Ten weeks of regular-season play have led to the most important part of the year for local high school football teams. This week, the state tournament gets underway. 

Farmington and Davis in Class 6A, along with Bountiful, Woods Cross and Viewmont in Class 5A are each preparing now to march toward state titles. 

Davis

Things didn’t start off so well this season for the Darts, which were 0-2 to begin the year after a pair of blowouts in which they didn’t score a point. After three wins in a row, Davis dropped a lopsided affair to Syracuse, leaving the team with a 3-3 mark. 

Davis won its final four games of the regular season to gain some momentum. In the process, the Darts finished second in Region 1 with a 5-1 mark and went 7-3 overall. Davis heads into the state tournament as the No. 7 seed. As a result, Davis gets a first-round bye. On Oct. 28, the Darts will host the winner of Kearns and Riverton in the second round. 

Last week, Davis notched a big 48-14 victory over Clearfield on Oct. 12. The winless Falcons were no match for Davis, which led 31-0 at halftime. Quarterback Jackson Stevens threw four touchdowns in the first half alone (two in each quarter), and Gage Butler hit a 37-yard field goal in the second quarter. Stevens hit Josh Barker for a 13-yard score in the first quarter, followed by a 9-yarder to Tyson Elkins. In the second, Easton Baggett hauled in a 39-yard pass from Stevens. With 23 seconds left in the first half, Elkins had his second TD reception, a 1-yarder from Stevens. 

Up 31-0, Davis added to the lead with yet another Stevens–Elkins connection. This one was a 7-yard pass play with 9:23 left in the third quarter. Clearfield got on the board shortly after, but Davis made it 41-7 when Butler hit a 44-yard field goal. In the fourth quarter, backup quarterback Max Martineau had a 1-yard TD pass to Kai Byrd to extend the score to 48-7. Clearfield added a touchdown in the final minute. 

Stevens went 22 of 31 passing for 297 yards and five touchdowns. Elkins had three touchdown catches and eight receptions overall for 77 yards. Baggett had seven grabs for 119 and the touchdown. The Davis defense limited Clearfield to just 14 completions on 38 attempts. Colin Wright had an interception, while Cam Wilson had four tackles and 1.5 sacks. 

Farmington

The Phoenix didn’t end their regular season the way they wanted, but now it’s time to regroup. 

On Oct. 12, Farmington fell to 40-20 in a game that could have landed the Phoenix in a three-way tie for the region title with Syracuse and Davis. Instead, with the loss, Farmington ended up in third place with a 4-2 region record. The Phoenix enter the playoffs 8-2 overall and as the No. 5 seed in 6A. On Oct. 28, Farmington will host the winner of Roy and Weber. Farmington gets a first-round bye this week. 

In last week’s loss, Farmington had some struggles against the Titans. Syracuse went up 21-0 late in the second quarter before the Phoenix cut the lead to 21-7 just before the half. That’s when Adam Stucki caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Easton Wight. 

In the second half, Syracuse ran off 12 straight points to take a commanding 33-7 lead. To Farmington’s credit, the team didn’t quit. Wight connected with Stucki from 10 yards out with 9:10 to play and then hit Mitch Nielsen on a 20-yard pass with just over four minutes left. But Syracuse made a 33-20 game 40-20 with another late TD. 

Farmington had just 17 rushing yards, though Wight did throw for 219 yards. He did have three interceptions, as Syracuse played stingy defense. Nielsen had eight catches for 98 yards. Luke Hansen was everywhere on defense, recording 13 tackles and a sack. 

Bountiful

The Region 5 champs have a first-round playoff bye this week. The Redhawks get the winner of 11th-seeded Orem and 22nd-seed Uintah on Oct. 24 at home. Bountiful is on a six-game winning streak heading into the postseason.

On the year, the Redhawks have used a stellar defense to power the team to an overall mark of 7-2. In nine games, Bountiful allowed just 116 total points, only 12.9 a game. Kaden Mertz has led the team with 49 tackles and three sacks. Jacob Brooks has 46 tackles and three interceptions. Offensively, Faletau Satuala has 24 grabs for 312 yards to pace the team. Kenobi Doctolero is the leading rusher with 85 carries for 385 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Quarterback Owen Geilman has four rushing touchdowns to go with his 319 yards. He has thrown for 998 yards and seven touchdowns. 

Woods Cross

Woods Cross heads into the playoffs with a 6-4 overall record. The Wildcats were second in Region 5 at 4-1. The Wildcats garnered the 10th seed in the playoffs. 

This Friday, Woods Cross begins what it hopes is a successful march through the postseason when it hosts 23rd-seed Wasatch in the first round. Wasatch went 2-3 in Region 9 and is 3-6 overall.

The Wildcats wrapped up the regular season last Wednesday with a 20-17 non-region loss to Spanish Fork. The Dons scored a touchdown with 35 seconds to play to overcome a 17-13 deficit to win the game. Jacob Howes had nine carries for 90 yards for Woods Cross. 

Viewmont 

Viewmont is the only local team to be playing on the road this week in the playoffs. The 20th-seeded Vikings play at Cedar Valley on Friday at 6 p.m. Cedar Valley finished second in Region 7 with a 6-1 record. It was 7-3 overall in the regular season. Viewmont enters the state tournament with a record of 4-5. λ