Davis makes his presence known
Underneath the juking and stutter-stepping is the fact North Shore quarterback Dematrius Davis rushed for more than half his regular-season total against Katy on Friday at NRG Stadium.
He entered this postseason with 469 yards on the ground with 11 touchdowns but left NRG Stadium with annother 283 rushing yards and three scores. He also completed 8 of 12 passes for 134 yards and three more scores.
Underneath the high-flying touchdown runs is the fact Davis didn’t have a rush attempt in August’s season opener against Katy, a 24-21 loss. It wasn’t the only time he didn’t have a rush attempt during the regular season, either. Davis chalked up the difference to aggressiveness. A regional semifinal against Katy will call for that in some spots.
“I had some stuff open the first time we played them and I didn’t take it,” said Davis after Friday’s 5635 win against Katy. “I was forcing the ball. So, I just had to come into the mindset this game that I have to just do what I have to do.”
It’s indicative of North Shore’s philosophy, which helps in November, December and beyond. Save the heroics for the playoffs.
The Mustangs, who face Atascocita in the 6A Division I Region III finals at 2 p.m. Saturday at Sheldon ISD’s Panther Stadium, are outscoring opponents 629-185 this season. Last year, it was 854-199. They are not strangers to sizable halftime leads. That means they’re able to manage player usage during much of the regular season to keep legs fresh and provide playing time to underclassmen and subvarsity players while building depth. Load management is a term used often and one North Shore coach Jon Kay uttered.
Those 283 rushing yards from Davis came on 21 carries. Rarely does North Shore need Davis to log 21 carries — or even 30 pass attempts — during the regular season. Rarely does it need a 100-yard rushing performance from highly touted running back Zach Evans — he rushed for 115 and two scores on 23 touches on Friday. North Shore might not need its defense to play lights-out during much of the regular season, either.
“Consequently, I think some of our kids miss out on some recognition,” Kay said, referring to postseason awards. “People are looking at total yards, but they don’t look at total carries or they don’t look at yards per average. You run into that kind of stuff.”
He missed some time this year, but Evans rushed for 884 yards and 13 touchdowns this year on only 58 carries. A full regular season might not produce much more for the top-rated back in the country considering North Shore’s philosophy. Kay lauds the 15-yards-percarry average this year and wonders what a 150-carry season for Evans might look like, for example.
Davis passed for 1,650 yards and 19 touchdowns during this year’s regular season, too. It may not be good enough for an all-state honor, which understandably only uses regular-season numbers as a metric.
Consider it a problem that comes from being too good, something few other teams experience. It’s not that enough honors aren’t already headed North Shore’s way. The Mustangs aren’t obsessed with numbers. Kay said players understand playing time will be spread at any chance. It’s helped in the long run, and this is only the residual affect. It certainly won’t be mentioned if North Shore can defend its state title.
That title defense doesn’t get much tougher than Atascocita.
The Katy-North Shore playoff matchups since 2008 often have a state championship feel. But just once has the winner won in the following playoff round — that would be North Shore’s 2018 state title season.
Atascocita defeated North Shore in 2016’s postseason. The teams used to share a district.
Atascocita’s offense gets deserved praise, but the defense stands out. Atascocita had eight fumble recoveries and eight interceptions by the end of the regular season and has added five recoveries and six picks in the playoffs.
Concerning Davis, Atascocita coach Craig Stump knows slowing him down should be part of the game plan. Atascocita has its own talent under center, too, in Brice Matthews.
“It’s a great challenge,” Stump said. (Davis is) big and strong, he can run with power. It’s just not all speed and he can throw the ball well as well. It’s two really good quarterbacks. Probably the best quarterbacks around playing in the regional final.”
adam.coleman@chron.com twitter.com/chroncoleman