Kevin Clifford/Nevada Appeal
DAYTON - On Thursday, Dayton coach Rick Walker talked about what his outgoing senior class means to him and that it was largely that group that turned a downtrodden program around in just one season.
And once all the pomp and circumstance was done prior to Friday night's Senior Night game, the Truckee Wolverines came into Dayton to express their feelings. But instead of admiration, the Wolverines delivered a 55-6 shellacking that exposed some of the gaping holes in the Dust Devils' game.
The loss was the first of the season for a Dayton team (3-1 Northern 3A, 6-1) that had just three wins last season.
"I have no idea (what happened)," Dayton linebacker Ricky Bodine said. "They came in way more physical than we did. I think some of us came in a little bit scared. We just weren't prepared at all. We thought we had this game, but obviously we didn't."
The Wolverines (3-0, 6-0) held the Dust Devils to just three first downs in the first half as they put up 41 points and 327 yards in just 24 minutes of play. Dayton had just 97 yards for the entire game.
Walker said Thursday that a loss was more demoralizing when a team "rams it down you throat," but by the looks on the Dust Devils' faces said this was just as bad.
Truckee quarterback Ben Bolton passed for 225 yards, all coming in the first half, and five touchdowns as he shredded a Dayton secondary that was regularly out of position.
"Yeah, it hurts," Walker said. "It's our first loss of the year. We've just got to move forward. We can't worry about this game...
"Obviously, we're going to see some film and see somethings that we didn't do and some guys not being as aggressive as they've been all year for whatever reason, and that's what we have to correct."
For the Dust Devils, only two things went their way: a fluke punt and Truckee's excessive penalties. Unfortunately, neither meant much over the 48-minute game.
Dayton punter Conner Oliver had a punt blocked, but grabbed the ball and ran for the team's first first down of the night. The play setup a 28-yard pass from Kage Walker to Dusty Smith that knoted the game up a 6-6 after both teams missed field goals.
Truckee committed 77 yards in penalties, but it proved to just give it a larger field to work with.
The Wolverines scored their first touchdown on a 73-yard pass from Bolton to James De Pew with 9 minutes, 30 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
They got on the board again with 2:42 remaining in the quarter when De Pew recovered his own team's fumble for a 20-yard scamper. And just 21 seconds later, Dayton give them a gift when it the snap sailed over Walker's head and through the end zone for a safety.
The game would only get uglier as emotions steamed from Dust Devils.
Dayton did have something to be thankful for following the game: a bye week. The extra time may be just enough for the team to overcome the emotional loss and give it a chance to clinch a home playoff game with just two regular season games remaining. Dayton travels to Lowry on Oct. 23 before going to Fernley in the season finale on Oct. 29.
"It might show what we need to work on in general, like special teams-wise and, yeah I think it will seriously help us going to Lowry next week," Bodine said.