PLAIN CITY — Davis High football jumped out to a three-touchdown lead on Fremont in the first half of their matchup Friday night, seemingly putting the Silverwolves in the dust.

Sound familiar?

It was just a year ago that Davis went ahead 21-0 in Kaysville only for Fremont to roar back and win 35-34 on a two-point conversion in overtime.

There was no such repeat of last year’s cinematic contest. Davis (1-1) didn’t relinquish its three-touchdown lead, cruising past the Silverwolves 56-28 and rebounding from last week’s drubbing at the hands of powerhouse Corner Canyon.

“I think the good thing about this team is we still know we got a bunch to improve on, but I mean — especially cause (Fremont has) got us the last two years, and this has been built up to a pretty solid game, that’s a good team there. They’re a good team, and we came out and played really well, so I was just happy with how we did,” Davis senior Bode Sparrow said.

It was the response the Darts needed. However, Friday was the second step in a gauntlet nonregion schedule. Mountain Ridge, an emergent 6A contender, and Alta are next, followed by Olympus and American Fork.

Ultimately, the tough schedule is meant to set Davis up for a postseason run. Though a potential run is months away, Friday’s win over Fremont (1-1) does quite a lot for the Darts.

“To me, it’s a game of improvement, and we saw it this week. It’s huge to build off of,” Davis coach Scott Peery said. “You want to be the best, you gotta beat the best.”

Sparrow rose up to wrestle a short TD pass from a Fremont defender and give the Darts an early 7-0 lead. Fremont’s Calvin Cooper escaped pressure and found Kyran Majors for a 24-yard scoring throw to tie the game at 7 in the second quarter.

Davis turned it up a few notches and quickly blew a 7-7 game into 28-7 during the second quarter.

A short Kysen Gallegos touchdown run, a short Bridger Young TD run (following a Sam Coleman interception return down to the 1-yard line) and finally, a Brodie Scheinberg 2-yard TD pass to Cooper Rigby on fourth down put the Darts firmly in control.

“I just told our guys, mental toughness is measured by how you respond, and so I wanted to see all week in practice and tonight how they responded, and they did a pretty good job,” Davis coach Scott Peery said.

Cooper escaped pressure again, this time to find Jack Moss for a 14-yard score just before halftime, cutting the Davis lead to 28-14.

Gallegos punched in another short TD run, his second of the night, for a 35-14 lead. Fremont made it interesting with a TD catch by freshman phenom Isaia Fonotisatele on the next drive.

In response? Sparrow returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a score.

Between a blocked punt, a kick return TD and Davis’ tendency to get good starting field position, special teams played a decisive role for both teams (Fremont outgained Davis 345 to 298 in offensive yards).

Sparrow made a defensive highlight on Fremont’s next series, stopping running back Porter Hales well short of the end zone on fourth-and-goal.

Jaxton Itaaehau’s 10-yard TD catch from Scheinberg made the score 49-21 midway through the fourth quarter, effectively ending the game as a competitive contest.

Hales caught a Fremont TD pass from Cooper, his fourth of the night to a fourth different receiver. Cooper finished 22 of 44 for 264 yards through the air.

Briggs Taylor ran in for a touchdown with a minute left for Davis to finish the scoring.

Itaaehau led Davis with six catches for 80 yards and a score. The Darts ran for 115 yards as a team, with Taylor getting 55 of those. Scheinberg threw 20 of 33 for 222 yards.

Austin Yeates and Dexter Frasure each had 10 tackles for Davis, with Ben Dorius adding two sacks. The Darts next go to Mountain Ridge (2-0).

Aisa Tuatagaloa led Fremont with nine tackles and RJ Fonoti totaled two sacks. Fremont next makes its daunting return trip to Corner Canyon (2-0).