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Gavin Mestas leads Durango football past No. 4 Delta

Mestas, defense drop No. 4 team

The Durango Demons football team made it clear that they wanted to get junior Gavin Mestas the ball as often as possible this season, and they weren’t messing around.

Mestas had a breakout season last year as a sophomore, and he turned it up several notches with his performance in Durango’s 21-20 win Friday night at Delta.

Mestas scored all 21 of Durango’s points and did it in every facet of the game. His 42-yard touchdown catch from Peyton Woolverton gave the Demons (1-0) a 7-6 lead, but that was just the icebreaker. Mestas intercepted a pass on the first play of Delta’s next drive and took it back 20 yards for his second touchdown in two plays.

He wasn’t done, though.

Mestas began the second half with a 99-yard kickoff return that put the junior in the state record books. He also kicked the Demons’ three extra points.

“We always want to find Gavin because he’s such a threat no matter what’s going on,” Durango head coach David Vogt said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “If they want to press him, he’ll blow right by them. If they play off him we’ll get it to him quick. He’s just a great talent.”

It took a few minutes for the Demons to get their legs under them.

The defense spent the first minutes of the season on its heels, but didn’t crack. Delta’s first two offensive possessions reached the Demons red zone, but Max Hyson, Manasseh Brockus, Collin Barkley and company stood tall and forced the Panthers (0-1) into back-to-back field goals.

After a three-and-out opening drive for Durango’s offense, Mestas got going. Woolverton found his favorite target downfield for 42-yard touchdown that gave Durango its first lead.

On the first play after the ensuing kickoff, Mestas jumped the route on a Delta pass play, intercepted the pass and returned it for his second touchdown in a matter of seconds.

“Coach told me to jumped every route I could, and it was just right there for me,” said Mestas, son of Gary and Malaika Mestas. “It was a whole team effort. Coach Woolverton saw the coverage that set up my touchdown catch and Peyton put it right there. On the kick return, the guys made the most beautiful hole I’ve ever seen so all I had to do was run as fast as I could.”

Late in the first half, Delta’s senior quarterback Kole Roberts’ 38-yard run set up a 1-yard touchdown by Tristan Brown, and the Demons carried a 14-13 lead into the locker room at halftime.

If the Panthers were hoping to stop Mestas, they didn’t find the answer at the intermission.

The speedster took the second half opening kickoff 99 yards for his third touchdown of the night. The 99-yard return put Durango up 21-13, and etched Mestas’ name in the Colorado record books tied for the ninth-longest touchdown in state history.

However, Delta had a quick answer with a two-play drive that ended with a 60-yard touchdown run by Brown to cut the deficit to 21-20.

The teams exchanged scoring opportunities, but missed field goals on both sides and some big defensive plays kept it a one-point game.

Delta got the ball deep in their own territory with two minutes left to play, big the Durango defense came up big again as Dawson Marcum snatched Durango’s third interception of the evening, and shut the door on No. 4 Delta.

“Weaker teams would have given up, but these guys fought and I’m so proud of that at this point in the season,” Vogt said. “Guys were cramping and coming back, fighting through it. Peyton had a heck of a game and guys were cleaning clocks on the kick returns and on the line. It’s a great start for us.”

The senior quarterback did a fantastic job running the offense in his first start. He threw a touchdown pass and had no interceptions.

“The preparation we did for five weeks was really helpful,” said Woolverton, son of Kathleen and Ryan Woolverton. “I’m proud of the way we played. There are some things I need to work on and we need to clear up some things as a unit, but overall the offense took care of the ball and kept or composure. Now we have to get back to work and prepare for what’s next.”

Next up for Durango is a 7 p.m. game next Friday at Aztec. Aztec lost its season opener Friday night at home against Los Lunas. It was a lopsided 64-20 loss in the battle of the Tigers.

jfries@durangoherald.com

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