High school football will begin Friday, with college to follow a week later and the NFL a week after that. But some gridiron stars have already been playing for weeks.
The Four Corners Young America Football League season opened two weeks ago, and Durango teams have already started the march to YAFL Super Bowl weekend.
The third-grade Demons are off to a 2-0 start, and a potent defense hasn’t allowed a point yet in a 26-0 season-opening win against the Farmington Vikings and a 25-0 victory in Week 2 against Kirtland. Antonio Martinez has scored two touchdowns in each game, and he has run for 138 yards already this season. Cooper Mitchell also has two rushing touchdowns and rushed for 100 yards against Farmington. Nathan Beal also scored in the opener and again in Week 2 when he hauled in a beautiful 42-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Braeden Brown, who also had six tackles on defense in Week 2. Mitchell has helped lead the defense with 16 tackles and two sacks this season. Archer McCroskey and Jacob Martinez each had ½ a sack in the opener. This week, the third graders will try to keep the win and shutout streaks going against Bloomfield at 11 a.m. in Durango.
Durango’s fourth-grade team is also off to a 2-0 start as the squad looks to get back to this year’s Super Bowl. The team lost last year’s title game in the final seconds of the championship game but quickly got back to its winning ways with a 28-0 win against the Farmington Sun Devils in this year’s opener. The team backed that up with a tough 19-14 win against Cortez in Week 2. Cole Pontine had two touchdowns in the game – one receiving and one rushing. JT Neubert also caught a touchdown pass, as quarterback Linkin Griego tossed a pair of scores. Ryan Dugan and Elijah McGrady were defensive standouts in the win. The Demons will welcome the Farmington Titans to Durango’s “Junior Demon Dome” at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Durango’s sixth graders also are 2-0 after beating Bayfield 22-0 in Week 2 after pummeling Bloomfield 37-15 in the opener. The rivalry game with Bayfield was a hard-hitting contest, and the Demons’ defense was led by Josh Bates and Vince Draper. Offensively, the squad saw quarterback Taggert Bardin deliver two touchdown passes to Hunter Houles. The Demons will look to move to 3-0 in a road contest 1 p.m. Saturday in Kirtland.
Durango’s fifth graders have come up a bit short in both games this year. The Demons lost 7-0 to the Farmington Sting to open the season before falling 26-24 to the Aztec Warriors last Saturday. Head coach Chris McCroskey said he saw a night and day difference in his team, as Tyler Harms passed for 86 yards, including a 65-yard scoring strike to Zac Unruh, who finished with five catches and 76 total yards. Brett Hamer added 31 rushing yards and a touchdown. Tanner Anderson and Connor McCroskey led the defense with eight tackles each. Anderson had nine tackles in the season opener DHS will try to earn its first win at 9 a.m. Saturday in Durango against Kirtland.
Durango’s second-grade team has played only one game so far, a 19-12 loss at the hands of the Farmington Herd. Grady Feeney scored both of Durango’s touchdowns
‘When we get kids in the right positions, you’ll see even more improvement,” said Durango coach Jeremy Dugan, whose team will travel to play at 11 a.m. Saturday at Aztec.
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
