SYRACUSE -- What a region opener.
Those were the first words out of Davis High coach Ryan Bishop's mouth after his Darts stunned previously unbeaten Syracuse 14-10 to begin Region 1 play on Friday night.
Trailing the Titans 10-7 with 4:20 left to play, Davis marched 83 yards downfield, capped by tailback Mark Christiansen's 1-yard touchdown run with 6.2 seconds remaining.
The window was small for Davis quarterback Tyson Denney -- who tossed an interception on the Darts' previous possession -- but Bishop's defense stepped up, forcing Syracuse to punt after a quick three-and-out and the rest was history.
"Tyson's definitely a leader, but we never want to pressure him too much," Bishop said. "But he came through with a ton of it on him at the end there. Our defense kept us in the game all night and both sides of the ball showed tremendous resolve."
With both offenses struggling to move the ball all evening, the Darts (1-0 Region 1, 3-1 overall) came up big on defense. Piling up six sacks -- three coming from BYU commit Troy Hinds -- Davis forced the Titans (0-1, 4-1) to punt after going three-and-out nine times, including Syracuse's final four possessions.
Hinds finished with four tackles for a loss, Kawika Tupuola had two sacks and a fumble recovery and Rossiter Potter earned one sack.
"I'm so proud of our linemen," Bishop said. "They were tough all night and our defensive coaches also did a great job of giving them an edge."
The Titans broke out of an early offensive slump in the second quarter when tailback Mason Woodward rumbled 45 yards into Davis territory, setting up a 28-yard field goal by Brock Anderson to draw first blood.
But the Darts responded shortly before halftime when Denney connected with Hinds for a 39-yard touchdown strike to take a 7-3 lead.
Syracuse took advantage of a controversial pass interference call in the third quarter shortly before quarterback Trevor Davis hooked up with Kiwa Mo'o for a 4-yard touchdown pass to reclaim the lead.
But that was the last glimmer of hope for the Titans, who couldn't manage a single first down for the rest of the game, despite a gritty effort on defense.
Denney completed 25-of-47 passes for 275 yards, one touchdown and one interception, which was nabbed by Koa Mo'o in the fourth quarter.
Christiansen finished with 98 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries and Corby Fuhriman hauled in nine catches for 120 yards.
Titans' star lineman Hunter Dimick finished with six tackles, one sack, two quarterback hurries and also batted down a pass.
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