OCR Text |
Show WEEKLY REFLEX DAVIS NEWS JOURNAL, NORTH DAVIS LEADER, JANUARY 21, 1982 Count Darts Former Football Great At Layton, On Cary Blood He Owes Himself A Shot At The Pros By KEITH DUNCAN By KEITH DUNCAN LAYTON After seven years of pumping iron in the weight room, piling up enough yaidage to have O.J. take a second look and getting hit so many times your body feels like rubber, its hard to imagine that Curtis Page still wants more. THE FORMER Layton Lancer, who starred with Lancer football teams in 1975 and 1976, has concluded his four year stay at Southern Utah State College and now wants a chance at the pros. Last year there were three SL'SC players who tried out for the Seattle Seahawks, with two of them making several cuts. Page hopes he can go all the W'av. WHO KNOWS? Ill never know until I go try it, said Page. I believe owe myself a chance at it. After all these years of hard work, the lifting of weights and everything else, Ive got to go try it. But until the time comes for the tryout. Page can be found these days doing some student 1 teaching at Layton. If his attempts at the NFL fails, his reserve plan is to enter a teaching career with coaching mixed in with that. a Laton Lancer, (antis Page ran foi oer 1200 ards in one football season. As a ball carrier lor Southern Utah State College he was the leading rusher for two consecutive season and the MV P of the offense. Now he is Once as looking toward the pi os. IM HAVING a heck of a said Curtis, Every time, coach is the same except for Russ Jones and Brad Hawkins. They are a great bunch of guys, especially Carter (Cook) who also coached me in junior high. . to Layton as a teacher-coacHis only wish is that coaches like Gary Hansen and others were still there. h. AT SUSC Page majored in PE and minored in psycholo- gy. Besides helping Coach Cook with three PE classes he also assists Ruth Bennett in two of her psychology classes. Im enjoying it here very much. This is the first time in five years that Ive been able to spend some time with my family, he said. ability and the tact the coaches said I could help the team more if I were to concentrate on defense, I played only defense, said Page. But one year later Curtis was to prove his worth as a Layton ball carrier. He gained over 1200 yards in eight games. BUT DESPITE the tremendous senior year, he was overlooked by Weber State, Utah State and the U. of U. in scholarship quests. "Tve been told that the year I graduated was probably the W'HILE AT SUSC, Page led the Coyotes in rushing both his junior and senior years. This past fall he was named the Most Valuable Player of the Offense while playing with several of his former teammates from Layton High. Some of those former teammates included Ben Bubak who played quarterback; Rick Snow who held down a wide receiver position; Wayne who played at middle linebacker and was named the defensive MVP; Trace Bunng-haand Monte Green who both played at cornerback positions and last but not least, Sam Gallegos who was given the award as the MVP of special teams. l, ALL OF US had a blast, said Page who commented that worse year a Utah player could expect to get a chance to play major college football in Utah. WEBER STATE was getting (Pete) Riehlman, the U. of U. was getting Wayne Howard and because Utah State had just suffered through a terrible season, they were interested mostly in junior college players, said Page. UNLV did give him a scholarship but he declined it because of his desire to stay within the state. ONE OF things Im pretty happy about is that I finished my schooling and graduated with a four year degree. I think I showed a lot of people that I could do it, people who didnt give me much of a chance of making it. back and play football was there, he said. PAGE HASNT been very close to the Layton program for the past few years because of obvious reasons. He has felt for Hansen and his assistants who have suffered through a couple of losing seasons. All I know is that once Gary gets the talent, he knows how to make a winner. He has some very good assistants that help to make up a pretty good staff. or not. He w'ould like nothing more than to someday return BLOOD IS as dedicated to Davis sports as much as anyone has been. He is a hard working guy who does very little complaining if any," said Dickson. The Dart heavyweight had been undefeated until recent matches, but is gearing up toward the region championship in February. Blood knows he has a good chance of winning it but at 203 lbs. is in an unlimited position, he