Another golden opportunity late in the game slipped through the fingers of the Durango Demons.
Trailing 14-8 with 1 minute, 45 seconds to play in the game, the Durango High School football team was set up in ideal position to take a late lead to try and steal a game in Farmington against Piedra Vista.
Durango (1-2) came up with a big defensive stop to force a Panthers (1-2) punt, and the long snap arrived low to Piedra Vista punter Tristan Dwinnel, who dropped to a knee to field it. By rule, Dwinnel was down on the Piedra Vista 14-yard line, giving the Demons a chance to take the lead with less than 2 minutes to play.
A false start call created a third-and-10 situation for the Demons, and two passes from junior quarterback Terrence Trujillo didn’t find a home, as the Demons turned it over on downs and watched as the Panthers kneeled down three times to take a 14-8 victory Friday night at Hutchison Stadium in Farmington.
“It’s tough. I put it on my shoulders. I should have got us in the endzone,” Trujillo said. “Defense put us in a position to win, and we couldn’t get it in the endzone.”
DHS trailed 7-0 late in the first half after a 5-yard touchdown run by Piedra Vista’s Elijah Gamboa. That score was set up by a 43-yard run by Scott Ramirez, the Panthers’ fullback.
The Demons’ only big play of the first half came on a 45-yard pass from Trujillo to Marcum on the opening drive of the game, but Trujillo was intercepted by Piedra Vista cornerback Grayson Tracy in the endzone to end the scoring threat.
It was one of three turnovers in the game by the Demons.
“I just think we lacked energy in the first half, and the interception was a bad move on my part, but I have to have a short memory on plays like that,” Trujillo said.
DHS was held to very few yards rushing in the first half, but Lawrence Mayberry did his best to change that in the second half. He finished the game with 92 rushing yards on 17 carries, but his biggest play came as a receiver when he took a screen pass from Trujillo 47 yards for the Demons’ only touchdown. A 2-point conversion attempt was successful, as Trujillo, the holder on field-goal attempts, picked up the snap and threw to Casey Dunlap for the score.
The Demons held onto their 8-7 lead for a very short time, as the Panthers’ running game started to take a toll on the DHS defense.
Following an unsuccessful onside kick in which the Demons also incurred a 15-yard personal foul penalty, the Panthers quickly drove down the field and scored on a 6-yard run by Gamboa.
There would not be another score in the game’s final 17 minutes of game time.
Trujillo, who had a breakout game last week in a 34-28 win at Aztec to win the starting quarterback job, finished the game 6-of-18 passing for 122 yards to go along with the one touchdown and one interception. Justin Marcum had 70 receiving yards for the Demons, who battled dropped passes much of the game.
The Demons will finish their slate of games against New Mexico competition next Friday when they host Farmington in their first true home game of the season. They opened the year with an 8-0 “home” loss to Beckman High of Irvine, California in a game played at Colorado State University-Pueblo.
“It’s really exciting to be playing at home, finally,” Trujillo said. “We just have to have a good week of practice. Farmington is a good team, and we have to be prepared.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
