High school football: Davis plays well on both sides of the ball to best American Fork

Battle of the football teams and marching bands is a way of describing the long history between Davis and American Fork. Friday, it was a gridiron bout for 6A bragging rights, and it was Davis that flipped the script back in its favor with a 29-15 win to improve to 5-1 while handing the Cavemen (5-1) their first loss of the year.

“We knew this was going to be a tough game for us. There’s kind of that stigma of the north versus the south,” said Davis coach Scott Peery. “We kind of used that all week with our players — just not being able to beat these teams and get over that hump a little bit.”

Davis found success on both sides of the ball in the victory in Utah County. Nothing was surprising with the Darts’ offense as state touchdown leader Tradon Bessinger added another four to his total, with 435 yards of passing for good merit.

Bessinger was able to move freely in the pocket and scramble when he needed to behind a strong effort from his offensive line.

“I tell them ‘Three seconds, that’s all we need boys,’ and that’s what they gave me tonight,” said Bessinger of his line.

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Bessinger, a Boise State commit, is as predictable as any quarterback with his accuracy, but he’s far from it when it comes to making things happen.

Friday, he came up with plays, scrambles and even added in some trickery to keep American Fork’s defense at bay whenever the group seemed to make progress.  

“I think our line is doing a great job this year, but the other thing is Tradon does things off the cuff sometimes,” said Peery. “That’s what makes him so special.”

Bessinger hit three different receivers for touchdowns in the game, showing the talent and depth the Darts have at the position. Jaxton Itaaehau finished with 143 yards and a score, while Bode Sparrow recorded another 100-plus yard game and two touchdowns.

Tyson Baggett nabbed the other touchdown and had 77 receiving yards.

“There’s a lot of attention on Bode and he’s going to make plays, but what’s remarkable is the unselfishness in that receiver room,” Peery noted. “They don’t care (who gets credit).”

For Sparrow, the touchdowns are always fun, but he’s enjoying just as much success on the defensive side. His interception in the fourth quarter thwarted the Cavemen’s momentum after they had scored on their previous drive in the waning minute of the third quarter.  

The Darts’ defense also did just enough over four quarters to disrupt the Cavemen’s passing game, which resulted in dropped passes and passes thrown just out of reach.

“A lot of people know us for our offense,” explained Sparrow. “Our defense really stood up again, showing that our defense is legit, too.”

American Fork tallied a decent game, recording a blocked field goal and holding Davis on downs, but the Cavemen couldn’t match the offensive success the Darts had, recording 295 total offensive yards against the 465 effort by Davis.

Kapano Manuela finished with two passing touchdowns and 152 yards on the night for the Cavemen. 

Up next, both teams open region play next weekend with American Fork hosting Lone Peak and Davis hosting Syracuse.