Dayton in another must-win situation

Dayton High's football team broke its four-game losing streak last week with a win over Sparks, and the Dust Devils hopes to extend that winning streak to two straight with a win over Spring Creek today.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Spring Creek High School.

The Dust Devils will be minus two players this week - Logan Jones (shoulder) and full back, defensive end Houston Berntson (ankle). Berntson twisted his ankle on the opening kickoff last week against Sparks. He's expected to return for the regular-season finale against Fernley. Cody Yeater will replace Berntson at fullback. Ty Minor and Cameron McGifford will share time at defensive end.

The Dust Devils' defense will get a stiff test from Spring Creek. The Spartans racked up 525 rushing yards against South Tahoe last week. The attack is led by running back Logan Irvin, who rushed for 321 yards and six scores. Irvin scored on runs of 75, 33, 30, 1, 30 and 49 yards.

"They started out running the Wing-T," Dayton coach Rick Walker said. "Then they went back to what they used to run that deep offset I. Irvin runs hard and has decent speed. He (Irvin) runs north-south. That's their offense. Every once in a while they will use some play-action."

Look for Dayton to play eight in the box against the Spartans to contain the run.

"We'll move the safety a little closer to the line of scrimmage to help out," Walker said. "It comes down to tackling. If we tackle like we did last week, we'll be fine. If we tackle like the previous three weeks it will be a long night."

Offensively, Dayton got off to a fast start against Sparks, and then was slowed down. Walker is looking for game-long effectiveness today. Kyle Onstott scored three times last week and is almost back to 100 percent from his knee injury which held him out of the Wooster game.

"We didn't use him much in the second half," Walker said of Onstott. "He didn't play at all in the fourth quarter."

Dayton didn't need Onstott in the final 12 minutes because the Dust Devils had already built a big lead, and there was no need to risk possible injury in a game that had already been sewn up.

This is always a tough road game for any team going to Elko. Dayton left via school bus Thursday night and will return home immediately following the game.

Because of logistics, it's the only way the trip can be done.

"We can't go down and back the same day (because of bus driver regulations)," Walker said. "We go up and spend the night and come back right away after the game. I don't like going down the morning of the game because you lose the whole Saturday. We'll get back early Saturday. The kids will sleep the whole way home."