5A high school football: Hinds carries Davis past West

KAYSVILLE — You would think teams would eventually start to figure out a way to slow down Tanner Hinds.

Not this week. Not even in the playoffs.

The Davis High senior ran over, around and through defenders again on Friday afternoon as the Darts defeated the West Panthers 28-7 in the first round of the 5A state playoffs at Davis High School.

Hinds finished the game with 191 rushing yards and three touchdowns. It marked the sixth time this season that Hinds has gone over 150 yards rushing and the fifth time he's had at least three touchdowns. On the season he has now rushed for 1,523 yards and 21 touchdowns.

"It's awesome," quarterback Gavin Fowler said. "After I hand it off and turn around and watch him go, I feel like I'm watching TV. I'm watching a college highlight or something. The way he's able to make plays is crazy. He's a great player and I love being on his team."

Hinds couldn't have looked much more like a collegiate athlete on the Darts' third possession. After carrying the ball eight times for 62 yards and a score on the Darts' second drive, Hinds took the fourth play of the third drive 81 yards for his second TD of the game. What may have been most impressive about the run wasn't the length but the move Hinds put on a linebacker. A player appeared to be in position for the tackle at the Davis 35, but Hinds was able to put a juke move on him, avoid the tackle and sprint the rest of the way untouched.

The early two-touchdown lead was exactly what the Darts were hoping for coming into the contest. After that, it was all about the defense and shutting down the Panthers' own formidable rushing attack of Misitana Afeaki and Anetipa Vaisagano, a tandem that had combined for 1,841 rushing yards in the regular season.

"(The early lead) kind of took them out of what they do really well," assistant coach Tyler Gladwell said. "They had to do some things to get back in the football game. It definitely helped us from the defensive side."

Against 5A's No. 2 ranked scoring defense though, Afeaki and Vaisagano never quite got it going. They finished the game with just 137 yards.

West entered the game as the fourth seed from Region 2 and had high expectations, especially considering it had defeated top-seeded Hunter earlier in the season.

Davis head coach Ryan Bishop knew his team couldn't take the Panthers lightly if it wanted to win and move on.

"I had a lot of respect for West coming in," Bishop said. "I was able to see what they did throughout the course of the year. They had a good year. They beat the region champs down there in Hunter. I knew we needed to play well."