Though seven state championships were won this past season by multiple schools in the area, this year really was Davis' county when it came to ruling the local athletics scene.
Of the 18 sanctioned sports counted in the Deseret Morning News' annual end-of-the-year All-Sports Award, the Darts scored points for finishing eighth or better in all but three. And Davis High reached the pinnacle three times as well. That boosted the Darts to the peak of the high school sports world, putting a Davis County school atop the All-Sports standings for the first time in the 27 years of the award.
Here's a look at how the 5A schools in Davis County fared for the 2004-05 school year:
CLEARFIELD (16th, 14.5 points): If all its teams had done as well as its basketball squads, this would have been a sweet school year for the Falcons' athletic department. As it was, though, the hoop players were the only ones to make it past the quarterfinals. And the football and golf teams were the only other teams to register All-Sports points for top eight finishes.
The boys b-ball team had its hoop title dreams dashed when it struggled to shoot against West Jordan in the semifinals. But getting there was the thrill of the year. Clearfield stunned No. 2-ranked Bingham in the quarterfinals after senior guard Devin Reid sank two pressure-packed free throws in the final seconds. Clearfield was well-represented on the Deseret Morning News All-State squads, with senior guard Devin Reid earning second-team honors and senior forward Blake Sims making the third team.
As for the girls, junior guard Haley Hall helped spark Clearfield to another semifinal showing, though they beat West Jordan and lost to Bingham to get eliminated.
Hall, who earned first-team all-state recognition after averaging 20 points, eight assists and five steals a game, had to be honored by comments made by the opposing team's coach. After the loss, Bingham's Rand Rasmussen joked that he couldn't sleep the night before, claiming that instead of seeing "little lambs jumping over the fence, it was that . . . Haley Hall. You can't stop her. You just try to make her life miserable."
Senior center Somre Anderson also made third team all-state.
Clearfield's football team took an early lead in its quarterfinal against then-No. 1 Brighton but couldn't keep up with the Bengals after halftime. The Falcons had two second-team all-staters in running back Matt Francon and wide receiver Blake Sims, both seniors, along with a pair of honorable mention players — seniors Cory Rich and Andy Yocum.
DAVIS (1st, 81 points): Future generations likely will be hearing oodles of stories about the Darts' sensational 2004-05 athletic year.
What started last fall with a thrilling football championship ended with a sweep of the boys and girls team titles in track and field. Throw in a second-place boys cross country finish, a third-place showing for the girl runners, a semifinal appearance in girls soccer and fourth-place showings for the golfers and girls tennis players, and it's no wonder the Darts earned the prestigious Deseret Morning News All-Sports Award for the best all-around sporting school for Class 5A.
The most surprising — and most-highly publicized — championship came on the gridiron at Rice-Eccles Stadium last fall. After winning only two games in 2003 and being picked to finish in the bottom half of Region 1, the Darts became on almost overnight powerhouse. That feat, however, didn't happen until after they got walloped by high-flying Fremont midway through the season. Davis really turned things around when the country was tuning in on its showdown-turned-rout with No. 1 Northridge, which happened to be partially televised on ESPN.
The defensive-minded Darts continued to roll after that, riding a six-game winning streak into the 5A state championship game. During that span, Davis only allowed an average of 7.8 points per game, including a thrilling 13-7 squeaker over perennial power Skyline in the semifinals.
But defense was thrown out the window when Davis faced pass-happy Cottonwood in a title tilt that will be remembered as a classic confrontation. The two teams nearly compiled 1,000 yards of offense and combined for more points than ever before in a Utah football final. Running back Bryan Kariya made sure the Darts were on the upper edge of the 50-43 overtime score, pounding out 216 yards rushing and scoring four touchdowns. He was later named 5A MVP by the Deseret Morning News for lifting the school to its first football crown since 1974. He ended the season with 1,016 rushing yards, 334 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns.
