By the time the horn sounded to end last week's hard-fought win at No. 9 Brush, the No. 1 Bayfield Wolverines found something out about themselves: they are emotionally tough.
Down 14-7 and facing a possible elimination, the Wolverines dug deep and found what champions are made of by peeling off 21 unanswered points to take down the defending Colorado High School Athletic Association Class 2A State Football champions, 28-14. And in doing so, Bayfield (10-0) moved onto the semifinals where it will host No. 4 La Junta (11-0) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Wolverine Country Stadium in Bayfield.
“When we went to Brush, we discovered that emotion and we left it on the field,” said Bayfield head coach Gary Heide.
Now comes another daunting task in taking on an even tougher team in an even more important game. The last time Bayfield hosted a semifinal game was in 1996 when the Wolverines won it all. That year, Bayfield beat Holyoke 28-13 in a win that prompted the Wolverines to go 13-0 and bring home the school's only state championship.
Nearly 20 years later, the dream of hoisting another state trophy is in the midst.
“You can really feel the excitement,” Heide said. “But we realize that we have a lot of work to do. We realize that the last four teams are really great teams. We just have to play our best ball and see what happens.”
La Junta will be a bigger test than Brush. The Tigers boast a team that has scored 156 points while surrendering only 63 on defense all year with wins against Alamosa and Sterling in the state playoffs. The Tigers beat Manitou Springs 47-0, the team the Wolverines beat 40-0 to open the tournament.
The air attack of the Tigers will put the Bayfield secondary on notice. Senior Cash Snooks grabbed two interceptions in the win against Brush, however, Bayfield's secondary had barely been tested all year.
Snooks, Taed Heydinger, Wyatt Freier and Zane Phelps – all seniors – will have their hands full.
All eyes will be on La Junta's quarterback Cole Bryant who had 219 yards of total offense and three touchdowns. The senior duel-threat threw for 85 yards and ran for 134 in the 34-13 win over Sterling. Junior Dax Bender ran for 65 yards with two scores, and senior Garron Espinoza had 52 yards receiving with a touchdown.
“(La Junta) is a team with a lot of confidence and a lot of team speed,” Heide said. “They have athletes at every position, which is pretty obvious that they're in the top four. We're going to have to slow them down somehow and make good tackles. They have a great quarterback and a defense that is pretty relentless. They have good tacklers at all positions on defense.”
If Bayfield wants to win, the Wolverines will have to crack down on penalties. They had seven penalties for 80 yards against Brush. They also gave up big plays on defense through the air, which will hurt Bayfield if it's not careful. But what the Wolverines were able to do against Brush was take all of the negatives that were stacked against them and turn them into positives by the end of the game. Bayfield had never previously trailed in 2015 but was able to put emotions aside and grind out the victory, which is something the Wolverines hadn't had to do all season.
According to Heide, Bayfield will have to execute with no turnovers and no penalties and play a great football game to defeat the Tigers.
“Our biggest asset is our versatility,” Heide added. “As far as offensively, we can adjust to any game situation. We can exploit the opposing defense, and our defense is playing at a high-level of emotion.”
The senior class knows the importance of this game. The excitement of hosting a semifinal game will most certainly create some buzz. That buzz, however, won't keep the Wolverines from reaching their goal.
“We worked hard to get a semifinal home game,” Heide said. “We need to study and get some rest and seize the opportunity. I really feel that we're focused on this game.”
jmentzer@durangoherald.com
If You Go
Who: No. 4 La Junta (11-0) at No. 1 Bayfield (10-0)
What: CHSAA Class 2A State Football Playoffs, semifinals
When: 1 p.m. Saturday
Where: Wolverine Country Stadium, Bayfield
Listen Live: KLJH 107.1 FM
Twitter: @jonathanmentzer
