Blue Devils roll to 28-12 victory over Sacramento
When a team doesn’t play its best football — when it lets penalties get in the way of scoring opportunities — yet still wins, observers believe that’s a sign of a decent program.
Introducing your new, improved Davis High Blue Devils …
In a 28-12 victory over Sacramento High on Friday, 1,500 DHS fans saw their heroes open a four-touchdown lead, then provide a rousing final-minute goal-line stand to go to 2-0 for the first time since 2007.
“I thought we played good football,” head coach Steve Smyte said afterward. “We moved the ball. What we didn’t do was finish at times.
“But we did some good things. Got on top of them early. They never stopped us. We stopped ourselves. This game should have been 50-something to 12.”
As it was, it was a satisfying night for Devil backers. After suffering through three seasons in which the locals have gone 5-25, fans are seeing that 2011 appears to have nothing to do with recent history.
Sacramento’s first possession was stopped cold after six plays and Davis immediately got on its horse.
A reverse to receiver Willie Hawkins went for 18 yards. An apparent touchdown pass to Grant Dickerson was called back on the first of 10 Blue Devil penalties. But a Shayne Reagan pass went 27 yards to Ahmari Hayes, who made it to the Sac High two — before Winfred Roberson barreled in from there. Thomas May’s kick made it 7-0.
After a four-and-out for the Dragons, DHS was back at it again. But a penalty and that failure to finish cost the Devils.
Illegal procedure negated a Reagan scoring strike to Corey Nelson. Then, on the third down, Sacramento linebacker Randolf Stewart intercepted a Reagan pass at the goal line.
Meanwhile, Davis was forcing the Dragons to punt on each of their first four possessions.
“The defense played great,” Smyte said. “When they had to, they came up big.”
In the second period, the Blue Devils made it 14-0 thanks to a seven-play, 66-yard drive that ended with Hawkins catching a 28-yard TD pass from Reagan.
The senior signal-caller would finish the night hitting on 12-of-24 passes for 164 yards and three scores. Dickerson caught four passes for 58 yards and two touchdowns.
Just before intermission, DHS threatened again, but a botched snap and miscommunication on a pass with five seconds left canceled the threat.
Opening the third period, it looked as if the Devils were going to run away from Sacramento.
C.K. Hicks returned the opening kickoff 24 yards to the Davis 39.
Seven plays later, Dickerson was in the end zone with a 21-yard swing pass from Reagan. Dickerson made a defender miss at the 12 before waltzing home. Again, May’s conversion was good.
Sacramento felt desperate at this point and handed the Blue Devils their fourth score …
On fourth and three at his own 34-yard line, Dragon QB Josiah Johnson missed receiver Dale Lewis in the flat and it was Christmas-in-September for Reagan and Company.
Nineteen yards on three Roberson carries — mixed in with a Sacramento offside call — set the locals up with a first down just outside the 10. Dickerson took another pass in the flat, beat corner Anthony Pitts to the goal and May’s kick made it 28-0.
The Dragons (0-2), though, were not quite dead.
Amos Amos returned the ensuing kick 43 yards to the Davis 37. A personal-foul penalty on the Devils gave the visitors a start at the 22. It still took seven plays for Sacramento to solve the DHS defense, eventually scoring on Jalen Angel’s two-yard run. The conversion kick failed.
In the fourth period, the Blue Devils gave the Dragons another short field when a Reagan punt went out of bounds at the Devil 24. Angel’s 22-yard gain on a screen pass (Sacramento’s longest play from scrimmage) set up Johnson’s one-yard TD. A conversion pass failed.
Twice in the final period, Davis stopped Sac High advances inside the 10. Nick Denton had two sacks as Nelson, Mike McTygue, Brenden MacDonald, Dickerson and Austin Day were again strong at linebacker. However, Day suffered what team doctor Rob Peterson called a concussion in the second half.
The senior captain’s future status is to be determined.
Roberson — coming off a 256-yard, three-TD performance in last week’s 27-3 win at Armijo — was at it again Friday.
Nineteen carries netted 126 yards and a score. On Roberson’s last carry of the night, a 16-yard jaunt, he fumbled, his only turnover after almost 50 touches in two games.
Next up for DHS is Will C. Wood (0-2) on Friday at DHS.
Notes: Nelson carried The Sledgehammer onto the field in warm-ups. The club is awarded weekly to the Blue Devil who has the top stop of the previous game. This week, consider Denton for one of his two sacks against Sacramento. … Speaking of sacks, J.C. Roeckl-Navazio had a good one when he leaped high to stop Johnson from throwing a second-down pass in the first half. The linebacker then hooked the Dragon QB with one arm as he came down, bringing Johnson to the ground. … Davis had its own Blue Man Group on Friday as four students applied a royal Devil color to their bodies and etched a bevy of DHS players’ numbers on their fresh paint. …Sacramento beat the Devils in 2010, 27-13.
— Reach Bruce Gallaudet at bgallaudet@davisenterprise.net or (530) 747-8047. View galleries and purchase prints of Blue Devil sports photos at http://davisenterprise.zenfolio.com
Short URL: http://www.davisenterprise.com/?p=80392
Posted by Bruce Gallaudet
on Sep 10 2011.
Last Login: Tue 22 May 2012 11:46:20 PM PDT
Filed under Blue Devils, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
