Prep football: Davis hammers Weber to keep rolling in Region 1
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- Davis receiver Tyson Elkins (5) reaches for the goal line while in the grasp of Weber’s Braylon Parker (4) during a Region 1 football game Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022, in Pleasant View. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber High’s Jayvin Cortes (66) stretches to contest the pass of Davis quarterback Jackson Stevens (38) during a Region 1 football game Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022, in Pleasant View. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Davis running back Josh Barker (25) absorbs impact from Weber’s Tayven Norton (23) at the goal line, with Weber’s Tyler Payne (45) and Crash Coggins (6) converging during a Region 1 football game Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022, in Pleasant View. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Davis High’s Wyatt Rash (73) blocks against Weber’s Dawson Fenn (5) during a Region 1 football game Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022, in Pleasant View. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber’s James Phipps (80) latches on to Davis running back Josh Barker (25) during a Region 1 football game Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022, in Pleasant View. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Davis tight end Kaden Eggett (20) jumps in a catch attempt as Weber’s Tayven Norton (23) closes in during a Region 1 football game Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022, in Pleasant View. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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PLEASANT VIEW — It’s been quite a seven-week run for the Davis Darts.
With only Region 1 cellar-dwelling and winless Clearfield remaining on the schedule, there’s no conceivable reason the Darts won’t continue the momentum into the postseason.
If not for a meltdown that started late in the second quarter against Syracuse three weeks back, Davis could have been an unlikely league frontrunner after being shut out in consecutive weeks to open the season.
Thursday night, the visiting Darts rolled to their sixth win in seven games with a 47-21 blowout of Weber.
The Warriors simply committed too many mistakes and Davis quarterback Jackson Stevens and his offensive crew were more than ready to take advantage as the game was decided early. Stevens had a career night, going 24 of 35 for 327 yards and six touchdowns. Teammate Easton Baggett was on the receiving end of 10 of those balls and accumulated 161 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
“Hats off to the O-line,” Stevens said. “I got the time to do it. They played amazing. The receivers are very smart. They read when they should and they sit when they should, but hats off to the O-line again.”
Josh Barker started things for Davis (6-3, 4-1 Region 1) on the game’s opening drive when he punched in a 1-yard run to make it 7-0. From there, the ground game was an afterthought with the air attack clicking. The Darts ended with only 14 rushing yards.
Weber (2-7, 1-4) threatened to tie things up on its ensuing possession as it marched down the field in 15 plays, but a fumble at the Davis 1 allowed the Darts to escape unscathed.
“(The turnover) was huge,” Stevens said. “(The defense) came up big. The last couple of games, the defense has been the heart of it. They’ve gotten the momentum going. You saw the first drive we kind of struggled and had to work some stuff out, but that was a big one and it gave us all the confidence that we needed.”
From there, the Darts poured it on over a three-minute stretch.
After the Warriors turned it over on downs, Davis responded with a 38-yard Stevens to Baggett strike across the middle for a touchdown at the 9:15 mark of the second quarter.
After Weber snapped the ball over the punter’s head on its next possession, the Darts took over at the Weber 4. Stevens tossed his second touchdown as he rolled out right and fired the ball back over the middle to a wide-open Kaden Eggett to make it 19-0.
Another bad snap on a punt led to another Davis touchdown at the 5:22 mark. This time the delivery to the punter was low, giving Davis the ball at the Warrior 10. Stevens hooked up with Tyson Elkins on a slant to push the tally to 25-0.
“When you have those types of things happen, you have to take advantage when they give you opportunities,” Stevens added. ” Hats off to Coach (Scott) Peery getting the right play calls in but when big momentum changes like that happen you have to convert.
Weber showed a glimmer of life on its next turn when Aidan Carter completed a 74-yard catch-and-run touchdown to Braylon Parker to narrow the deficit. But a Nick Johnson interception in Warrior territory stymied any chance Weber had of getting any closer.
The Darts cashed the turnover in for a 17-yard Stevens to Baggett touchdown. Baggett caught it in the middle of the field and sprinted around the left side for the score to account for a 33-7 Davis lead at the half.
In the second stanza, Stevens tossed a short touchdown pass to Justin Morrell before capping things off with a 38-yard strike off a flea flicker to Elkins, extending the lead to 47-7 with 11:48 to play.
Carter threw for a pair of scores in the waning minutes for Weber, first to Salesi Moa and then to Tavin Nye.
Even though the season-opening losses to Lehi and West Jordan are well in the rearview mirror, in Stevens’s mind, they have had a significant impact on the recent success of the Darts as the playoffs loom.
“I think it humbled us and I actually think it was a really great learning experience,” Stevens said. “It made us really kinda put our heads down and work. I think it was a great thing. Those are state contenders right there so I think it was an eye-opener to us.”