Log In


Reset Password
Sports Youth Sports Professional Sports More Sports College Sports High School Sports

No. 7 Bayfield football sends statement in win against No. 5 Delta

No. 7 Wolverines defense dominates No. 5 Delta

Dominating defense has put fear in the heart of opponents for a month, and Friday was no different.

The No. 7 Bayfield High School football team faced its biggest test in Class 2A in the Intermountain League at No. 5 Delta on Friday. Facing the leading rusher in the state regardless of classification, Delta’s Damon Jensen, the Wolverines didn’t give an inch in a 23-7 win.

The win guaranteed the Wolverines (6-2, 4-0 IML) at least a share of the league title with a home game against Alamosa (5-3, 3-1 IML) next week the last game remaining in the regular season. Delta fell to 5-3 and 3-1 in league.

“It’s hard for me to point out specifics,” BHS head coach Gary Heide said in a postgame radio interview. “It was a team victory, a Bayfield victory. We have 57 guys on our roster, and this was for all of them.”

Defensively, the Wolverines had more points than Delta with a third-quarter interception return for a touchdown by Jesse Westbrook and a safety thanks to a Ryan Phelps sack of Panthers quarterback Kole Roberts in the end zone in the fourth quarter.

Jesse Westbrook’s interception was a gamebreaker to put BHS up 21-7. He snagged the ball with one hand and ran 16 yards for the score.

“That was a great play,” Heide said. “The hand came up, the ball glued right to it. Huge play in this game.”

The Wolverines held Jensen to only 21 yards on 11 carries in the first half and 30 yards on 16 carries for the game. He had rushed for more than 100 yards in every game this season going into Friday.

“I don’t know if we got any yards rushing inside, as they got very few inside also,” Heide said. “That’s what kind of game it was. It was a game of who could make some big plays. We contained the offense and didn’t let them score.”

Delta took the lead early in the second quarter on its third drive of the game. A long drive with four first downs coming through the air ended with a Roberts four-yard TD pass to Beau Byers.

The Wolverines had a chance to strike on their opening drive of the game, but quarterback Josh Westbrook fumbled a pitch on the Delta seven-yard line to end the drive. The fumble was recovered by Delta’s Tristan Brown, a 6-foot-3, 240-pound linebacker receiving attention from NCAA Division I colleges.

Josh Westbrook didn’t let it get him down, especially after the defense set him up with great field position on the Delta 38-yard line. He needed only one play to hit Brian Mashak on a quick screen pass, and Mashak did the rest, breaking tackles and sprinting down the sideline for a touchdown to tie the game at 7.

Josh Westbrook was 11-of-17 passing for 182 yards.

Delta’s next drive ended with a fumble recovered by Bayfield’s David Hawkins, but the Wolverines couldn’t capitalize as a late 22-yard field goal attempt by Mashak was blocked. He made up for it a play later with an interception on defense to send the game into halftime tied 7-7. It was all Wolverines from there.

BHS marched down the field on the opening drive of the third quarter. A 75-yard drive was capped off by a 1-yard Josh Westbrook dive into the end zone to give Bayfield a 14-7 lead.

That’s all the defense coordinated by Mike Wnorowski needed to once again prove it is one of the top units in the state.

Hunter Killough had a huge night all over the field for the Wolverines, while Keyon Prior also had several big runs and defensive pass breakups. Prior led the game in rushing with 52 yards on three carries.

“It was a game of camaraderie and believing we were going to make the plays in the second half,” Heide said. “The defense played stellar as usual, and a big key was opening the second half with a touchdown drive.”

BHS is alone atop the IML standings with Alamosa and Delta both with one loss. Alamosa beat Pagosa Springs 44-14 on Friday, and the Mean Moose will visit Bayfield at 1 p.m. next Saturday. If Bayfield wins, it is the league champion. A loss would potentially create a three-way tiebreaker situation.

“The challenge now is to use this as a stepping stone,” Heide said. “We knew we were a good team. We’re a little bit better now. Now, we can elevate a little bit more, because we have a big one next week.”

jlivingston@durangoherald.com



Reader Comments