Other first-teamers in football included: offensive linemen Braden Gates and Steve Boyer, who keyed the Darts' 369 rushing yards in the title game with their impressive trench work; defensive lineman Josh Hoskins, who had 97 tackles and 11 sacks; and linebacker Kohl Perkins, who had a team-high 114 tackles. Lineman Chandler Gold was named second team, while Tim Grasso, Ryan Hirschi and David Bailey were honorable-mention all-staters.
Six months later, the Davis track and field teams added some more first-place hardware to the Darts' trophy case. And they did it by combining to achieve something longtime coach Roger Buhrley had only dreamed of before the state meets — the boys and the girls took state, and in convincing fashion. The boys outscored second-place Viewmont 160 to 91.5, while the girls defended their title by besting second-place Fremont 128-89.
Track superstar Josh Adams ended his celebrated prep career with a bang, winning all four events he entered — 1,600 meters, 3,200 meters, 800 meters and the 1,600 sprint medley. Last fall, he placed second in cross country. Jake Willoughby was another multiple winner at the track meet, earning gold in both hurdles races and in the 4x400 despite having a stress fracture. Tim Hughes, Carl Dixon and Cameron Simonsen each scored points in four events. Another highlight, of the many, was brothers Andrew and Adam Davis taking first and third in the pole vault. The Darts were 3-4 in javelin with Alex Hill and Andrew Bramhall.
Ashley Cannon was, in Buhrley's words, "the main cog" for the girls, earning wins in both hurdles, coming in second in the 200 meters and running a leg on the championship 4x100 relay squad. Other multiple point-gainers: Alayna Ferrin (first in discus, third in shotput); Krista Larson (second in discus, fourth in shotput); Shaylee Marler (both distance races and the third-place medley relay team); Morgan Hawes (distance races); and Jennifer Schiess (third in high jump, eighth in 300 hurdles). Davis also went 3-4-5 in javelin with Leslee Hyer, Kelsey Eller and Lindsey Scott.
The Darts also received another big individual award this spring when Tim Wiser was named 5A MVP by the Deseret Morning News for his efforts in goal that helped Davis take the Region 1 title. He had five shutouts and only allowed 14 goals all season. Unfortunately for Davis, though, its fairy-book-tale year ended short as the Darts lost in the quarterfinals. Herschel Hugie, Ryan Satterthwaite and Clayton Howell were all second-teamers.
Junior middle blocker Kayla Walker was another all-stater for Davis. She helped the Darts finish fifth, making 516 kills, 78 solo blocks and nailing 87 percent of her serves.
Davis' baseball team also made a surprise run this spring, winning its first two playoff games — including a thrilling extra-inning victory over Skyline ended by a walk-off home run from second-team all-state catcher Scott Larson.
Krista Larson, who excelled in soccer, track and basketball, was named the girls athlete of the year, Adams earned the top award for the boys, while Kariya received the school's special Barnes Award.
LAYTON (11th, 24.5 points): Third-place finishes by the girls' volleyball and softball teams were certainly nice achievements, but the girls basketball team really gave the Lancers something special to brag about this year. You can't improve on perfection, which is just what the Layton girls accomplished on the hardwood, something no other boys or girls team in Utah achieved. They rolled to an unblemished record of 24-0, earned coach Van Price his 300th victory and, best of all, claimed the top prize in 5A hoops.
The Lancers, who wore "For Otis" wristbands to honor their coach who had that nickname in high school and who had never won a state title in 19 years, continued their domination in the postseason awards. Senior forward Katie King earned MVP honors for averaging 10.6 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. She was joined on the first team by junior guard Ashley McFarland (11 ppg, 3 spg, 3 apg) and senior guard Danielle McDonald (8 ppg, 6 ppg, 5 spg), who had her best-ever scoring game in the 5A finals victory over Bingham. Jessica Carver (third team) and Annie Richins (honorable mention) also merited all-state recognition.
King also was on the volleyball all-state second team.
Layton's soccer team was the only boys squad to make some noise in state tournaments. The Lancers made it to the quarterfinals, boosted by first-team all-staters Scott Whitesides, who had 14 goals and six assists, and standout defender Aaron McKinley. Kellen Christensen, a junior, made the second team.
