of the ball.�

Jaiden Belin, a senior ball-carrier, came within arm’s length of 200 rushing yards for the second straight game, finishing his night with 184 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries. He scored from 5 yards out in the second quarter to make it 21-0, from 6 yards away in the fourth period to bring the lead to 28-6 and on a 10-yarder later in the final frame to set the ultimate 21-point margin of victory.

“I took pride in the running game, just like last week, taking opportunities,� said Jaiden Belin, who gashed the Huskies for gains of 13, 13, 10, 26, 14, 34 and 10 yards throughout the contest. “We need to take them full-stride. We played a great up-front game two weeks back-to-back. I’ve never been so proud of an O-line I’ve played with in all my life.

“Coming up here to get a win felt great. We came into conference and lost one and came back last week and won one. There’s only three 3A teams in our conference, and this is one of the teams we needed to beat to be in the playoffs, so that’s what we came out here and did and executed.�

Senior left guard Lofton Parlier was one of the road-graders up front who helped pave the way for Freedom’s 328-yard rushing performance on 48 carries, good for a whopping 6.8 yards per pop.

“We came out firing,� Parlier said. “(Davis) was doing a heck of a job and he got tackled and hurt his shoulder. He played about another drive. After he went out, we really just had to step it up because (Ashe County) knew we were going to be running right up the middle. And that’s what we did.

“We left all of our effort on the field. We really just had a solid blocking scheme. It feels great because I know after we get 10 (yards), all of the O-line is hyped. It just feels awesome, man.�

Jaiveon Belin racked up 84 yards on 20 carries, with the majority of those attempts coming from the quarterback position in relief. The sophomore, who started as Freedom’s JV quarterback as a freshman, completed two of six passes for 50 yards and had to bounce back from an interception that the Huskies returned 75 yards for their first touchdown of the game in the second period.

“I had to just tell myself to keep my head up,� Jaiveon Belin said. “It was my first time coming back to play quarterback and I just had to settle down and get the flow of it. I did what I had to do, and it felt great to lead this team to this win and come back from that (turnover). I didn’t expect that to even happen, and I just bounced back from it.

“(My teammates and coaches) were just encouraging me, telling me to keep my head up and stay focused and keep going and we’d get through it. It felt great (to be a leader). I did it some at running back when my brother was hurt, and it felt great to just come back and lead a team to a victory, and a good one, too.�

On the defensive side, Freedom limited an Ashe County team that scored 46 points in an NWC win over Hibriten the week before to just one touchdown, and FHS got turnovers both on defense (Kaleb Pearson interception) and special teams (Zaydrin Hausley fumble recovery) to fuel the effort.

“When (Davis) got hurt, we just had to lock in in the box and make sure nothing was getting by in there,� said senior linebacker Aaron Duncan, who had a sack. “We had to lock up on the corners. Just run through it and go for it. We’re the best defense in 3A right here. There’s nothing to stop us.�

Davis was off to a strong start before his injury, completing 6 of 7 passes for 60 yards, all to either Tiras Walker (7-98) or Justice Dominguez (1-12). Davis also finished with 39 yards on just four carries, including the early touchdown.

As of Friday night, Adkins was unsure of Davis’ status going forward.

“I don’t know. We’ll just see how he progresses through the weekend,� Adkins said. “I can tell you this, he’s a tough kid. He’s a real tough kid, so he’ll do everything he’s supposed to do to get back as soon as he can. We’ll just take it from there.

“I thought we did a good job despite that situation.