#BeyondTheKeystone Utah (Herriman v. Davis)

Tagged under: Beyond The Keystone, Game Photos, News

Sykotyk | August 15, 2020

Thursday, August 13
Mustang Stadium, Herriman, UT
Herriman, UT v. Kaysville, UT
Herriman Mustangs v. Davis Darts

Utah is first in the nation, at least the contiguous US, to play high school football. With one game televised on Thursday night locally, it becomes the first game in the nation. Outside Utah, there is, depending on scheduling, private schools in Alabama and the surrounding states that are part of the SECIS who hold a kickoff in Montgomery.

But, no matter, Utah gets the first game of the year.

The host Herriman Mustangs were state champions in 2015, while the visiting Davis Darts are one of the winningest teams in Utah. With seven state titles to their credit. Mustang Stadium, and Herriman itself, sits in the far southwest corner of the Salt Lake County metro area. Just west of Bingham along the new outer bypass being constructed.

Davis, meanwhile, is from Kaysville, a stop along Interstate 15 south of Layton and north of Salt Lake City. The Darts, whose mascot is Dartman, came into this game as an underdog per Calpreps, though those projections are with a large grain of salt to start a new year.

Herriman got on the board first with a 9 yard TD run. Davis answered in the fist quarter with passes of 2 and 11 yards for touchdowns to take a 14-7 lead after 12. At this point, Davis started to methodically move the ball and Herriman struggled offensively. The second quarter was tightly contested, but Davis managed a 10-yard TD run to extend their lead to what felt like a comfortable 21-7 halftime lead.

After Davis successfully made a 22 yard FG, it was all Mustangs in the third. A 93 yard kickoff return for a TD was followed by a quick 69 yard TD pass to cut the Davis lead to 24-20. But Herriman’s root problem was consistently moving the ball from behind center. The passing game mostly struggled and Davis began assaulting the field general every chance they got. Though the fourth remained scoreless, the penalties kept adding up. The four point game seemed nearly insurmountable with the way Davis could eat the clock without doing much. Some late scuffles marred the end of a close, but inevitable victory for the Darts.

For more photos from this game and others  this weekend, click HERE.

For photos from previous weeks and seasons, visit http://www.flickr.com/sykotyk/sets/

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