Pueblo Central had just scored to get within three points before halftime. The Durango Demons were anything but to content to go into the locker room with only a one-score lead.
After the host Pueblo Central Wildcats scored on a 2-yard run by Aureious Drew with 3 minutes, 23 seconds to play in the second quarter, the Durango High School football team was determined to get into the end zone before halftime. Durango did just that, as sophomore quarterback Jordan Woolverton hit sophomore wide receiver Solomon Gabel on a 17-yard touchdown pass with 1:19 to play in the half. Woolverton added an extra point, and the Demons went up 16-6 before halftime.
Two tough defenses were locked up in the second half, but the Demons added a touchdown early in the fourth quarter on a 5-yard run from Dawson Marcum. Woolverton ran in for a 2-point conversion, and the Demons went on to a 24-6 victory Saturday at Dutch Clark Stadium in Pueblo.
Even in a win, the Demons were not pleased with their performance.
We shot ourselves in the foot a lot and didn’t play our best,” Marcum said. “I think we could’ve done more. I had a few mistakes, myself. We all need to learn from this.”
It was the Demons’ fourth consecutive win. The team is now 5-2 overall and 2-0 in the Class 3A South Central League. The Wildcats fell to 4-3 and 0-2 in the SCL. DHS remained tied atop the league standings with Pueblo East (5-2, 2-0 SCL). Those two teams will meet the final week of the regular season at 7 p.m. Nov. 2 at Dutch Clark Stadium.
“It’s going to help us a lot having played on this field now once already,” Woolverton said. “Playing this game on that field is going to be huge for us going into the Pueblo East game.”
The Durango defense had a safety and had two interceptions. The safety opened the scoring in the first quarter, as Pueblo Central quarterback Nico Martin was brought down in the end zone by a swarm of Demon defenders.
“That got the team going,” Woolverton said of the safety. “We were flat those first few minutes of the game. To get the safety, it helped us a lot.”
The Demons’ offense got into the end zone halfway through the second quarter. Woolverton hit senior receiver Alex Hise on a slant pattern, and Hise ran in for a 46-yard touchdown to cap a six-play, 80-yard drive. Woolverton made the extra point, and DHS led 9-0 with 6:27 to go in the first half.
“Their backers were biting all day on the zone run,” Woolverton said. “I knew if we ran a (run-pass-option) and I pulled it, Hise would be wide open and take it to the end zone, and he did.”
In the second half, Marcum came up with a big interception to stop a Wildcat drive. He returned it to the Pueblo Central 44, but the Demons couldn’t turn it into points. Pueblo Central then mounted a 15-play drive that ate six minutes of clock, but a Marcum pass breakup on fourth down resulted in a turnover on downs with no damage done.
“The defense kept fighting,” DHS head coach David Vogt said. “They would drive down on us, but we had that bend but don’t break mentality. The one time they finally did score, it was a mess up on our coverage. Overall, we felt good on defense.”
Marcum then got the offense rolling, though he fumbled on a 6-yard run. Colby Basye fell on it to save the Demons. After a big 36-yard reverse run to the 4-yard line by Gage Mestas, Marcum scored a few plays later on Marcum’s 5-yard run with 9:58 to play in the game.
“To get that bigger lead and have a cushion, it was pretty big,” Marcum said. “I wish we had a better cushion, but you won’t always get that.”
The Wildcats tried to get into the end zone one last time, but junior Carson Matz intercepted another Ryley Roth pass to end the game.
Marcum finished with 94 rushing yards on 17 carries for the Demons. Woolverton went 12-of-18 passing for 137 yards and the two touchdowns. Hise had five catches for 91 yards, while Mestas added four for 15 yards. Cleaning up penalties, especially holding calls, will be a focus this week for the DHS offense.
“We’re getting better on those week to week, and the more we emphasize this the more it will pay off,” Vogt said. “We have to continue to get better about not making those mistakes. Good teams clean those up. If we don’t clean those up, we won’t get very far.”
Nico Martin led the Wildcats’ offense. He had 38 rushing yards on 13 carries, and he had six receptions for 32 yards. Roth finished 10-of-20 passing for 65 yards and two interceptions. Ben Martin was 2-of-4 passing for 45 yards, and he added three runs for 29 yards.
After playing on the road for the first time since Aug. 31, the Demons now will return home for two games. DHS will host defending Class 4A state champion Pueblo South at 6 p.m. Friday before Pueblo County visits the same time a week later. Pueblo South moved down to Class 3A this season. After losing many key seniors from last year, the team has gone 2-5 overall and 1-1 in the SCL, including a 56-7 win Thursday night against Pueblo County (3-4, 1-1 SCL).
“We’re treating every game from here on out like a playoff game,” Woolverton said. “These are conference games. We want to be playing in the big game against Pueblo East. To get there, we have to treat every game with the same mindset and work hard.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
