Dayton High football ends season with loss to Fernley

The 2017 football season came to a quiet end for the Dayton High football team.

The Dust Devils were held to minus-8 yards total offense en route to a 48-0 loss to league champ Fernley on Thursday.

The last 34 minutes was played in running time after Fernley went ahead by 35. Dayton finished the season on a 9-game losing streak after winning is opener against Lincoln County.

The Vaqueros stretched their win streak over Dayton to five games. In that span, Fernley has outscored Dayton 243-74.

“Fernley is a good team,” Dayton coach Pat Squires said after a brief postgame chat with his players and their parents. “They should be state champions.

“I’m proud of my kids. They hung in there and didn’t quit. Injuries hurt us, and so did a lack of numbers.”

Dayton suited up just 19 players, and they lost another six plays into the game when Fernley’s Aaron Proctor returned a punt 55 yards for a touchdown that was nullified because of a holding penalty.

Fernley scored on six of nine possessions driving 52, 12, 20, 14, 69 and 71 yards. The Vaqueros’ final touchdown came on an errant pitch that was recovered in the end zone by Bailey Mendes in the fourth quarter.

The Vaqueros scored on a 30-yard pass from Zach Burns to cap the first scoring drive.

A 39-yard punt return by Proctor set up Fernley at Dayton’s 12-yard line. Three plays later, Shawn Gleason scored on a 6-yard run to make it 14-0 with 5:09 left in the opening quarter. After another three and out, Fernley started at the Dayton 20, and two plays later, Burns threw an 11-yard pass to Cameron Bertok. The PAT made it 21-0 with 1:42 left.

For some reason, the Dust Devils went for it on fourth-and-10 from their own 17, and Jeff Walker was stopped for a 1-yard gain at the 14.

Burns scored on a 7-yard run two plays later, extending the lead to 28-0 with 11:43 left in the half.

After yet another three and out, the Vaqueros started their next drive on their own 31. After a penalty and a short gain, Gleason broke off a 67-yard scoring run. The successful PAT put the game in running time at 35-0 with 9:57 left in the half.

The closest Dayton came to scoring was at the start of the second half when Seth Anderson recovered an onside kick at the Dayton 46. It was the only time Dayton invaded Fernley territory.

Thanks to completions of 15 and 5 yards to Chance Schlachta, Dayton advanced the ball to the Fernley 34. A 6-yard run by Austin Lunz and a 5-yard completion to Michael Rojas put the ball at the 23. Thompson, however, was sacked for an 8-yard loss back to the 31, and the Dust Devils turned the ball over on downs.

Jordan Presley made it 41-0 with a 28-yard TD run, capping an 8-play, 71-yard drive.

Squires said that his team will have a different look next year.

“We will have a different identity on offense next year,” Squires said. “We won’t have a power back like Austin Lunz next season. There are a couple of things we’re kicking around. We are going to come up with a new identity and stick with it.”