5A high school football: Darts defense again one of best

KAYSVILLE — Playing great defense isn't just something Davis wants to do in the 5A championship game, or what it has done the last two seasons.

It is one of the foundations of the Darts' program.

Davis isn't into fad schemes or trying to outscore teams. The Darts — on a yearly basis — want to play smash-mouth football on both sides of the ball. On defense, that means stopping the run, rushing the quarterback and helping the offense with field position.

You can't argue with the results.

The Darts led 5A in scoring defense for the second straight season, allowing just 11.1 points per game. Davis rode that defense to a berth in 5A's championship game, where it will face Bingham on Friday at 2:30 p.m.

"We really try to rally around the kids on the defensive side of the ball, get them to play with a lot of effort, get them to play hard," said Davis coach Ryan Bishop. "We try to finish with 11 helmets on the football after every play, just simple things to try and build a mentality. The more success you have, the more the kids are able to buy into a philosophy and translate it and in the end, make plays."

Making most of the plays for the Darts' stingy defense was what's probably the best set of defensive ends in the state. Ends Josh Kariya and Troy Hinds anchor the Davis defense. Kariya has five quarterback sacks and was the team's third-leading tackler. Hinds, only a sophomore, is the unit's leading tackler.

Kariya said the production of the defensive ends — as well as the entire defense — is simply a matter of everyone doing their job.

"I think it's just that we practice everyone doing their job and just worrying about what you do," he said. "We try to play as a team, rally to the ball and swarm and attack — have a little fun out there."

Bishop has fun watching his bookends in action.

"When you have kids rallying around Josh and Troy there on the edge, I think it helps everyone else, especially the linebackers and tackles," Bishop said. "We've had really solid play from our front four all year."

The Darts' front four of Kariya, Hinds, Garrett Walker and Kaden Hoskins has played consistently well all season and looks up to the challenge of facing Bingham's dominant offensive line. The linebacker corps has featured steady play from Talon Burton, solid effort from Parker Harris and a huge boost from Tim Jones.