The last play of Friday night’s game in Pagosa Springs will live in the memory of Bayfield football fans as “The Pagosa Pitch.”
The defending Class 2A state champion Bayfield High School football team went on the road in the penultimate week of the regular season Friday to face the Pagosa Springs Pirates in a clash of 2A Intermountain League teams separated by only 41 miles on U.S. Highway 160. Somehow, the Wolverines came away with a 14-13 overtime win against a Pagosa team that refused to back down Friday night.
“This is probably my top regular-season win in my career,” said BHS senior Keyon Prior. “Last year when we beat Durango, I didn’t get to play because of injury. This was a gritty fight start to finish. Just a battle. Respect to Pagosa, they’re a great team. This is one of the top regular-season games I’ve ever played, probably at the top.”
Bayfield (6-1, 3-0 IML) scored a second-quarter touchdown, and Pagosa answered with a fourth-quarter score, and the teams went into overtime tied 6-6 after a last-gasp drive in regulation by Bayfield fell flat.
Pagosa (3-5, 1-2 IML) got the ball first in overtime and quickly scored on two Paden Bailey runs, the last a 2-yard touchdown. The Pirates made the extra point and took a 13-6 lead, and the Wolverines had to answer.
BHS did with a touchdown run from Prior, and the Wolverines called timeout to discuss going for a 2-point conversion to try to win the game instead of an extra point to force a second overtime.
BHS senior quarterback Hayden Farmer convinced head coach Gary Heide to let the Wolverines try a run with Prior, so BHS lined up and snapped the ball directly to Prior. He tried an outside run off the tackle but was stuffed by the Pagosa Springs defense. With the Wolverines facing their first league loss since 2014, Prior miraculously pitched the ball five yards behind him to Farmer, who caught the ball at the 7-yard line before he ran into the end zone untouched for a 2-point conversion that gave the Wolverines an improbable 14-13 overtime win in its first overtime game since a loss at Durango in 2016.
“Our line was blocking great on sweeps, and we decided we can pound it in from 2 yards out,” Prior said. “I ran the ball and saw backers and two safeties coming toward me. I thought, ‘Oh shoot, I can’t end it like this.’ I know Hayden is always behind me, he always is. I trusted and prayed for it. We’ve had that connection, me and Hayden, since I moved here. I just knew if I pitched it, Hayden would have a chance.”
When Prior saw Farmer cross the goal line, he said he felt pure relief.
“We didn’t want to settle, and Hayden told coach, ‘Let’s go for this, let’s do it. We can pound it in,’” Prior said. “When he crossed that goal line, I was so relieved because we didn’t want to let coach down.”
Farmer had a similar feeling and said he was still in shock an hour after the winning play.
“All I got to say is big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games,” Farmer said. “Keyon, I don’t even know. He made a big-time play.
“Keyon got stuffed. He looked back at me, and I knew he was going to pitch it somehow the way he looked at me. I caught the ball and just took off running and scored. Holy cow.”
BHS got its first score of the game on a 2-yard pass from Farmer to Crosby Edwards. BHS had a penalty on the extra point to back up the attempt five yards, and the ensuing try was no good. BHS took the 6-0 lead into halftime.
Bayfield drove the field much of the game but couldn’t find a way to punch the ball in for points.
Pagosa Springs finally scored with 5:16 to play in the fourth quarter, as quarterback Cade Cowan hit Bailey with a lofted pass that Bailey hauled in at the 5-yard line and took in for a 22-yard touchdown.
With the Bayfield fans chanting for the Wolverines to block the extra point, the Wolverines did just that to keep the game tied 6-6.
BHS tried to score on the next drive, but a Farmer pass was intercepted in the end zone to end the Wolverines’ threat. The BHS defense got a quick stop, but the Wolverines last-minute drive also came up short before overtime.
“We played bad on offense, to be honest,” Farmer said. “But to get a win like that is a booster.”
Now, BHS can win another league championship in a road game at 7 p.m. Friday at Salida (8-0, 3-0 IML).
“We’re going to go into Salida and be prepared,” Farmer said. “We will work on a lot of things in practice, but the goal is to go win that league championship.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
