High school football: Region 1 clash is truly big time

It's only Week 4 and just the third week of Region 1 play, but there may not be a bigger game in 5A's northern league this season than tonight's Davis-Syracuse contest.

After two weeks of league play, the Darts and Titans appear to be the class of Region 1. They are tied for first place, along with Fremont, with 2-0 region records. Syracuse has maintained its momentum after reaching the 5A semifinals last season, while Davis has rebounded from a humbling loss to Brighton in its season opener with big wins over Clearfield and Weber.

Tonight's game will be televised by KJZZ, and could be considered the Region 1 championship game. But with a long way to go in the regular season, both Davis coach Ryan Bishop and Syracuse coach Russ Jones are downplaying the importance of tonight's showdown.

"I hate to say one week is bigger than another," Bishop said. "For us there are nine (Region 1) teams, eight league games and five reach the playoffs. It's a dogfight Week 1 through Week 9."

Jones would only say that this is a big game — this week.

"We take it one game at a time," he said.

While the coaches can say it's any other game, fans of both teams know it isn't. Syracuse has steadily improved each week. It edged winless Copper Hills in its opener, and then looked better in a 14-0 win over Northridge in Week 2. Last week, the Titans' defense helped get their offense going by giving them short fields while forcing five turnovers in a 28-14 win over Viewmont.

"Syracuse is amazing to me," Bishop said. "Already after only three years they're the cream of the crop of the region. I'm thoroughly, 110 percent impressed with them. To me, they don't have any weaknesses."

Davis is back looking like a region-title contender after it was whipped by Brighton in its opener. The Darts blanked Clearfield 37-0, then beat Weber 28-9 last week. Running back Tanner Hinds, one of the top ballcarriers in the state, has rushed for 355 yards and scored six touchdowns the last two weeks. His brother, Troy, recorded 18 tackles against Weber.

"They're a good football team," Jones said. "They have a good running back with the Hinds kid. He's a real tough runner. They do a dang good job with their football program."

Although there is plenty of football left to be played this season, the winner of the Davis-Syracuse game will be the frontrunner in Region 1 the rest of the way. Syracuse won last year's game, 10-9, by scoring a go-ahead touchdown midway through the fourth quarter.