5A high school football: Darts edge Pleasant Grove

KAYSVILLE — Even when Tanner Hinds doesn't get into the end zone, he still finds a way to torment opposing defenses.

Against Pleasant Grove on Friday afternoon at Davis High, Hinds failed to score a single touchdown.

But his 182 rushing yards provided more than enough fuel anyway as the Darts defeated the Vikings 17-9 in a 5A football quarterfinal clash.

With the win, Davis advances to the state semifinals and will face Hunter next Friday evening at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Hunter defeated Lone Peak 45-37 in a quadruple-overtime thriller.

"We played a good team and obviously they made more plays than we did," Pleasant Grove head coach Dale Sampson said.

Pleasant Grove was playing without its Stanford-bound senior quarterback Dallas Lloyd, who broke his fibula last week against Riverton.

"I'm not going to pick on anybody," Sampson said. "I'm sure (back-up QB) Donnie (Lewis) did his absolute heartfelt best. Just didn't go our way at times . . . Two good teams went at it, they were just one score better."

Davis will be making its first trip to the state semifinals since 2004, when it won the 5A championship.

Trailing 3-0 early, Hinds got Davis' offense going on the Darts' second possession of the game with a 35-yard scamper down to the Pleasant Grove 8.

Two plays later, quarterback Gavin Fowler found tight end Landon Horne across the middle for an eight-yard TD pass.

After trading punts, Pleasant Grove went 55 yards on eight plays for a touchdown to make it 9-7. Lewis capped off the drive with a touchdown run from a yard out.

The Vikings' defense, led by defensive end and University of Utah-commit Joe Kruger, held Hinds and the Darts' running game in check for most of the first half. But near the end of half, Fowler went deep to wide receiver Daniel Moffett for a 60-yard touchdown pass that gave Davis a 14-9 lead.

"We knew we were going to have to do some things to keep them off balance and that was something we scripted and planned on," Davis coach Ryan Bishop said. "Our offensive line protected and Gavin did a good job of hanging in there and throwing the ball at the last possible second."

As much attention as Kruger got from the Davis coaching staff, though, it was the Darts' defense — which has been holding offenses out of the end zone all season long — that took over in the second half and made sure the lead held.