TRUCKEE — The Dayton football team fell to 0-3 in Division I-A play with a 52-0 loss at Truckee on Saturday.
To their credit, the struggling Dust Devils (0-3 league, 0-4 overall) played a hard-nosed game and showed positive signs on both sides of the ball early in the contest. In the end they were simply out-gunned by the Wolverines, who improved to 2-1 in the Division I-A after their second consecutive win.
“Once we heard that they combined their JV team with varsity this week, I told our guys that they are probably going to come out fired up,” Truckee coach Josh Ivens said. “Sometimes getting some new faces on the team brings energy to a struggling team. And hats off to them. I thought they came in and — although we made some mistakes — I thought they forced things, too, and were playing hard at the beginning of the game.”
Despite Dayton’s strong start — which included an interception by Jason Sandborn on Truckee’s second play and 59-yard rush by quarterback Blake Fletcher — Truckee held the visitors to 100 yard of total offense while exploding for 24 points in the second quarter and 14 in the third quarter en route to the lopsided win.
Truckee, which also called up several JV players for the game, rushed for 199 yards with 13 different players, while junior quarterback Tyler Davis completed nine of his 11 attempts in the first half for 178 yards and three touchdowns.
Senior receiver Jordan Jepsen scored Truckee’s first two touchdowns on receptions of 13 and 17 yards, and junior Cole Harrity contributed a 53-yard touchdown reception and an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Harrity also led the Wolverines’ aerial game with 91 yards on three catches as Truckee built a 31-0 lead by the half.
“Harrity is just a special athlete,” Ivens said. “He made some plays in the open field and made them miss. Same thing on his catch. He’s hard to tackle. If it’s a one-on-one tackle, the odds aren’t good for the defender.”
Junior running back Carson McCarron scored on 1-yard run in the second quarter, and junior All-League kicker Jose Araiza — who was a perfect 7-for-7 on PATs — kicked a 23-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.
Following Harrity’s 85-yard kickoff return to begin the third quarter, senior Sean Bokinskie scored on a 20-yard run to adjust the score to 45-0. Fullback and linebacker J.J. Bellon capped the scoring with a 13-yard run with 10:15 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Dust Devils used four quarterbacks along the way. Fletcher led Dayton with 84 yards on seven rushes.