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LAYTON — One of the light banks at Layton High’s football stadium went dark in the fourth quarter of Thursday night’s game against Syracuse.

The Syracuse student section chanted “pay your light bill” and the game was briefly played on the lighted (north) half of the field, akin to the 2019 Weber-Fremont light-delay extravaganza.

If anyone needed another reminder that the Titans are playing lights-out football at an ideal time of year, there it was.

Thursday’s 38-0 win for Syracuse was its seventh in a row, all by double digits, and ensured at least a share of the Region 1 title for the Titans.

“It was a great team win, especially our defense. Our defense came to play today,” junior Jake Metcalfe said. “I’m so glad they’re on my team, I love my team. We’re firing on all cylinders right now.”

Like some other games this year, Syracuse (7-2, 5-0 Region 1) started slowly in the first half and put on the afterburners in the second half.

The Titans led 10-0 at halftime but the sideline felt it could’ve been more. Layton’s (5-4, 2-4) Elias Parkinson broke up a fourth-down pass — one of three pass breakups he had — that ended the Titans’ first drive at the Layton 22-yard line.

Two possessions later, DJ Mayes took a screen pass 21 yards for a Syracuse touchdown and a 7-0 lead. The next possession got to the red zone, thanks in part to a 48-yard pass from Jake Hopkins to Metcalfe, but Mike Shumway picked off Hopkins in the end zone to end the drive.

Shumway’s pick turned into the Lancers’ only successful drive of the first half (the other three were three-and-outs). Braxton Martin ran for 18, 11 and 8 yards on three of the drive’s first four plays, but the drive stalled at the Syracuse 44.

Rhett Thompson kicked a 21-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to put Syracuse ahead 10-0.

“(Layton has) some nice players, some really good players and those guys get up for us, they were ready to go. We didn’t execute as efficiently as we’d like (in the first half). I’d like to see the stats, I’m sure we did pretty well on offense, but I think we’re a pretty complete team,” Syracuse coach Mike Knight said.

Hopkins lofted a nice TD pass to Dylan Croxford in the third quarter, then Josh Burns ran in for a 3-yard score early in the fourth to make it 24-0.

All the while, Syracuse’s defense harassed Layton sophomore quarterback Crew Cacciacarne, who was making his first start in place of Tyler Wensel, who was out with an Achilles tendon injury.

The defensive numbers are probably the most eye-opening about the Titans’ seven-game win streak.

Thursday was Syracuse’s third straight shutout and fourth straight game holding an opponent to single-digit scoring. The team has allowed 101 points all year, or 11.2 per game.

“(Defensive coordinator) Mitch (Tulane) and his guys have done a phenomenal job getting the kids ready. We have a lot of different looks and it helps when you have great players,” Knight said.

Syracuse starting running back Kobe Bennett reeled off several good runs throughout the game, both in terms of distance and running for first downs, but came out with a cramp following a 38-yard run that set up a Josh Burns touchdown.

Three different running backs found the end zone for Syracuse in the fourth quarter, starting with Burns, whose 3-yard run finished off an 88-yard drive.

Jayden Perry’s interception and return inside the red zone set up an untouched, 3-yard TD run for Metcalfe. Syracuse sacked Cacciacarne on fourth down, then Ethan Larkin ran in for a 27-yard score.

In the passing game, the first-half interception was one of few mistakes by Hopkins, who otherwise found Croxford, Metcalfe and DJ Mayes often on short passes. The receivers picked up a lot of yards after the catch.

On paper, Thursday was Syracuse’s toughest test in the region so far, and it passed. Next Thursday, a tougher test awaits when the Titans face Farmington, a team that will need nothing less than a win to clinch its own share of the region championship.

Layton doesn’t play next week, but the Lancers will also have a nervy week. They were No. 15 in the RPI Thursday morning and a loss could drop them a spot or two and put them in a first-round road playoff game instead of a home game.

Connect with reporter Patrick Carr via email at pcarr@standard.net, Twitter @patrickcarr_ and Instagram @standardexaminersports.

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