Davis battles Clearfield tomorrow night at Clearfield in a battle for first place. Clearfield currently stands in second place with a 3-1 record while Davis and Northridge are 4-1, a half game ahead of the Falcons.
Clearfield still has one more game after this one, next Friday against Northridge, which could decide a lot in the Region 1 race. The Falcons lost their one league game to Fremont and won three games against Weber, Layton and Viewmont. The real meat of this league could potentially give Clearfield three losses before all is said and done and throttle them back into a possible tie for fourth place with Viewmont.
A lot of things need to happen for both teams to be standing in first place come state playoff time. The good thing about both teams' scenarios is that they simply involve both taking care of themselves and winning out the rest of the way. Unfortunately, one of the two is going to have to lose tomorrow night.
Both schools were hugely benefited by Viewmont's upset win over Fremont last Friday night. Fremont is now saddled with two losses and is all but eliminated from title contention. There is no mathematical possibility that all top four teams in the region end up with two losses, somebody will end the season with just one loss.
The Darts were literally left for dead three weeks ago when they were crushed 41-13 on the road at Fremont. They came back and beat Layton the following week in rather lackluster fashion to stay close to unbeaten and first place Northridge.
Northridge had won seven of the past eight meetings against the Darts, and the way the Darts had played against their tougher opponents so far, this year's outcome didn't look any different. Davis surprised everybody by thrashing the Knights for 505 rushing yards en route to a 41-14 beat down.
That win catapulted the Darts right into the driver's seat of Region 1. With a win over Clearfield, the Darts clinch at least a share of the league crown. A loss would be devastating for the Darts and move them disappointingly back into second place.
Clearfield needs to win both their remaining games against both the Darts and the Knights. Those two wins would clinch Clearfield's sole possession of first place in Region 1. Those two wins would also force a potential three-way log-jam at second place.
Davis was led in the Northridge game by three players who all totaled more than 100 rushing yards. Fullback Bryan Kariya ran through opponents for 177 yards, Junior backup Andrew Lloyd poured in 161 of his own and quarterback Zach Olsen chipped in 105 yards on the ground.
Clearfield is very similar to the Darts on offense and defense. The Falcons are led by running backs Matt Francom and Jordan Paskett. The Falcon defense is led by Andy Yocum.
Davis will come with Kari-ya, starting tailback Brent Tenney and his more than capable backup Lloyd. The Darts have a great defensive line that routinely terrorizes opponents' offensive backfields. That line will have to try and slow down the Clearfield running game if the Darts want to win this game.
The Davis running game needs to be clicking on all cylinders for the Darts to be successful. Olsen is a somewhat consistent passer, but his main strength is running the ball and managing the Dart running game. This game should be one of the best of the year here in Region 1. With so much riding on this game, hopefully both teams will be more than up to the challenge.
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