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Show Tough Dart defense stifles persistent 'Cats X NT X V I k , - XX.XXP $XX; -W fX xx . ?xx fx . xxk XM r , :y- Xf - :X X frymX 'a(:p ,k,xi. h"&-4. xk $ , w-'ilx-,- y i4 ly-c- yy: test M "v , X-Xw XyX- X X " - A - t - y y :,yy- r ; ;u . . y : ' . . A: r . . yyy&XXX ' : '. - By G.BRETT HART i j KAYSVILLE What can a team do when its defense can stifle an opponent, and its offense can score almost at will? Obviously, the answer is win, and that's what the Davis Darts did in their season opener against Woods Cross, Aug. 24 at Davis. The Darts won 28-8. Quarterback Todd Heath, who looked impressive both running and passing the football, gave Davis an a early first quarter lead. On a gutsy fourth down and four call. Heath scampered around the right end to put Davis up by six with eight minutes left in the first quarter. Troy DeDecker's point-after attempt at-tempt was good, giving the Darts an early 7-0 lead. By the end of the first quarter the Darts had lengthened their lead to 14 behind another Heath scoring run around the right end. Davis again opted to go for the score on fourth down, this time from about six yards out with only 25 seconds left in the quarter. In second quarter action, Davis fumbled on the Wildcats' 20-yard ' line, giving Woods Cross an excellent chance to cut the Davis lead to seven, but a costly face masking penalty added 15 extra yards to the Wildcats task. The relentless Davis defense, led by Bob Bartley, later sacked Woods SEE DEFENSE C-2 f X :wm X tt-tfrX -,r.X'-- ; v-.;- . ' ' Xv ,,; X X XiXX Xy :x.-yr:x.xx. .XX '"xxyr z Woods Cross quarterback Ryan VanAlfen is smothered by the Dart defense care of Bob Bartley. Bartley and associates gave the Woods Cross offense all it could handle in their season opener Aug. 24. Davis went on to survive a third quarter Wildcat push to win 28-8. V f . y,. - v - . . , - x - j K - : -. , i 3 DEFENSE CONT. FROMC-1 Cross quarterback Ryan VanAlfen three consecutive times stopping the Wildcats before they could capitalize. capi-talize. In the second half, Keith Elison gave the Darts what would prove to be an insurmountable lead when he picked off a VanAlfen pass and thundered into the end zone putting Davis ahead 21-0 at the half. Woods Cross, hampered by costly penalties and a sporadic offense did, however, see a glimmer of hope as its hard hitting defense rose to the occasion on a few key downs at the end of the second quarter. By the half, the momentum had begun to shift toward the Wildcats. Woods Cross' only scoring drive was led by VanAlfen's rifle arm and two key catches by Nick Lafeber and Marcus Rhoton which placed Woods Cross in scoring position. On fourth and goal at the one-foot one-foot line, VanAlfen put the Wildcats on the board with a quarterback sneak with 3:40 left in the third quarter. A mis-snap from center and a quick throw into the end zone on the point after attempt gave Woods Cross two more points, making the score 21-8. The fourth quarter became a sea-saw sea-saw defensive battle until a final Heath score from the one-foot line ended the game. Though pleased with the victory, Davis coach Jim Dickson said he was worried because his team had become "complacent' at the beginning of the second half. "You sit on a lead, and pretty soon, the momentum shifts to the other side like it did in the third In spite of the first game loss, the Wildcats displayed explosive passing potential. VanAlfen fired this pass to receiver Marcus Rhoton just out of Davis defensive back Jeremy Lawson's grasp. Rhoton's diving catch set up Woods Cross' only score. Both teams will have solid week two challenges as the Darts travel ' south this Friday to face Provo, and the Wildcats host their cross-town rivals, the Vikings, at home. i j quarter. We can't do that. In the first half we got off the ball more." A disappointed Woods Cross coach, John Haning, felt that his team had not played as well as he had expected going into the game, and that it would take "a lot of work" to get back on track. "This week, we will work on continuity," said Haning about the direction the Wildcats would take in preparation for Viewmont this Friday. Fri-day. "We need to try and become more consistent." "We're disappointed; we expected ex-pected to play better than we did. ' ' |