DAPHNE, Alabama —The Daphne defense held off a big-play Leopard attack until the Trojan offense found itself in the second half for a first-round 35-14 state-playoff win over Blount Friday night in the 6A post-season kickoff at Jubilee Stadium.

The Leopards took advantage of turnovers, field position and few first downs generated by Daphne to occupy the Trojan half of the field and the clock in the first 24 minutes before the half.

But DHS found a way to stop the Leopards short of the goal line with three red zone stops including two inside the five while converting one into a long touchdown drive to lead 7-0 after T.J. Fleeton ran for a 4-yard TD and Tyler Cook hit the first of his five extra points.

"That was the turning point in the game," said Daphne's interim head coach Tim Massengale, "I told the kids at halftime that Blount wasn't going to quit. I said we had to go out there and our goal was to score on our first drive, we did that." Massengale is serving in place of DHS head coach Glenn Vickery who is recovering from pancreas surgery on Oct. 29.

Daphne dominated all phases after the break starting with a 5-yard TD run by Jonathan McGaster to cap a 70-yard effort. Fleeton also found McGaster for a 5-yard TD pass and tossed two to Horace Johnson from 7 and 95 yards out. An interception by Tanner Lee and a punt block by Dominic Edney set up TD drives of 57 and 45 yards.

Malik Campbell ran for both Blount TDs late in the game scoring an 11-yard and a 1-yard TD in the final period. Tradarrius Adams kicked both extra points.

"We beat a strong well coached Blount team," Massengale said. "We had a slow start. It was 7-0 at the half but we made some adjustments in the second half and our offense started clicking. I'm proud of the team. Our defense played well. Dominic Edney had a big punt block for us. Tanner Lee made a nice interception that led to a score also. But there are always things to clean up. Penalties. The kicking game. But all things that we can and will work on. We're going to keep on going back to work like we always do. We're going to get better."

The 8-3 Trojans travel to Opelika next Friday night at 7 p.m. for the second round of the 6A football playoffs while the Leopards under former Daphne defensive coordinator Mark Hurt finish the season at 6-5.

Daphne linebacker Myles Pierce said he was pleased with how well his side stood the challenges from a big play defense.

"We just came in with confidence tonight. We know they have a good team and we respect that and coach Hurt. We knew they would be fired up and all. But all we have to do is get the ball back to our offense, let them do what they do and they did."

Tempers flared late in the game as BHS struggled to avoid the shut out. Both Leopard scores came after the Daphne starters were pulled.

"I think we could have shut them out," Pierce said. "But it was time to let things cool off and just take the win. It was a good decision."

McGaster, primarily an offensive wide out, praised the defense for their job. "Great job tonight. They were amazing tonight. Gave us time to kind of get it together and when we do that, we're unstoppable. Coach T (Massengale) and all our coaches had a great plan. We just need to do a better job of executing sooner."

He added that the win was important for two other reasons. "Coach Vick and coach Todd. We want it for them. We're working hard to win every game for them."

Vickery may be back in 2-3 weeks or sooner in some capacity. Todd, who was seriously injured Aug. 1 was back on the sideline for the second game this season.