Ashley McFarland was awared first-team all-state honors for leading the Lancers to take third.
NORTHRIDGE (13th, 19.5 points): The sports season got off to an interesting start when highly successful football coach Fred Fernandes announced he was leaving his coaching position to pursue a business opportunity. And for much of the regular season, the pigskin powerhouse looked like it might add to its championship tradition, with a 7-0 record and a No. 1 ranking.
A late-season loss to Davis High, shown on ESPN no less, seemed to take the steam out of the Knights' engines, though. Making matters worse, the Ridge ended up getting eliminated to Salt Lake City rival Skyline in the quarterfinals.
It was a good run while it lasted though — and a fun ride for fans, thanks to players like first-team all-staters T.J. Canales, a quarterback who threw for 2,852 yards and 22 touchdowns, and speedy do-everything Bryant Eteuati, who had 13 rushing TDs, eight receiving TDs and four special-teams TDs. Seniors Blake Wellard, Beau Byington and Grayson Dart also were all-staters.
The Knights had an even better run at the wrestling championship, finishing second behind Viewmont and earning individual titles by Jake Bastian (140 pounds) and Mark Dennis (171 pounds). Jesse Betts (112) and Cole Unsworth (130) took home silvers at the meet, while Spencer Ito, Kendell Raddon and Mike Baker each helped out with fourth-place finishes.
Northridge also earned some points from boys track, boys tennis (thanks to Christian Heritage's Davis) and girls soccer.
VIEWMONT (4th, 62.5 points): Championships in wrestling and volleyball helped the Vikings finish in fourth in the All-Sports standings for the state's largest classification. It helped that Viewmont had one of the best athletes in the state — Airial Salvo — on its attendance roles. She simply dominated on the volleyball court, earning MVP honors for racking up 526 kills, 69 aces, 156 digs, 47 solo blocks and 40 block assists. The future University of Utah player also was one of only 18 teenage girls in the country to be invited to participate in a camp for the U.S. Junior National team this month. She also was named first-team all-state in basketball after averaging 16.3 points, 10 rebounds and four steals.
Viewmont's volleyball talent pool was deeper than Salvo, though. Senior setter Cidney Judkins (831 assists) and junior middle blocker Micah Lines (371 kills, 61 aces, 211 digs) were also first-teamers.
On the mats, the Vikings defended their title and won for the third time in the last four years. The incredible part about that is Viewmont only had one individual winner: Shay Lawrence. He earned the 135-pound crown for his third championship. Along with his achievement, 15 other guys earned points to help make up for the lack of champions.
No student-athlete in the state jumped to greater heights this year than Viking senior Trevor Heiner.
After flirting with hitting the 7-foot mark on the high jump all season, Heiner finally accomplished the rare feat in his last couple of meets, including at the state championships. His jump was six inches higher than any other competitor in all of the classifications, and it was eight inches higher than 5A's second-place finisher, teammate Matt Black. Heiner doubled his pleasure by leaping to his second gold in the long jump, helping Viewmont take second place.
Heiner also kicked his way onto the all-state football squad, earning a spot on the first team with 10 field goals.
Viewmont also had silver linings on two other boys sports this spring, finishing second in soccer and tennis.
Mike Christensen was one of the big stories of the 5A soccer season, especially after he scored five goals in one match. The first-team all-stater, who received an LDS mission call during the season, ended with 15 goals despite being injured for about a month. He wasn't the only top-notch Vike soccer player, though. Scott Richens and goaltender Shea Miller, who had 13 shutouts, also made the first team.
On the tennis courts, the Vikings were lifted to second, thanks to runner-up showings by Matt Moyes in third singles and Tomas Surtes and Brett Ipson in No. 2 doubles.
The Vikings also had another solid season in boys hoops, landing two players on 5A's first team — Sol Jensen, who averaged 18 points and seven rebounds, and Chris Romney, a speedy guard who helped Viewmont make the quarterfinals with 13 points and five assists a contest.
E-mail: jody@desnews.com