KAYSVILLE — The Weber High football team has put an exclamation point on an impressive bounce back.
Two weeks after suffering a humbling loss to otherwise winless Layton that could have started a downward spiral, the Warriors will play for the Region 1 title following a 32-26 victory at Davis on Friday.
“That Layton game was a bad one. Everything that could have went wrong went wrong for us, and we just had to grow from it,” Weber receiver Cannon DeVries said. “It was a good learning experience. We had to rally together and not point fingers because we knew we had to come back stronger.”
On Friday, Weber quarterback Jake Lindsay ran for a 12-yard touchdown before finding Spencer Hall for a successful two-point conversion to give the Warriors a six-point lead with 2:36 left in the fourth quarter. Weber needed the touchdown drive after Davis turned a 24-7 halftime deficit into a 26-24 lead.
Davis moved the ball to the Weber 12 on its final drive but was thrown 20 yards backward following an intentional grounding call. A pair of incomplete passes sealed the victory for the Warriors.
“Our guys never panicked,” Weber coach Jayson Anderson said.
Weber jumped out to the 24-7 lead after scoring on each of its four first-half possessions. The Warriors’ defense made sure Davis struggled to keep up with a pair of interceptions. Johnny McKinney stopped a promising opening drive by Davis with a pick, and Jett Child tallied another for Weber, returning the ball to the Davis 10, early in the second quarter.
“That’s the difference in the game, really,” Anderson said. “That offense is powerful. You got a great running back in the (Spencer) Ferguson kid, and then you got (David) Spjut and (Chance) Trujillo who can tear you up in the pass game. When opportunities came for us to make plays, we made a couple plays that really helped us turn the game around.”
Lindsay found DeVries for a 55-yard touchdown with 4:32 left in the first quarter to give Weber a 7-0 lead.
Davis tied the game on its next possession with Ferguson carrying the ball in from 11 yards out.
Lindsay then tossed a pair of touchdown passes — a 25-yard pass to Child and a 2-yard throw to DeVries — to give Weber a 21-7 advantage.
Preston Larson kicked a 40-yard field goal with 28 seconds left in the first half.
Weber’s offense stalled in the second half and Davis took advantage. Ferguson, who finished with 169 rushing yards, ran for a 1-yard touchdown with 5:02 left in the third quarter, and Trujillo followed up with a pair of touchdown runs. Two missed extra points prevented Davis from taking an even bigger lead, though.
Weber went 80 yards on 10 plays for what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown drive.