The Durango High School football team needed a win to keep any hopes of the postseason alive, and the Demons delivered in a big way with a 45-0 drumming of Harrison on senior night Friday at DHS.
“We knew they couldn’t play with us. We knew we out worked them all year,” Durango senior Max Hyson said. “It feels good. What I’m gonna miss is playing in front of (this crowd). These guys are awesome.”
The Demons, who reverted back to their traditional all-red uniforms for the night, got huge plays from its seniors. Five of the Demons touchdowns came from seniors, including two from Rashaad Liggins, who stole the night with bruising runs in the fourth quarter.
“He’s been working hard, and the hard work paid off for him,” DHS head coach David Vogt said of Liggins. “The whole team’s behind him, and you could see the crowd, everyone was just so happy for him to do that. It was just really exciting and fun to watch him play his butt off.”
Harrison received the opening kickoff and was forced to punt after three plays that gained zero yards.
After the Panthers (8-2, 3-2 3A South Central League) punted the ball away, the Demons (7-3, 4-1 SCL) drove 58 yards and found the end zone on a 2-yard run when senior Max Hyson followed fullback Manasseh Brockus across the goal line and gave Durango a 7-0 lead with 3 minutes, 44 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
The Demons continued to control the game with their defense and forced turnovers on the Panthers’ next two possessions.
First, Harrison quarterback Orlando Westbrook connected with wide receiver David Borrow for a big gain on a slant pattern. But Borrow was caught from behind and the ball was poked out of his hands. Manasseh Brockus dove on the ball for the DHS fumble recovery.
The next Panthers possession ended when Westbrook threw the ball behind his intended receiver and Max Congdon intercepted the pass.
Working against the Panthers was the loss of standout running back Aumiere Shedrick. During the Panthers second drive of the game, Shedrick ran up the middle and was stuffed by the Durango defense. He was slow to get up and gingerly walked to the side line. He didn’t return to action.
Durango’s defense set up the offense nicely, but penalties plagued the Demons in the second quarter.
On two possessions in a row for Durango, the Demons got deep into Harrison territory, but flags flew like confetti and moved the Demons back to face third-and-30 or more. Both series ended in punts, and Durango settled for a 7-0 lead at halftime.
“It was just being excited,” Vogt said of the penalty issues. “We were too excited and a little jumpy. We just needed to slow down and execute, and that’s what we did in the second half. We finally calmed them down, and I thought we played better after we calmed the guys down.”
Durango received the kickoff to start the third quarter and put together a great drive. Starting at their own 20-yard line, the Demons worked their way down to the Harrison 1-yard line and ate up 7 minutes, 7 seconds before Harrison Kairalla kicked a 23-yard field goal to extend the lead to 10-0.
It was all Durango the rest of the game.
Durango’s next series ended with a punt, but the Panthers dropped the ball and the Demons recovered it at the Harrison 18-yard line. A few plays later, the Demons were in the end zone when Hyson followed Brockus again for a 2-yard TD that pushed the lead to 17-0.
The Demons added to their lead early in the fourth quarter. Facing fourth down inside the Harrison 20-yard line, the offense stayed on the field and quarterback Jordan Woolverton put a perfect ball into the corner of the end zone for Gavin Mestas to make it 24-0.
Enter Rashaad Liggins.
A couple minutes after the Mestas TD, Liggins made the run of his life. On first-and-goal at the 7-yard line, Woolverton handed the ball to Liggins, who was slowed down by a would-be tackler at the 10. Liggins was wrapped up by a few Panthers at the line of scrimmage and carried about half the defense into the end zone for a touchdown that sent the Durango sideline into a frenzy.
“We all love him. He’s a great kid,” Hyson said of Liggins. “It was awesome to see him explode like that. I’m sure it meant the world to him, too.”
Liggins continued to make his presence known.
On the Demons’ next possession, the senior went in at fullback and cleared the way for Everett Howland to score from a few yards out to make it 38-0 with a little less than 8 minutes remaining.
But he still wasn’t done. After Harrison fumbled the ensuing kickoff, the Demons handed the ball to Liggins two times in a row. The first run went for 6 yards, and the second went for six points after Liggins broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage and sprinted 34 yards to the end zone.
“Finally. I needed that ball. I was really eager to prove myself on offense,” Liggins said. “This means everything to me. To do this at home, hold (Harrison) to a goose egg, two touchdowns, that’s exactly what I wanted.”
The Demons now await their playoff fate.
Entering Friday night, Durango was 16th in the Colorado High School Activities Association’s RPI standings, which are used to determine the 16-team playoff field.
However, Vogt said a couple league champions are ranked below the Demons and will earn an automatic bid to the playoffs ahead of the Demons’ at-large bid, so he thinks the Demons need to get into the top 14 of the standings to have a chance at the post season.
The lopsided win against Harrison should improve Durango’s chances, as the Panthers entered the game No. 10 in the standings, but there’s no guarantees.
The playoff bracket will be revealed Sunday.
“I don’t want to take off these red jerseys, or the gray jerseys,” Hyson said. “I want to play for Durango as long as I can.”
kschneider@durangoherald.com
