One week after posting the team’s first shutout of the season, the Durango Demons defense was at it again Saturday at Pueblo Central.
The Durango High School football team (5-3, 2-1 3A South Central League) saw its defense grab seven interceptions and force a fumble in Saturday’s dominant 43-6 win at Dutch Clark Stadium in Pueblo.
Gavin Mestas’ 40-yard interception return on the third play of the game gave Durango a lead they wouldn’t relinquish and began a dominant display by the DHS defense.
In the last two games against winless league opponents Sierra (0-8, 0-3 SCL) and Pueblo Central (0-8, 0-3 SCL), Durango has outscored its opponents 89-6.
“We really wanted to get some confidence and get rolling heading into the crunch time of our season,” Durango head coach David Vogt said. “We’re playing a lot of guys and executing at a high level on both sides of the ball.”
Vogt’s Demons only needed one side of the ball to take the air out of the homecoming crowd at Pueblo Central.
Kade Jackson followed Mestas’ early pick-6 with one of his own on the second possession of the game. Jackson’s 55-yard return gave the Demons a 14-0 lead before the offense lined up for a play.
After another Jackson interception stopped a Pueblo Central drive, Jordan Shefferd’s interception on the next set up a 66-yard touchdown run by Dawson Marcum, and the Demons kept rolling.
Senior quarterback Peyton Woolverton hit Mestas on a 15-yard touchdown pass to send the Demons to the locker room with a 29-0 lead.
Woolverton began the second half’s scoring with a 25-yard touchdown run, and Travis VonTersch took advantage of the Demons’ seventh forced turnover of the day to convert a four-yard touchdown run that gave the visitors a 43-0 lead, forcing a running clock and mercifully ending the scoring in front of the Wildcats’ homecoming crowd.
For good measure, senior Garrett Trier’s interception was the seventh of the day for DHS and sent the sidelines into an uproar.
“We’ve been having so much fun out there lately, and the guys were super excited to see that,” Vogt said. “That’s what it’s all about right there.”
Durango will host Pueblo County (4-4, 1-2 SCL) at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Demons will close out the regular season a week later at Harrison (6-2, 3-0 SCL) likely needing to win out to reach the Class 3A state playoffs.
jfries@durangoherald.com
