How do you stop Tradon Bessinger?

So far, six opponents have failed and the Davis Darts made Syracuse their latest victim as Bessinger passed for 500 yards and five touchdowns in a 54-22 thrashing Friday night.

The Darts’ 6-foot-4 senior quarterback threw a 75-yard touchdown pass on his first throw – only to see it negated due to a penalty – and never let up. Davis scored touchdowns on all five of its first-half possessions and never felt threatened. In a battle between Utah’s No. 6 and 12th-ranked teams, Bellinger and his collection of fleet receivers turned the Darts’ homecoming game in front of a capacity crowd into a three-hour party.

“They (the Titans) did everything they could to put pressure on me and make me uncomfortable,” he said. “But you have to learn to feel comfortable being uncomfortable.”

“He’s the best, and our line came through and we have a lot of good receivers,” said Davis coach Scott Peery. “This is a special team that had a special night. Beating Syracuse is a good win for us and now we have another one coming up.”

Davis (6-1, 1-0 in Region 1) scored on all five of its first-half offensive possessions and the defense grabbed two early turnovers to build a 20-0 lead. Syracuse narrowed the margin to 33-14 by halftime, and that was helped by two fine kickoff returns and a successful on-sides kick.

Bessinger reportedly broke the school’s single-game passing yardage record. He completed 30 of 38 passes and only a fourth-quarter interception ruined a perfect night. Ironically, though, his teammate, Jaxton Itaaheau, picked off a Syracuse pass on the next play and that led to – surprise – another Davis touchdown – by Itaaheau – on the next play.

“It was really a great night,” said Bessinger. “It’s what a kid dreams of.”

Itaaheau also had a memorable game. He caught five passes for 126 yards, including two scores, and galloped 19 yards on his final trip on the field with 6:48 left that forced the Titans to finally concede.

Bode Sparrow had eight catches for 150 yards, Isaac Morrison grabbed eight for 111 yards and Tyson Baggott five for 96. On many occasions, they snared short passes on crossing patterns and then outraced the Syracuse secondary for big yards.

Perry said one statistic he considers valuable is how many big plays (15 yards or more) Davis has each night. This time, the Darts had 19 and Bellinger was responsible for all but one. His strong arm resulted in an average of over 16 yards per completion. With the exception of his one error – the interception – the Davis offense was stopped just once and that resulted in a punt late in the fourth quarter.

Syracuse, which entered the game with a 5-1 record and was tied with Davis for first place, had an 80-yard, 16-play drive in the second quarter that resulted in a score and also reached the end zone on a tough 6-yard scoring run by Ryker Van Komen after surprising the Darts with their on-sides kick attempt. However, they also had two drives end on failed field goal attempts – by talented kicker Skyler Orton – who barely missed tries of 59 and 50 yards.

Quarterback Ledger Wright was the Titans’ biggest offensive weapon. Despite throwing three interceptions, he completed 10 of 17 passes for 123 yards and ran for 45 more. Van Komen had 55 rushing yards on 12 carries.