One of the most successful football programs in our state's history resides up there these days. Today, Davis and Skyline hope some of that lucky Ute charm rubs off on them as they battle each other at 5 p.m. Playing a high school football game up at the University of Utah means one thing, you have reached the semifinals of the 5A state playoffs. Both teams have played good, steady football this entire season to get to this point and neither is about to surrender to the other.
Davis and Skyline are coming off very different quarterfinal games from a week ago. The outcomes were the same, but both took very different routes to arrive at their victories.
Davis improved their overall record to 9-2 with a second consecutive shutout, 7-0 over Bingham last Friday. Skyline got past Northridge 41-22 to move on in the playoffs while improving their record to 11-1.
The lone loss on the season for the Eagles was to 4A semifinalist, and football rival Highland, 13-10. The Darts are riding a five-game winning streak coming in while Skyline hasn't lost in nine straight.
Davis' defense has been the real gridiron star for the Darts this past month. They not only have the two shutouts in two playoff games, but were stingy enough to give up only 30 points their last two league games to Region One bullies Clearfield and Northridge. All in all, Davis has outscored their opponents 123-30 overall in their last four contests.
Skyline boasts the state's number two defense, in terms of points per game allowed. While racking up 37 points per game on offense, the Eagles defense has allowed, on average, a meager 10 points per contest.
One fact glares out at the casual sports fan when analyzing Davis' season. In their two losses, the Darts were outscored 67-13 to two of the best football programs in the state, Brighton and Fremont. That trend of losing big to some of the state's best has been erased somewhat with the huge wins over Northridge, Clearfield and last week over a very good Bingham club.
Skyline rarely had any close games this year. One win stands out more than the others though, and that's their week nine 41-0 victory over 2003 state champion Hunter. Another thing that should concern the Eagles, and give hope to the Darts, is that Skyline has given up 64 points the past three games. That's an average of a little over 21 points per game.
With Davis' defense heading in the right direction and Skyline's apparently losing some steam, the Dart running game is looking to potentially dominate. Andrew Lloyd and Bryan Kariya will need big games on the ground for the Darts to be successful.
Mix that running back formula in with some timely running and passing from dangerous quarterback Zach Olsen, and that could be a winning formula for Davis.
Davis' defense has been particularly strong against the run this year and it's no secret what Skyline likes to run offensively.
The Eagles have run the best option attack in the state. It seems like Head Coach Roger Dupaix has been around running the Skyline option to perfection since the invention of the wheel, or so it seems.
The only way Davis can come out with a victory in this one is if they can stop quarterback Joey Putnam and running back Leka Moeaki. Both players anchor the option attack and have good speed to get quickly to the opposing defenses outside. To illustrate Skyline's depth and ability to run the option, Putnam led all rushers in last week's Northridge game with 143 yards while six other Eagle running backs pitched in on the 326 rushing yard output.
Davis doesn't go quite as deep with their running game as Skyline does, but it's just as effective. Lloyd has been a part-time starter for the Darts in place of Brent Tenney at tailback this year. Kariya has been devastating at fullback all year long.
Tenney, Lloyd, Kariya and Olsen have accounted for a grand total of 2,575 rushing yards on the season. Tenney will probably not play again because of an injury he suffered back in a week seven game against Layton.
In Tenney's stead, Lloyd ran for 106 yards against Kearns in the first round of the playoffs and rattled off the game-winning 49-yard run against Bingham last week for the game's only scoring.
The past few games has seen Head Coach Ryan Bishop and Olsen go to the air a little more often, specifically to awide out Tim Grasso. The passing game has helped open up the run as teams were flooding the line of scrimmage in anticipation of Kariya, Lloyd and company.
No doubt Skyline's defense will play the run against the Darts. Grasso is more than capable along with Ryan Smoot on the outside and Davis will need them to help put points on the board.
Playoff football is all about defense. But this game could come down to who scores the most points. The victor could very well be the first team to reach 14 in this one.
This game will feature its fair share of hard-hitting, smash mouth football. It should be a classic playoff football game.
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