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Kaysville • Kallin Fisher and Dane Leituala dueled ferociously as the summer sun gave way to the autumn breeze, the senior Fisher with his arm and the freshman Leituala with his feet.
But as the clock read zero at Davis High School Friday night, it was Fisher's experience, and his team's composure, that made the difference in Davis' 38-20 win over Taylorsville.
Davis coach Tyler Gladwell downplayed Fisher's experience, pointing out that he had exactly one game of varsity experience under his belt going into the night just like Leituala. But there's no denying that the age difference helped.
"Being a senior, obviously you're a little more mature and you have a little bit of experience," Gladwell said.
The game started ugly, four turnovers evenly split between the teams in the first five series. But Davis and Fisher settled in, the passer hitting Braden Kapinski for a 42-yard gain before finishing the drive with an 11-yard score to Mitch Nelson to take Davis to a 7-0 lead with 3:22 left in the first.
Taylorsville was slower to reach a sense of calm, stalling and fumbling on the way to a 21-0 deficit after a Fisher rushing touchdown and Nelson's second score of the night.
However, as the clock wound down toward the break, Leituala turned it on. He slashed his way to 22 yards on the ground on one drive, including a 13-yard keeper for a score to make it 21-7 with 7:27 to go until half.
A subsequent 73-yard touchdown run by Davis junior running back Riley Smith put a damper on the momentum, but following a grinding, nine-play drive that ended in a 9-yard touchdown fade to Anthony Salazar, Taylorsville had chipped away to a 28-14 deficit.
With the edge seemingly on the visiting sideline, the Warriors opened the third quarter with a methodical 16-play drive. But a first-and-goal to go at the 5-yard line turned into a second-and-35 in a snap following a false start, a personal foul and a holding penalty.
Gladwell said sequences like that gave Davis an advantage.
"There's ups and downs to every game. We talk about it a lot, don't get too high with the highs and don't get too low with the lows," he said. "I was happy with how we fought through the hard times tonight."
With 3:02 left in the third, Fisher made the last play he needed to make, icing the game with a 75-yard rushing touchdown after a hard fake.
The senior, for the record, was coy on his age giving him an advantage.
"That kid has a lot of talent, I have a lot of talent. I think it's just how you play under the pressure."
Twitter: @BrennanJSmith —
Davis 38, Taylorsville 20
R After rushing for 312 yards last week, freshman Taylorsville quarterback Dane Leituala has over 150 yards and two scores on the ground.
• Davis and Taylorsville combine for seven turnovers and a missed field goal.