KAYSVILLE — The stats told a different story than the final score in Friday night's battle between 5A powers Davis and Brighton. The fifth-ranked Bengals totaled 418 yards of offense, while the Darts countered with 294.
But despite allowing the opponent to crack over 400 yards of offense, it was the Davis defense that made the difference in a 24-21 overtime upset.
"I can't say enough about our defense tonight," said Davis coach Ryan Bishop. "They made stops and forced turnovers when we needed them."
Davis took a 21-7 lead into the locker room at halftime behind a strong performance by its offensive line. The group switched back and forth from different formations and punched the ball down the right side several times.
"Our offensive line did a heck of a job tonight," Bishop said.
But its offense stagnated in the second half.
Brighton tried to take advantage of the stale offense, driving down into the redzone twice. But Davis thwarted the first scoring attempt with a stop on its own 5-yard line.
Failing to move the ball, the Darts gave Brighton back the ball on the Davis 36. Brighton drove again, but turned the ball over as Chaz Walker grabbed an interception on a slant route over the middle on the Davis 1-yard line.
Another four-and-out forced the Darts defense back onto the field quickly, and this time the group ran out of steam. Brighton cut the lead to 21-14 after Winston Harris punched in the ball from the 2-yard line on a quarterback keeper in the fourth quarter. Harris followed up on the next drive with a 38-yard bomb to a wide open Robbie Birch to tie the game at 21.
Davis had a chance to win the game, taking over with 3:10 left to play in regulation. The Darts drove the field, but struggled to get their final snap off sooner and saw the 7 seconds dwindle to zero as quarterback Nick Martineau was stopped at the 1.
In overtime Davis couldn't move the ball past the 20, but kicker Pete Caldwell kicked through a 37-yard field goal to put the Darts on top 24-21.
Harris took the ball 16 yards on Brighton's first shot in overtime, but the Davis defense stopped everything else and the Bengals missed their field goal.
"You're trying so hard to set up the plays and manage the clock," said Bishop. "I know I learned something today, and I hope our kids did too this early in the season.
"This defense had a lot of heart to play through being tired," said Walker, who finished with two interceptions and a fumble recovery. "We stood up to the task tonight."
Of Davis' 294 yards of offense, 224 came on the ground led by Kyle Burk's 60 yards. Martineau rushed for 43 yards and threw for 70 yards and two touchdowns.