Davis, Farmington set for region play in football
Sep 15, 2023 10:31AM ● By Josh McFaddenThe non-region schedule is in the books for Region 1 football teams. Now it’s time for Davis and Farmington to start battling for league supremacy – and bolster their RPI positioning for the state tournament.
Heading into league play, Davis is 4-1, having won four games in a row. Farmington, meanwhile, is looking for win No. 1 on the year.
Davis
The Darts have been on a roll since losing the season opener. Heading into region games, Davis blasted Taylorsville 63-0 last Friday. It was the second shutout in the last three games for Davis. In fact, the Darts have allowed a total of seven points in their last three outings.
Davis was already up 28-0 by the end of the first quarter. The first two scores came courtesy of Owen Talbot, who had touchdown runs of 3 and 35 yards in the first 3 ½ minutes. Tradon Bessinger then had a pair of TD passes to Bode Sparrow – 21 yards and 51 yards – before the quarter ended.
The Darts had three more touchdowns in the second quarter to go up 49-0. Bessinger had a 23-yard TD pass to Tyson Baggett and then tossed a 12-yard pass for a score to Kash Gates. In the final seconds of the first half, Gates and Bessinger reversed roles when Gates threw a 62-yard pass for a touchdown to Bessinger on a trick play.
Reserve players got a chance to see the field in the second half.
Davis made it 56-0 with 4:25 left in the third quarter when Isaac Morrison had a 3-yard TD run. Max Martineau capped the productive night with a 34-yard TD run with 3:23 left in the game.
Bessinger had 239 yards passing and four touchdowns on 12 of 16 completions. He did this in just one half of work. Sparrow had two receiving touchdowns and 110 yards. Gates had 73 receiving yards. Davis recorded eight sacks, led by Deuce Wright and Carter Dorius, who had two each.
The Darts have been potent on offense lately. Through five games, three Darts have at least 100 yards rushing. Brighton Pierce leads the way with 35 carries for 155 yards. Talbot has 109 yards on the ground. But Davis has been most effective through the air where Bessinger is completing 62% of his passes for 1,162 yards and 14 scores. Baggett, Sparrow and Gates each have at least 23 catches so far, and Gates’ 321 yards paces the team.
Davis will host Weber on Friday for the first Region 1 game.
Farmington
The Phoenix didn’t play last week but look to get into the win column with their region-opening contest at home against Syracuse this Friday. Farmington lost to Syracuse last season 40-20.
When the two teams meet, the Phoenix will be trying to win for the first time since defeating American Fork in the first round of the Class 6A state tournament last season.