Montrose High School football showed why it made the 4A state final last year. The Red Hawks’ running attack couldn’t be stopped as Montrose beat Durango 35-14 on Friday night at Durango High School.
The Red Hawks scored routinely in the first half as their offensive line created huge holes for their big running backs and quarterbacks all night. Montrose only attempted a handful of passes as its runners usually gained big chunks of yardage and routinely picked up first downs.
In the first half, the Demons looked like a team with a new quarterback. Junior Grady Feeney started for the Demons and took over the position after his brother, Cully, played quarterback for Durango last season.
Feeney struggled at times to throw accurate passes in the first half. In the second half, Feeney found his talented receiving core, used his legs to scramble and on designed runs for first downs and the Demons scored all 14 of their points.
“We did great,” Durango head coach Hunter Holmes said. “We moved the ball well. You wish a couple of things would have gone differently; you have a penalty on kickoff return and a hold out there on a big play, kind of ends two drives, right? It's tough. It's hard to come back, but that's a program that we're trying to imitate, if you will and build what they got. I respect the heck out of coach Mertens and everything that he's got going … I hope our kids learn a little bit from how these guys compete.”
Durango falls to 0-1 overall and Montrose moves to 1-0 overall. The Red Hawks won their first 13 games last season, including last year’s season opener, 42-16, over Durango, before losing to Broomfield, 35-28, in the 4A state title game.
Feeney finished with 10 completions and 109 yards passing with an interception. He also had 21 carries for 127 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
Holmes said he wanted to run Feeney even more and joked that infinity carries would be the right number for him. Holmes said Feeney had a gritty performance, is the epitome of a Durango man and that’s why the team loves him.
Junior wide receiver Mason Miller led Durango with 60 yards receiving on three receptions. Senior lineman Owen Cheatham had one rush for 1 yard and a touchdown.
All five of Montrose’s touchdowns came on the ground. Sophomore running back Liam Evans and senior running back Elijah Womack each had two rushing scores for Montrose. Senior Chase Mehan added another rushing score for the Red Hawks.
Montrose quickly got the ball deep in Durango with three runs of 15+ yards. The Red Hawks offensive line created so much space for Womack, who’s listed at 6-feet and 185 pounds.
Despite two false starts deep in Durango territory, the Red Hawks couldn’t be stopped as Womack rushed it home from the 1-yard-line for the opening score. Womack rushed in the two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead with 4:27 left.
On the next play, it looked like senior wide receiver Seb Tripp took the kickoff to the house to respond. However, a hold was called at the 50-yard-line, taking the score off the board.
Montrose led 8-0 after the first quarter and continued its dominant rushing attack, picking up yards and first downs like it was nothing. Evans punched in the Red Hawks’ second touchdown from two yards out. Durango showed its strength by stopping Montrose’s two-point attempt. Montrose led 14-0 with 9:58 left in the second quarter.
On the next Durango drive, the Demons got into Montrose territory for the first time thanks to two strong quarterback keepers by Feeney. After that, Feeney threw a poor pass over the top that went right to a Montrose defensive back for an interception.
Durango looked like it was in prime position to stop Montrose for the first time. However, on 3rd and 9 at the 43-yard line, the Red Hawks ran an end-around to Mehan for the score. Montrose led 21-0 with 4:37 left after the PAT.
Montrose’s high-powered rushing attack was finally stopped with 49 seconds left in the first half. Senior kicker Dylan Burns had field goal attempt from 37 yards out but missed it wide right. Montrose led 21-0 at the half.
The second half started much like the first half did. Montrose ran a few different run plays and picked up chunk yardage on almost every rush. Liam Evans ran it in from 23 yards out to make it 28-0 with 8:16 to go in the third.
Durango put together a strong first drive of the second half thanks to Miller. He saved the drive with a defensive play. Feeney threw a poor pass toward Miler that looked like it was going to be intercepted. Miller ripped the ball away from the Montrose defensive back to save the drive.
After that, Feeney connected on a deep ball to Miller down the right side. It looked like a surefire 40-yard score, but Miller fumbled it out of bounds at the 4-yard-line. Since Miller made the catch, Durango retained possession.
“Grady made a couple big-time throws and we finally got the match up that we were looking for,” Holmes said. “We started getting them into man-to-man and out of that cover three look that they had. It gave Mason the ability to go over the top and he made some plays.”
A few plays after Miller’s long reception, the 270-pound Cheatham took the wildcat snap at the 1-yard-line on third down. He dropped the ball, picked it up and used his large frame to get across the goal line for the score. Durango trailed 28-7 with 3:06 left in the third.
Montrose quickly responded and Womack had a 24-yard score down the right side to reestablish the 28-point lead. Montrose led 35-7 with 1:15 left in the third.
Durango found something with its rushing attack to start the fourth quarter with Feeney and senior running back Gus Halls. Feeney and Halls gained a lot of tough yards up the middle, while Feeney used his athleticism to bounce a nice run to the outside. Feeney went up the middle and scored from 6 yards out to make it 35-14 Montrose with 9:37 left.
The Demons hit the road on Friday to play at Farmington at 7 p.m.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
