Dayton seeks to regain mojo

Dayton football coach Rick Walker will find out just how resilient his team is tonight when it hosts Fallon (7 p.m.) in a Northern 3A football game.

The Dust Devils (1-1, 0-1) are coming off a 44-0 loss to perennial powerhouse Truckee. Fallon (1-0, 1-0) opened Northern 3A play last week with a 56-34 win over South Tahoe in a battle of former 4A schools.

"This is huge for us," Walker said. "It's our first home game of the season. We can't afford to get into that sort of rhythm (losing). We need to get some momentum going. We need to get our mojo back.

"We're trying to get better each week; get better at the little things. We're getting the 2's (second-stringers) more reps."

Dayton enters the game banged up. Junior center Anthony Santana (fractured wrist) and wingback-linebacker Eddie Morales (broken finger) are out for the season. Sophomore Cody Yeater moves from tight end to center this week.

"He's never done it (played center) before," Walker said. The exchange between center and quarterback is huge because Dayton plays the Pistol, and the center has to be able to snap the ball four yards.

Not all the news was bad coming out of the Dayton camp, however. Senior Conner Oliver, a two-year starter who originally decided to forego football this year, has returned to the team. He just finished up his mandatory 10 practices and will suit up tonight.

"He talked to his parents and decided he really wanted to play," Walker said. "He'll play safety on defense. He looks pretty good. He's been running and stuff. Game speed may take a little out of him."

No doubt the Dust Devils will have their hands full with Fallon, which also runs the Pistol. Fallon has a tremendous runner in Charlie Heck, who went for 245 yards against South Tahoe. Colton Oney runs the offense and scored four times. The offensive line is led by senior captain Hayden Buckmaster.

"They are big up front," Walker said. "They run the zone play (with Heck) and he likes to cut it back. Oney runs alright. He's not one of the fastest guys, but he has good size (5-10, 175) and he runs pretty hard.

"It's assignment football. Players have certain responsibilities. It's hard to kick that habit of wanting to help."

Fallon coach Brooke Hill was pleased with last week's effort, especially the first half when his team built up a 30-6 lead. He knows how critical this game is big for Dayton

"Our offensive line did a great job opening the holes to run through," he said. "It was nice to be able to come out and execute.

"Dayton runs the ball pretty well. I looked at what they did the first week (against Lovelock). I expect that Friday night. They've been a good program. This an opportunity for them to show they can play good football (against a former 4A team). I know we're going to have a target on our back this year."