The Ignacio High School football team got the start it wanted.

The rest, however, was all Monte Vista.

The Bobcats scored first, but Monte Vista, backed by a stout ground game, rolled for 50 unanswered points to top IHS 50-8 on Friday in Ignacio.

Things started well in the Bobcats’ Southern Peaks League opener. Joe Herrera picked off Pirates quarterback Michael Sanchez on Monte Vista’s first offensive play and returned it to the Pirates’ 28-yard line. Five plays later, Adison Jones found Antonio Torres for an 11-yard touchdown pass, then hit Miguel Perez for the two-point conversion.

The Pirates, however, controlled the remainder of the game over an Ignacio squad missing key cogs Adam and Nick Herrera.

Jacob Vance had 200 yards rushing and three scores for Monte Vista, ranked No. 8 in Class 1A by chsaanow.com, and Michael Valdez had 62 rushing yards and a pair of scores for the Pirates (4-1, 1-0 SPL).

Jones threw for 143 yards for Ignacio (3-2, 0-1 SPL), which won its last two games by an aggregate score of 125-0.

IHS next will play at Centauri at 1 p.m. Oct. 5.

heraldsports@durangoherald.com