Before Durango hosts its homecoming football game against Bayfield on Friday, Durango fans got an early look at the future of the Demons.
Escalante and Miller middle schools met Thursday night in the crosstown rivalry game on the new turf field at Durango High School. Though the players lined up on opposite sidelines Thursday, they will be teammates in high school at DHS and are only two years removed from being teammates in the Young America Football League.
In an incredible run through YAFL, the current eighth-grade players in Durango went 40-1 and won three of four championship games before going to the next level. The team split up at their respective middle schools, but the talent has only continued to develop under Miller coach Mike Jaramillo and Escalante coach David Bastin.
The Miller Angels won Thursday night’s A-team game 34-8 to go into the playoffs with a full head of steam. The Miller B-team also won 44-0. Escalante has had a strong season, too, and players from both sides are looking forward to next season when they come together as teammates again.
“That’s part of our family,” said Miller star Gage Mestas, son of Gary and Malaika Mestas.
It isn’t middle school results the Durango program is looking for. For these players and coaches, it is all about making sure the boys go to the high school ready to play right away. Miller runs the same offense as DHS head coach David Vogt, using the same terminology so there is no learning curve once they reach ninth grade. Escalante has yet to take that step, but Vogt plans on leading a practice at both schools during the DHS bye week.
“It’s huge for them already starting to run the system and be in the weight program,” Vogt said.
“These kids will come in with the base knowledge of what we do, so it takes away the early learning curve and will help us go deeper in the playbook earlier.”
Jaramillo was Vogt’s offensive coordinator during the DHS coach’s first season in Durango four years ago. Jaramillo’s teaching job transferred to Miller, and he realized he could be of more help to the Demons’ varsity program at the middle school level.
He watched as the Aztec model of developing players from fourth-grade up resulted in a 2011 state championship under head coach Brad Hirsch. Now, even YAFL teams in Durango are learning the varsity playbook with a few modifications.
Jaramillo was a senior at DHS the last time the Demons reached a state title game in 1988. The Demons have never won a state championship, but this middle school group hopes to change that when they become upperclassmen.
“The goal is to have 80 to 90 kids coming out for football at the high school,” Jaramillo said. “It would be a big step in the right direction. When they’re playing together on Friday nights, hopefully they will take it to the state level. That’s the hope.”
If the young Miller players have questions about the playbook, they don’t have to look far for help. Miller quarterback Jordan Woolverton is the son of DHS offensive coordinator Ryan Woolverton and younger brother of current DHS quarterback Peyton Woolveron. Mestas, a star receiver, is the younger brother of current DHS star junior Gavin Mestas.
“It’s exciting to see them compete,” said Peyton Woolverton, son of Kathleen and coach Ryan Woolverton. “They’re way better than we were at their age. They’re going to be way ahead when they get to high school. They talk smack to us and teach us how to play.”
After the middle school games run out for these players, the brighter lights of Friday night high school football awaits. The coaches at Durango’s middle schools will be anxious to see what the end result is of such a unified approach.
“It’s going to pay off a lot for us,” Jordan Woolverton said. “We’re going to have a big advantage when we get to high school.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
