Expect to win is the motto of this season's Dayton High School football team. Among the
goals are to win five games or more overall, and earn a trip to the 3A state playoffs in November - which would be two firsts for the program - and if they achieve those goals, expect to see seniors Shane VanZant and Michael Sampang out front leading the way.
Both have been instrumental so far in Dayton's 2-0 start - another first for the program - including Saturday's 12-7 Northern 3A conference win against Rite of Passage.
VanZant, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards last year, started the new season strong when he rambled for 238 yards and four touchdowns in Dayton's 53-16 win at Whittell. The 5-foot-11, 195-pound VanZant added another 89 yards and two touchdowns Saturday against Rite of Passage.
Meanwhile, Sampang played his usual steady game as offensive center and linebacker on defense in both games. The 5-9, 189-pound Sampang was a force on defense against Rite of Passage with 13 tackles, including one sack, one stop on fourth down at the goal line and a fumble recovery - all key plays in the come-from-behind win.
"He's our guy; he's our leader," Dayton coach Butch Cattanach said of Sampang. "I think everything starts up front, and he's just a tremendous player who loves football. His motor's running all the time."
That was evident when Cattanach and his staff watched film after the Whittell game.
"He was driving their linebacker back 10 yards off the ball," Cattanach said. "There was one play toward the end of the first half where (quarterback Jim) Kepler took off on a bootleg. Michael made his initial block, looked around then ran downfield and laid another one of their guys out."
While the Dust Devils narrowly missed a trip to the playoffs last year - on a 22-21 overtime loss at Lovelock - they hope to get over the hump this fall, even though they are now part of a realigned and extremely formidable Northern 3A conference.
"It's a tougher league, but I think we're ready to step it up," VanZant said. "We worked harder on the weights this summer and I think that's going to pay off a lot."
VanZant had a productive summer, highlighted by his trip to the Stanford combine, where he was one of 150 invited high school players. His time of 4.5 in the 40 ranked seventh fastest among running backs and he bench pressed 185 pounds 22 times.
That quickness and strength even showed up on defense this past Saturday when VanZant was used as a nose guard on defense against Rite of Passage.
"Shane doesn't have great size, but he combines speed with strength," Cattanach said. "He is starting to get a tremendous amount of attention. In my mailbox, he gets a letter a week, and in his own personal mailbox, I know he's getting more.
Even though he only cracked the starting lineup in last season's third week, VanZant rushed for 1,043 yards on 147 carries (7.1-yard average), scored 13 touchdowns and wound up with first-team all-division honors. He hopes for bigger and better things this season.
"My line is going to be a lot better, I think that's going to help a lot more. And I've got Pang here for my side," VanZant said, nodding toward Sampang.
Sampang, an all-division linebacker last year, was selected as a team captain by the coaching staff before the season even began.
"Usually, I let the kids vote on it and then we pick our captain for a game, but since he's been so instrumental in the success of our program, he was been assigned as the team captain by the coaching staff back in the spring," Cattanach said.
Sampang has bulked up from last year's playing weight of 155 pounds and now goes 189, and he's improved his 40-yard dash time to 4.7 seconds. He is also optimistic about the Dust Devils' chances.
"We're going to have a great year, I think," Sampang said. "We've got more people with dedication, people who are willing to give that extra umph to be better. We've been working a lot harder in practice. Everybody's been pushing it, so hopefully we'll be able to step it up and do a lot better this year."
The Dust Devils are anxious to play their home against this Friday night against Lowry.
"Being 2-0 feels great," Sampang said. "I can't wait for our next game so we can improve on it."
