Now that the Dayton High School football team has established a school record for most wins in a single season, what can be done for an encore?
The Dust Devils will shoot for the 3A Division II championship and playoff berth this afternoon when they visit Bishop Manogue in Reno.
The game kicks off at 2 p.m.
Dayton is tied for second place with Pershing County at 4-1 (4-4 overall). The four wins represent the most in a season since Dayton converted from 8-man to 11-man football 15 years ago.
Manogue is undefeated - 5-0 in division, 8-0 overall - after knocking off Pershing County this past Saturday 48-14.
If Dayton wins today, the Division II race would be thrown into a three-way tie for first-place - the tie-breaker being point the differential in games between the teams involved. Two teams from Division II advance into the state 3A playoffs.
The Dust Devils would obviously like to continue their momentum after stretching their division win streak to four games with a 33-14 victory at Yerington last Friday. Dayton scored on a seven-play drive in the final 62 seconds of the first half and then scored on its first two possessions of the third quarter to turn a 14-14 tie into a 33-14 lead.
"Coach (Butch Cattanach) just told us to come out and play like we always do in the third quarter," senior Clayton Friskey said.
"This was our biggest win," added senior quarterback Adam Sayre, who shook off the effects of a dislocated finger and threw a touchdown pass to Friskey at the end of the first half to give Dayton a 20-14 lead.
Shane Van Zant rushed for 197 yards on 20 carries to become Dayton's third 1,000-yard rusher in the last three seasons. Trent Stransky became the first in school history in 1997, and Justin Cooper matched the feat in 1998 with a school record total of 1,152 yards.
