The Davis Darts have at least two of the most talented offensive players in Utah. With Bode Sparrow and Jaxton Itaaehau, they can score from anywhere on the field.
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The American Fork Cavemen ruined the Darts’ annual homecoming festivities Friday night, however, the only way they knew how — with a team effort.
Jake Matsen threw for 312 yards and two touchdowns, Jace Worthington made three field goals and Noah Behm broke up a fourth-down pass in the final minute to lift the Cavemen to an exciting 29-21 non-region win.
Surrounded by football powerhouses, American Fork has recently been overlooked as a 6A contender, but coach Aaron Behm’s squad improved to 5-1 overall and is feeling good about going into Region 3 play with three straight wins.
While the Cavemen’s preseason schedule hasn’t been filled with elite competition, it has been respectable, with their only defeat against national power Mater Dei out of Southern California.
And beating Davis added another feather in their cap.
“A good win for us,” coach Behm said. “We may not have the ‘name’ players. We have some depth, and a lot of those guys came through.”
American Fork controlled the ball, too, running 73 plays compared to Davis’ 45. The Cavemen also didn’t seem rattled after Sparrow, last year’s 6A MVP, caught a 27-yard touchdown pass midway through the first quarter to give the Darts an early lead.
Itaaeheau added a second touchdown late in the opening quarter, and the Davis defense held American Fork to a pair of mid-range field goals to claim a 14-6 halftime lead.
That’s when things got interesting.
“We knew about their talented players,” said Noah Behm. “We wanted to limit their big plays. Our (defensive) line made a big push and put pressure on them and that made it easier for (the secondary).”
The Cavemen opened the second half with two touchdown drives, helped by a few long throws from Matsen to Cash Taiese, Ty Holmstead and Mason Brooks.
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Matsen finished those drives with a 1-yard scoring throw to Christian Hanshaw and then a 21-yarder to DC Fonua.
Another long throw to Taiese on a third-down play gave American Fork more momentum, and Worthington finished the 15-play drive with a 24-yard field goal that gave the Cavemen a 29-21 lead with 7:29 to go.
“But we knew (the Darts) wouldn’t go quietly,” coach Behm said. “That’s a good team over there and so explosive.”
However, an intentional grounding penalty halted Davis’ next drive. Finally, with 2:59 left, the Darts got the ball back and the home crowd knew quarterback Paden Toula would find a way to get the ball to Sparrow and Itaaehau and earn a homecoming win.
It wasn’t to be, though. Toula made several nice throws and Davis was helped by an unsportsmanlike penalty call against the Cavemen, but a few plays later, Toula was whistled for intentional grounding again.
Facing third and 30 with the clock winding down, Toula completed a 23-yard pass to Sam Coleman. On fourth down, Toula saw Itaaehau open briefly but Noah Behm jumped the route and broke up the pass, which might have gone for a touchdown if he had missed.
“I didn’t worry about that,” Behm said. “It’s so much fun to play these guys. You know you’re going to be tested. I just read it and made the play.”
Toula had another nice game since replacing Brodie Scheinberg. He completed 25 of 31 passes for 345 yards. Coleman was his favorite target, with eight catches for 136 yards. Sparrow had six catches for 88 yards and also forced American Fork to adjust its kickoffs to limit his opportunities with the ball.
Itaaehau caught four passes for 90 yards and ran the ball once for eight yards. As a team, Davis had just seven rushing yards.
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