MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- The #8 Daphne Trojans turned up the defensive pressure to go on to defeat Sidney Lanier 24-6 Thursday night at the Cramton Bowl in the Class 6A AHSAA first round playoff game. With Daphne leading 9-6 late in the first half, the game turned as the Sidney Lanier offense moved into Daphne territory, but on a Poet pass attempt Trojan defensive back Ty Reynolds picked off the pass and raced 70-yards for a touchdown and extend the Daphne lead to 17-6 at the half.

The Trojans shutout the Poets offense in the second half and Daphne marches on to the second round of the playoffs awaiting the Opelika/Paul Bryant winner. "I just opened up for me as the coach put me in the right spot and I just caught it and made the play," said Trojans DB Reynolds. "First half we were feeling them out and the second half we knew what they were going to do. We just came out and played our game."

The Poets (8-3) scored first in the game when James Foster hit DaCoreyon Johnson on a 53-yard touchdown play with 3:44 in the first quarter. With 8:25 left in the second quarter, Chance Newman hit Ja'Quan Myles on a 29-yard touchdown pass. Both extra points were missed and the game was tied at 6-6.

With 3:19 left in the half, Daphne went ahead on a Diego Guajardo 25-yard field goal and the Trojans led 9-6. The Reynolds pick-6 along with the Newman pass to Terrance Scott gave the Trojans a 17-6 halftime lead. "We fought hard tonight. We had to play on a Thursday and travel to Montgomery so we started out a little slow in the first quarter but we turned it around and our players did a great job," said Daphne first-year Head coach Kenny King. "Our defense played great. They did everything we asked them to do. Even when it was tight, they did a great job."

In the second half, Daniel Taylor scored on a 2-yard touchdown run from the wildcat position. "Defensively we stood out tonight," said Daphne QB Newman. "Were excited about going to the second round, the first time since 2012. We have great options at running back so when we can run the football it makes my job finding the open receiver a lot easier."

Daphne (9-2) now has a 9-game winning streak had 268 total yards while Sidney Lanier only had 198 total yards in the game.