Michigan high school football: Davison flexes its balance over Walled Lake Western, 52-14

Davison's football team knew its Week 6 matchup was going to be televised across the state.

It knew Walled Lake Western had a two-headed monster set to play in the Big Ten next year, including running back Darius Taylor, who entered Friday's game with over 1,500 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns this season.

And it knew after its 50-mile bus trip, its opponent had a playoff pedigree who was using them as a measuring stick game.

Absolutely none of the potential distractions mattered.

The Cardinals dominated from the opening kickoff, outgained the Warriors, 240-13, in the first quarter, got out to a three-touchdown lead less than 12 minutes into the game. Davison never looked back in its 52-14 victory at Western.

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"There was a decent amount of people who picked us to lose," said Davison coach Jacob Weingartz. "The kids read that, they saw all the hype around a couple guys they have and came out and played with a bit of a chip on their shoulder.

"We were able to start fast and obviously put together a good four-quarter football game."

Spreading the wealth

Davison may not have a Division I player on its roster, but Weingartz's team is built on balance. That showed early and often on Friday.

The Cardinals started the game by hammering the ball on the ground when Jay'Len Flowers took the second carry of the game for a gain of 41 yards up the left sideline. Despite that drive ending on a fourth-down fumble — on a completed pass that would've been enough for a first down — the Cardinals pounded the rock again on the next drive.

Davison put together a 10-play, 74-yard touchdown drive; AJ Hill ran three times for 19 yards and Flowers ran three times for 22 yards, the last of which was a 7-yard score off the right tackle.

"We did what we came out here to do," Flowers said. "You have to give it to our guys up front, our quarterback had a lot of time in the pocket and me and AJ Hill we ran our butts off."

Then, Davison began to open up the passing attack. Braylen Himmelein found Zach Pappadakis for a gain of 13, then a swing route to Hill gained 12. After Hill ripped off a 26-yard rush when he dragged two Western defenders for an extra 6 yards, Himmelein connected with Henry Carstaphen III for a 19-yard touchdown pass.

He was the second of seven different Davison players to find the end zone.

"It's easy as a quarterback when you can rely on your guys to turn a five-yard route into a 40-yard touchdown" Himmelein said. "It makes us confident going into the next few weeks."

On the final play of the first quarter, Himmelein found tight end Bryce Fortune on a go-route up the seam for a 62-yard touchdown pass. It was the only play of the drive, but not the only deep ball the Cardinals would score on in the opening half.

After the Cardinals defense forced its third punt in as many possessions, Himmelein and the offense faced its first third-and-10 of the day. The 6-foot-4 senior quarterback dropped back and rolled left to extend the play, giving Pappadakis enough time to extend his route, catch the pass deep over the middle and out-run the defense for a 48-yard score.

He finished 13-for-20 for 228 yards and three touchdown passes.

That's when Weingartz went into his bag of tricks.

Himmelein threw a backwards skip pass that bounced perfectly into Carstaphen's hands. The senior wide out then showed off his arm and heaved a ball deep down field on a double-pass to a wide-open Buddy Williams who waltzed into the end zone.

"We practiced that all week," Williams said. "We kept running it, we got it perfect and it paid off tonight.

"I like passing more than receiving."

Flowers added an 11-yard touchdown rush with three minutes left and Brady Titsworth connected on a 31-yard field goal as time expired in the half.

Flowers had eight rushes for 110 yards and two touchdowns while Hill ran 13 times for 120 yards and a touchdown.

Taylor can't get going

Western's offense averaged 43 points per game entering Friday, thanks to its run game. Davison was determined not to let Taylor get going, often stacking the box with eight and nine men at a time.

He ran the ball six times in the first half netting 12 yards, which included a 13-yard effort.

"Their whole team, they beat our ass," said Walled Lake Western coach Kory Cioroch. "They physicaled us, we got into a rut and had to fight out of it.

"Their M-O is they're a well coached football team that executes. You might see them thinking don't let Taylor win, but I see a well-coached football team and that's how they defend the I-formation all the time."

Taylor isn't the only Division I prospect on Western's offense; Drew Viotto is joining him at Minnesota. But without a running game to lean on, the passing attack never got going either.

Viotto completed just 5 of 11 passes for 39 yards in the first half, as the offense picked up just two first downs in the half. The highlight of the game for the Warriors came with 4:25 to play in the first half, when Jaxon Lippert returned the Davison kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown, tying the state record.

As impressive as Davison's offense was — after a turnover on the opening possession the Cardinals scored touchdowns on eight of their next nine drives — the defense was every bit as good.

Carter Herriman wreaked havoc from his linebacker position. He set the tone early when he dropped Taylor for a loss of 4 four to put Western behind the eight ball on one drive, then ended the next drive when he came off Viotto's blind side on a third-down blitz and planted him for a sack.

"Carter Herriman is probably one of the best kept secrets in the state of Michigan," Weingartz said. "He doesn't have any big time offers yet butt hopefully after college coaches see his film, they'll see just how special he is."

Players in the second level like Herriman and Fortune were able to run free because the defensive line, led by Jaxen Clark, Marlow Mahone, Cam McRill and Tyler Dosh, frequently won the point of attack in the trenches.

As for Western, Cioroch said this isn't going to derail the season.

"What we just told our kids is we would rather fail chasing excellence than succeed chasing mediocrity," Cioroch said. "We want to play big time teams. Did that knock us down a little bit? Yeah, but we needed it.

"We still got everything we want ahead of us and my guess is we come out Monday in practice and we're a whole lo better than we were this Monday."

Contact Tony Garcia at apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @realtonygarcia.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Davison was nearly flawless vs. Walled Lake Western, 52-14