Prep football: Fremont ‘kept pounding’ to upset Davis 35-34 on the road in overtime
Extra point sends Silverwolves over the edge in nonregion instant classic
-
- Fremont High’s Cade Hadley (3) plunges into the end zone during overtime, against Davis players Bode Sparrow (2) and Ethan Lockwood (22) on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Kaysville.
-
- Davis High’s Makaio Byrd (0) rushes the football while trying to evade Fremont’s Jak Masters on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Kaysville.
-
- Davis High’s Makaio Byrd (0) carries the football while Fremont’s Ryken Wilkinson pursues on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Kaysville.
-
- Davis quarterback Tradon Bessinger throws a pass against Fremont on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Kaysville.
-
- Fremont quarterback Manase Tuatagaloa (5) rushes for yards while Davis player Ethan Lockwood (22) tries to wrap him up on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Kaysville.
-
- Davis High ball carrier Makaio Byrd (0) fights against contact from Fremont’s Cam Graves (7) and Kyle Herrin (56) on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Kaysville.
-
- Fremont High’s Cade Hadley (3) carries the football against Davis on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Kaysville.
-
- Davis receiver Tyson Baggett runs with the football against Fremont on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Kaysville.
-
- Davis receiver Jaxton Itaaehau (88) makes a move against Fremont’s Slade Parker (2) on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Kaysville.
-
- Fremont lineman Cooper Allen (66) lifts Slade Parker (2) in the air to celebrate a touchdown against Davis on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Kaysville.
-
- Fremont’s Cade Hadley (3) leans over while scoring a touchdown as teammate Taggart Burton (1) signals in a game against Davis on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Kaysville.
-
- Davis High’s Isaac Morrison, right, tries to secure the football while Fremont’s Salesi Moa, center, wraps him up and Landon Palmer gives chase on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Kaysville.
-
- Davis High’s Tradon Bessinger throws a pass against Fremont on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Kaysville.
KAYSVILLE — A point here. A point there.
In the end, it was an extra point that made all the difference in the world for Fremont football on Friday night.
Cam Graves, who had not even kicked once in the game for Fremont, tacked on that extra point after Cade Hadley tied the game in overtime, and the Silverwolves survived a scintillating 35-34 nonregion road victory over Davis.
Hadley bulled in for a 2-yard touchdown run to knot it at 34-all, followed by a Graves PAT to send the Fremont crowd into a frenzy.
Davis (1-1) had the first possession in overtime and scored on a 13-yard pass from senior quarterback Tradon Bessinger to Tyson Baggett in a crowded back of the end zone.
But the all-important PAT failed when the snap was fumbled and Baggett’s scramble, and subsequent pass, fell incomplete, leaving the Darts with what turned out to be a tenuous 34-28 lead.
Four straight running plays by Fremont (2-0) doomed the Darts. Hadley rushed twice, then senior quarterback Manase Tuatagaloa rambled to the two-yard line, where Hadley finished it off.
“We saw it worked the first time so we just kept pounding the ball,” Hadley said. “Coach Nate (Tuatagaloa) did a good job of keeping us doing what was working. It’s about mental toughness, and we did an amazing job executing to get the job done.”
The focus then shifted to senior kicker-cornerback Graves, who came through with flying colors.
“We have a bunch of great kickers; Cam is awesome as well. It was a huge play by him making that kick,” Hadley said.
Hadley rushed 24 times for 163 yards and the winning touchdown for Fremont.
Through three quarters, the story was the Silverwolves’ time of possession, where they had the ball for 21:42 compared to 13:11 for the Darts.
Davis led 21-14 before the tables turned for both teams. Fremont punted early in the final frame, and the Darts took over at their own 21 with 10:23 remaining in the game.
The Darts (1-1) went on a long 10-play, 6:41 drive culminating in a 6-yard touchdown pass to Baggett to make it 28-14 with 3:42 remaining.
Baggett made good use of his targets, nabbing three touchdowns on five receptions and 57 yards for the Darts.
For Fremont, Tuatagaloa threw four touchdown passes and completed 22 of 39 attempts for 248 yards, with three interceptions.
Two of Tuatagaloa’s touchdowns came to Tennessee commit Salesi Moa in the last 3:13 of the fourth quarter, which tied the game at 28 and sent it into overtime.
“At some point, I realized Salesi Moa, our five-star, had one-on-one coverage, so we got that
connection going,” Manase Tuatagaloa said.
Moving quickly, Fremont forced a four-play, 65-yard drive that took just 29 seconds off the clock when Moa netted his first touchdown on a 5-yard catch.
“I had to get my head right,” Manase Tuatagaloa said. “As a quarterback, I can’t be zoned out. I’m the leader of our team. I know I play for something greater than myself.”
A two-point conversion on a pass from Tuatagaloa to Taggart Burton closed the Silverwolves to 28-22.
Fremont (2-0) then gambled and recovered an onside kick at the Davis 49.
Eight plays later, Tuatagaloa hooked up with Moa on a 2-yard jump ball in the corner of the endzone and suddenly it was 28-28 with 47 seconds to go.
A seemingly automatic win became less so when Moa was flagged for taunting and Fremont saw a 35-yard extra point kick by Jordan Larkin sail wide, sending the game to overtime. Moa finished with six catches for 80 yards and the two touchdowns.
The marquee matchup got off to a slow start when Davis fumbled on its initial possession and Bode Sparrow later intercepted Tuatagaloa.
Davis then turned the ball over on downs, and Fremont had a kick blocked. Finally, with 59.6 seconds left in the first quarter, Bessinger got the Darts to paydirt with an 11-yard scoring toss to Baggett.
Interception number two by Sparrow led to a second Davis touchdown early in the second stanza, via a 13-yard quarterback keeper by Bessinger, making it 14-0.
Isaac Morrison was on the receiving end of a 14-yard Bessinger pass, and it was 21-0 for Davis midway through the second quarter.
Bessinger put up big numbers with 30 of 43 completions for 347 yards and four touchdowns, plus a fifth touchdown on the run.
Down three scores, Fremont gathered its thoughts and tallied a touchdown at the 3:15 mark
on a 54-yard strike from Tuatagaloa to Slade Parker.
“It’s about mentality. We’re out in the summer, working in 110-degree temperatures,” Manase Tuatagaloa said. “Like our coach said, ‘we have heart; we have the most heart here.'”
Knitting a yarn that wove throughout the night, Fremont went for two, and when Tuatagaloa connected with Moa, it was 21-8 at the half.
“They went for two early in the game, and that was the difference…a one-point advantage throughout,” lamented Davis coach Scott Peery.
On yet another long drive that kept the Davis offense off the field, Fremont opened the third period on a 13-play, 80-yard march ending with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Tuatagaloa to Parker, cutting the Davis margin to 21-14.
“There was a trickle-down effect where a few plays put us in a situation where we needed to protect the lead and didn’t,” Peery said. “We had plenty of opportunities to win the game.”
Parker had five catches for 104 yards and two touchdowns for Fremont.
Battling one of the top 6A teams in the state, Fremont, a newly designated 5A school, had the right attitude coming in.
“It’s awesome playing Davis,” Hadley said. “We play with confidence all the time. We come
into every game believing in ourselves. We knew we can beat anybody if we’re playing our best game.”
