Having won it all in a 13-0 1996, Bayfield High School learned a hard lesson during the 3-6 1997 season:
Defending a football title might be the most difficult thing to accomplish in Colorado high school sports, something Brush High has been figuring out in the Class 2A ranks so far in 2015.
But in order to defend a Gold Ball, a team must first earn one.
And after winning the state title in 2014, the Beetdiggers won't be relinquishing the state championship to anyone without putting up an inspired fight.
Brush especially doesn't want to lose to the program which had canceled their previous best bid for the prize, and even more especially on the same ground where that defeat occurred.
But Brush might not be as dominant as Randy Dreitz's 13-0 squad last fall-or his then-12-0 unit which fell to Marshall Hahn's 11-0 bunch in the 2011 playoffs' semifinals.
Bayfield will have to treat the Patriot Conference's third-place crew with respect when their quarterfinal clash kicks off tomorrow at Beetdigger Stadium.
Reitz resigned back in March after 13 seasons. Now Reid Kahl is currently molding Brush Football into his own type of contender.
Kahl collected his first postseason win with Brush last Saturday with a 48-27 win at Moffat County.
His ninth-seeded team did so in very Bayfield-esque fashion, breaking out to a 21-0 lead after one quarter in Craig against the #8 Bulldogs and holding a devastating 41-14 advantage at halftime.
MCHS' best chance to rally then came in the third and fourth quarters, while 'Digger senior running back Clay Shaver (now 179-1,266 rushing, 17 TD) was benched with a possible MCL injury.
Brush needs Shaver back if it hopes to counter BHS' Zane Phelps-led ground attack. On Saturday, Brush senior quarterback Arnoldo Maltos-Garcia (97-434 rushing, 3 TD) and classmate B.J. Hirschfeld (30-132, 2 TD) will definitely have to shoulder more of the load on their legs against the 1-seed Wolverines' suffocating defense.
Closely watching Wolverine senior Kelton McCoy will be Beetdigger seniors Randy Woodward (68 tackles, six sacks), Reid Hall (57, four sacks), Shaver (48 tackles), Hirschfeld (46) and Maltos-Garcia (44).
"They (Bayfield) are a heck of a team," Kahl told the Fort Morgan Times after defeating Moffat County. "There's a reason why they are number one. They are big, fast and physical. We'll have to play a perfect game."
TALE OF THE TAPE: Four-for-four away from Wolverine Country Stadium this season, Bayfield will check in standing 9-0 overall, averaging a brutal 39.8 points per game (358 total) while allowing an anemic 5.4 (49).
Down considerably from last fall's 44.1-ppg potency, Brush still averages 24.9 per outing (249 total) but unfortunately gives up 23.3 (233), a stat close to doubling 2014's 12.5-per-game stinginess. However, when at home this season, the Beetdiggers score 25.5 per outing and surrender only 10.
POWER 'STRUGGLE': Brush's 4-0 home record and 3-1 non-conference mark could work in their favor against 1-seed Bayfield, but their showings against Patriot-pacing Platte Valley and Sterling hint that another such heavyweight could authoritatively knock the 'Diggers out of the Playoffs. Respectively, Brush (now 7-3 overall) lost 37-0 to the Broncos in Kersey, and 41-13 to the Tigers at SHS.
KEEPING PACE: Whereas Bayfield was the only Western Slope Conference, North or South Division, team to survive-and the only Southerners to even score in-the playoffs' initial Round-of-16, Brush joined three other Patriot crews in reaching the quarterfinals. Also active tomorrow will be 5-seed Sterling (at #4 La Junta), #3 Platte Valley (at #11 Strasburg) and #10 Eaton (hosting #2 Englewood Kent Denver), and all kick off at 1 p.m.
Ousted last Saturday along with Moffat County, 13-seed Alamosa fell 39-0 to La Junta and #14 Gunnison 42-0 to Platte Valley. Second place in the WSC-South, Alamosa finished 4-6 overall while third-place Gunnison ended up 5-5.
