Truckee rolls against Dayton

DAYTON — After Friday’s 63-0 victory at Dayton, Truckee running back Cole Harrity said he was “sick of having a .500 record.”

“We got the targets on our backs again,” Harrity said. “I like it.”

After three years of mediocrity and missing the playoffs, Truckee (4-0, 4-0 northern 3A) has regained its championship form in 2016 with statement wins each week this season.

Friday was no different.

The Wolverines’ physical offense wore down Dayton (0-4, 0-4), while the Dust Devils passing attack — now four games into the team’s new spread offense scheme — struggled.

“We just got to compete,” Dayton head coach Patrick Squires said. “We got to go back at it and we are not going to hold our heads.”

Dayton’s defense stalled Truckee’s offense in the first quarter, recovering two Wolverine fumbles inside the Dust Devil 20-yard line and stopping the Wolverines on downs on another possession near midfield.

But the Wolverines first found the end zone with about 7 minutes left in the first quarter when quarterback Jayden Commendatore connected on a 22-yard pass to Ian Schmidig.

After Truckee fumbled in Dayton territory, Dust Devil punter Tyler Chandler shanked a kick out of bounds at the team’s own 20-yard line. Truckee followed that with a three-play drive capped by a 9-yard rushing touchdown from senior Harrity.

Truckee got the ball back midway through the second quarter on a Tyler Davis interception. After the turnover, the Wolverines scored 21 points in four minutes, which started with a Harrity 23-yard touchdown run.

On Dayton’s next possession, a botched snap soared over quarterback Dylan Torgerson’s head, and Schmidig — this time on defense — picked up the ball and fell on it in the end zone for a touchdown. Schmidig added another touchdown in the second half when he scored on a block punt.

Truckee scored again before halftime on a Harrity 5-yard touchdown run and went into the break up 35-0.

The Wolverines physical offense used Harrity in the red zone, but handed the ball off in motion on several plays to back Jamie Parisi. Parisi, the Truckee junior, slashed through the Dayton defense for 84 yards in the first half. Truckee ended the half with more than 160 rushing yards.

“That’s part of our philosophy,” Truckee head coach Josh Ivens said. “It’s the Wing T. We bring halfbacks across. He is a great athlete with great speed and we are just trying to get him out in space on the edge.”

Harrity — Truckee’s “go-to back,” Ivens said — added about 80 yards and three touchdowns.

Dayton quarterback Dylan Torgerson, questionable to play this week after suffering a bruised tibia against Spring Creek, struggled the entire game. He completed 3-of-14 passes for 26 yards and generated less than 10 rushing yards.

Dayton has played two teams this year with an undefeated record heading into week five. The Dust Devils’ opponents this season have a combined record of 13-3.

That’s a tall task for a team with a 16-game losing streak dating back to 2014 trying to find its identity with a first-year head coach.

“We’ve had a rough schedule…I’m not saying the other teams are patsies, but we are playing playoff teams right off the bat,” Squires said. “So we are going to work at it and we are going to be just fine.”