has a lot of pounds to put away, Dickson said. IT DIDNT take too much to motivate Blood to play Davis High sports. Ever since freshman football, he has been a steadfast performer in both football and wrestling. And his success hasn't been all that bad either. As a junior last year with Dickson, Blood claimed fourth in the state wrestling meet and second in region before that. MY OPINION is that the real good talent has been down around here. A couple of years ago Layton had more players in major college football than any other high school in the state. I may stand to be corrected but there has only been one player to come out of Layton in the past two years that has played big time college ball (James Suitt). Either there much talent or the kids willing to put out, said Page. isnt just are not BUT I HEAR things are looking up with some good juniors and a solid bunch of said Page. sophomores, several of these teammates had played since grade school. While at Layton during his prep days, Page started at an outside linebacker spot his junior year but had the itch all season long to do his thing at running back. FOOTBALL HAS been a big joy of his at Davis. As an offensive and defensive tackle for Ward Sawley, he earned post season honors because of his play through the fall of 1981. This past football season was the kind you dont easily forget, said Blood. We were a team that did little critizing and when a mistake was made, everyone seemed to rally around. A lot of friendships were built because of last season. KNOWING that wrestling would be his final sport at Davis, I wanted to be able to walk away from it knowing I had given my very best, he said. Probably the thing that the other kids and we as coaches appreciate most about people like Cary, is their ability to contain themselves and play even though they are hurt. Cary does not complain about anything but just goes about his duties with consistency. He is a funny kid about things like that. I guess its pride or sonething, said Dickson. Curtis is taking his student teaching serious however, whether he goes into the NFL In Davis march toward a possiKAYSVILLE ble Region Four wrestling championship, it is certainly a confident feeling to have guys like Cary Blood in your ranks. Jim Dickson, the Davis wrestling coach, says it will be senior team leaders like Blood that will play a major role in his team's chances. And I have to thank football for keeping me in school. I dont think I would have stuck it out unless the desire to go WE HAD guys like Dominick Dato, Blaine Townsend and Keith Buckwoldt my junior year. Because of their BLOODS GAME plan for each match is to go out being the aggressor. Weighing in at 203 lbs., and going against people who tip the scales at 250 and over, Blood has to be aggressive. Dickson says his heavyweight isnt intimidated by bigger people but simply uses his quickness and strength to come out on top. Blood is dedicated to Davis High sports. An example of his devotion might be brought to the surface during last winters area youth wrestling program where Blood and Bruce Frodsham gave a helping hand in conduction the camp. Cary Blood will be counted heavily upon to help the Davis Darts win a region wrestling title. CARYS PRIDE about Dart athletics may have something to do with the fact that both his father (Lynn) and his grandfather (Louis) once attended Davis High. But what ever the motivation, Blood looks forward to the key part of the wrestling season and a chance to wrap up his sports career in admirable fashion. ' High Got A Sports Tip? Call Keith Duncan This Saturdav Lance Parker (shown above) and his Clearfield teammates Clearfield, Davis Travel To Jordan Clearfield and Davis travel to Jordan Saturday to participate in the Jordan Invitational. Other teams involved will be Bountiful, Jordan, Kearns, Bear River, West Jordan and irwiiiiii 1 n ii m if Taylorsville. IT MILL be a dogfight, said Jim Dickson of Davis High. He believes there are some strong state contenders at this meet. Thcmk Ym For Your Business in 1981 A complete computerized listing of your prescriptions is available at our Pharmacy These may be picked up for Income Tax and Insurance Coverage will compete in the Jordan Invitational At 376-931- 2 MODV High Quality Home Files i BOUNTY 4 Drawer Reg. 120.12 aaoiMsflnpromTfl 5 1 i BURGEE Now Only 2 Drawer SAVE Reg. 73.80 40 Now Only (Free Prescription delivery etc.) "INK.SpQT 116 South Fort Lane, Layton 376-485- 5 Layton, Utah 376-482- 2 LAYTON, KAYSVILLE, CLEARFIELD, ROY AND OGDEN |