Once the Homecoming Royalty candidates had been presented and profiled at halftime to patrons packing Wolverine Country Stadium on Friday night, public-address announcer Jeff Misener spoke:
“And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for …,” with all votes having been tabulated.
He didn’t say, however, when said the votes had actually been cast.
For if polling had remained open until intermission, Bayfield senior James Mars could very well have increased any front-running lead he may have had on the competition, or pulled off a dark-horse snatch of the king’s crown with a first-quarter moment he’d certainly been waiting for with the Wolverines already poised to put Salida to the proverbial sword.
Either way, Mars’ 63-yard touchdown reception with 1:19 remaining in the opening stanza—resulting from Mars simply refusing to go down despite taking multiple Spartans’ shots—not only clinched coronation, but gave senior quarterback Isaac Ross three touchdown throws during the initial 12 minutes and BHS a 20-0 advantage.
“It was all a blur,” Mars recalled afterward, smiling wide after a thorough 39-0 romp, “but I did have great blocking downfield; nobody gave up on the play. So I’m excited to see it on film—it was a team effort.”
“And the Royalty stuff…obviously that was cool too,” he continued. “It was just an awesome day and an awesome night. Winning your Homecoming game, that’s something everyone wants to do.”
Forcing SHS into two turnovers-on-downs, two short yet un-returnable punts, an interception by Caden Wood and a demoralized, half-ending kneel-down by quarterback Braden Collins, Bayfield (3-1, 1-0 2A Southwestern) hustled to the locker room in full control, 26-0. Wood’s 17-yard TD grab 1 minute, 55 seconds in had capped a 6-play, 65-yard drive and got the scoring started while Ross also found Deegan Barnes on a short out route right for a 1-yard TD with 0:24 left.
“It’s our first year really passing big, but you know, we’ve got the skill to do it this season,” senior receiver William Sullivan said. “Got a great senior quarterback and good receivers to go make catches.”
“It wasn’t me; it was all them,” Ross said. “We watched film all week and (the Spartans) weren’t covering slot receivers; that’s why they all had a big game. Our plan was to get it out to our skill players and let them do their thing.”
Two second-half Cael Schaefer TD carries then threatened to enact the mercy-rule running clock, but Zane Liddell pushed the latter point-after kick—following Schaefer’s 50-yard blast through the middle of the field—wide left, all but guaranteeing fans would get their final 7 minutes, 18 seconds’ worth of conference-opener football unabridged.
“Our line always does a great job of opening up holes and we just…beat ’em down throughout the game; that really opened up the last rushing touchdown I had,” explained Schaefer, another senior. “Isaac made great throws…Will made great catches…James made a lot of great plays—it was a complete game all around.”
Bayfield was able to endure the hard running of Salida’s Chris Graf, book two takeaways (the second being senior Kyler Woehrel’s third-down fumble recovery at BHS’ 15-yard line, halting SHS’ deepest intrusion with 1:52 left in the third quarter) to one giveaway (Daniel Edgington’s interception of Ross with 11:32 left in the fourth, one play after Ross and Sullivan connected for a 43-yard gain to the Salida 42), and even thwart a desperate fourth-down hook-and-lateral try with 8:37 remaining.
BHS will next take on Alamosa Friday in another league game.
“That’s the big one. And Coach Heide’s never lost to them—I’d tell them ‘Be ready,’” Mars said, well aware the 2021 Southwestern title could eventually hinge upon the outcome. “I know we’re going to be.”
Alamosa improved to 4-1 overall and 1-0 Southwest Friday with a 28-6 home win over Pagosa Springs (1-4, 0-1). The previous week, the Mean Moose previous routed the reigning Spring ’21 Class 2A State Champion Manitou Springs 47-0.
“They’re tough,” Schaefer said of AHS, “so it’s just secure a tackle, know…our adjustments, and make the safe play.”
Alamosa junior quarterback Kasey Jones threw for 267 yards and four TDs in the victory over PSHS, but was intercepted twice.
Against Salida (0-5, 0-1), Ross unofficially totaled 326 yards on 23-of-31 accuracy through the air. Sullivan snagged six throws for an unofficial 71 yards, while Mars gained 91 on three catches, Barnes had 52 yards on five, receptions while junior Nic Twedt gained 56 yards on three catches, including a 26-yard TD. Schaefer caught five balls for 39 yards, to go with 9-85 rushing figures.
“We’re a pretty balanced team,” Ross said. “That’s what makes us dangerous—our O-line giving us (run) blocking and that then opens up everything for our passing game.”
