Dayton High’s playoff hopes were severely jolted last week, and the Dust Devils hope to get back on track tonight when they host Wooster.
Kick-off is set for 7 p.m.
“We have to win two, or all of our last three, and probably get a lot of help,” Dayton coach Rob Turner said. “I was so upset after last week (28-2 loss to South Tahoe) that I didn’t even look at film. It’s going to be tough for us to make the playoffs. I want us to go out there and play like we’re capable of; like I know we can.”
The biggest question mark surrounding Dayton is the health of quarterback Davis Winebarger, who sat out last week with an injured finger on his throwing hand. As of Wednesday, his status for tonight’s game was up in the air.
“He’s been getting limited reps,” Turner said.
“He hadn’t taken a snap yet. He’s a tough kid and wants to play. It’s totally up in the air. He was able to make a fist which he couldn’t do last weekend. I told him that if he couldn’t make every throw we use, he wasn’t going to be playing.”
If Winebarger can’t go, the Dust Devils are likely to turn to Skyler Berntson, who quarterbacked last week. That means Quinn Santana, who gained more than 100 yards against South Tahoe, will start at running back again.
“Quinn just blew people up with the ball in his hand,” Turner said. “That was fun to see.
“After we got the safety, I thought we were in good shape. We got the ball in the red zone four or five times and never scored.”
The Dust Devils will be without reserve running back/safety John Aguilar, who is out of town for family reasons.
Defensively, the Dust Devils’ secondary will be severely tested by Hunter Triplett, who has completed 52 percent of his passes for 1,448 yards and 20 TDs. His favorite receivers are Chris Greco (34 catches, 707 yards, 13 TDs) and Ryan Gage (31 catches, 486 yards, 4 TDs).
“They like to throw the ball,” Turner said. “The Triplett kid is very good. I don’t know if he has a favorite receiver. They are very close to South Tahoe in terms of balance or lack thereof. We haven’t put in anything new from last week.”
Abraham Medina leads a lackluster running game with 248 yards and four scores.
