LA JUNTA - Ultimately responsible for a few prolonged blasts of the team's celebratory train whistle as well as some small-scale fireworks afterwards, some relieved fans joked in a parking lot that they "weren't sure Kain had ever jumped that high before."
Probably because at 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, junior Kain DiRezza really hadn't needed to. At least not when out-leaping defensive backs, as he suddenly did Saturday, Nov. 19, at the worst possible time for the opposition. And due to that opposition's resistance until that moment, the most improbable time for the locals.
"We've dealt with running quarterbacks all year, and we've done great against them," explained Bayfield junior Cole Wood. "I'm proud of what we did today with the quarterback."
Hounded relentlessly and sometimes mercilessly, La Junta sophomore Jon Nuschy had been practically reduced to only calling signals through 36 regulation minutes.
For example, during the third quarter's initial series, senior nose guard Sam Westbrook stormed through blockers for back-to-back sacks, then sharing another one with Wood after a false-start infraction to force a frazzled La Junta punt on 4th-and-32.
Nuschy's best carry out of a read-option scheme, amazingly on the Tigers' next drive after being thrice flattened, gained 36 yards but was reduced by penalty to a net seven. His best throw, in a scoreless first quarter's final seconds, picked up a promising 42 yards but only because talented senior Apela Furtado-Tom ripped an interception away from Wolverine sophomore Keyon Prior as they crashed to Tiger Stadium's artificial surface.
"Our D-line can run down anybody," grinned BHS senior QB/LB Josh Westbrook. "Not much to it!"
Prior and junior Carl Heide had also batted away several of Nuschy's attempts to hit either Furtado-Tom or senior Izahiah Peteque streaking into the end zone during the first three stanzas, with wicked consequences.
Heide's first major pass break-up killed a 14-play LJHS possession, consuming 7:17 of clock, at the Bayfield 16-yard line with 7:59 left in the first half. Two plays later, Josh Westbrook connected with senior Brian Mashak for an 84-yard touchdown up the Tigers' sideline with 7:16 remaining.
"Coach called the right play, and our offensive line - best in the state, I still think that - gave Josh enough time for me to get out there," Mashak said. "He threw it up, and I went and got it."
And although Mashak missed the point-after kick, Heide's next crucial pass breakup came on a 4th-and-23 gamble. A penalty had just erased an apparent six-yard Furtado-Tom TD catch. That halted La Junta's ensuing 13-play series at BHS' 24 with only 1:51 left, allowing the visitors to protect their 6-0 advantage.
"It scared me at first," admitted Wood. "And then Carl just comes out of nowhere and stops it. Crazy!"
Junior defensive end Ryan Phelps' nine-yard sack of Nuschy effectively derailed the Tigers' second second-half series, which came after Westbrook's and Wood's sack. After a punt positioned the Wolverines at their own 30 with just 2:09 left in a fast-moving frame, Bayfield went 70 yards in four plays and 1:42, with Mashak (3-154 receiving) hauling in a 64-yard strike along the BHS sideline.
"Just look off the safety and throw it as far as I can," Josh Westbrook explained simply. "And he'll get it!"
This time Mashak's kick split the uprights. With only 27 ticks left in the third quarter, the 13-0 margin appeared sturdy enough to send the fifth-seeded Wolverines back to the state championship - particularly with a defense holding #1 LJHS to easily its lowest scoring output in 2016. The game was La Junta's lowest scoring game since managing only seven points in last fall's semifinal loss at, ironically, Wolverine Country Stadium.
When Mashak picked off La Junta senior Dax Bender's running back-option throw on the fourth quarter's first snap, regaining possession at the Bayfield 28 (an illegal-block penalty wiped out most of his return into Tiger-land) with 11:44 left in the game, it looked as though only Nuschy had even a snowball's chance at best under such heat on an already-warm afternoon.
"Read-option offenses, we've had a bunch of hard times with this year," BHS senior RB/DB Ryan Nava said. "Like Florence, they had a quarterback that really reminded me of (Nuschy) today. Dual-threat quarterbacks are always dangerous, and probably our biggest task was to stop him."
The Tigers were bent on getting the ball back for him quickly. Junior Wyatt Buhr nearly made a diving interception two plays after Mashak's. BHS' first series of the fourth then ended up a three-and-out, and a Phelps punt gave LJHS possession at their 35 with 10:22 remaining.
Beginning with a nine-yard pass to Furtado-Tom, Nuschy knuckled down and drove La Junta the required 65 yards-getting serious help from a penalty which moved the line of scrimmage from the Tiger 43 to the Wolverine 30-in seven plays. The last was a 19-yard dart just over Heide's and Prior's hands and into those of a La Junta receiver. A sky-high snap over the holder spoiled sophomore Zach Archuleta's PAT try, but with eight minutes left, the most important aspect for the Tigers was that at last, they too were on the scoreboard.
And that in itself was too close for the Wolverines' liking. Sending out Westbrook, Mashak and company to their own 35 after La Junta's kickoff hooked out of play into their bench area, Bayfield smartly went no-frills offensively to consume as much clock as possible. But after five plays and 33 yards, disaster struck again when Westbrook's pass over the middle went off Phelps' hands as he was being hit, and wobbled straight into Peteque's.
Granted another new life at their own 28 with 6:10 left, La Junta at last assembled a scoring drive they'd hoped would have occurred much sooner.
Starting with a 10-yard Nuschy toss to Furtado-Tom and a 25-yard Nuschy keeper into BHS territory, the Tigers came back to 13-12 when Nuschy (10-of-20 passing, 153 yards) lobbed a four-yard corner fade to wide-open junior Matthew Espinoza. He had utilized a teammate's crossing route as a "pick" to screen away at least one defender in finishing the 72-yard push with only 2:17 left.
A procedure penalty before Archuleta's PAT made an iffy proposal even shakier, and head coach Clint Buderus decided to try for what his side hoped would be a win rather than sweat out a possible overtime-assuming Archuleta's foot would have been accurate-against the defending state champions.
The Wolverines, by repeating as conference champs and powering into the playoffs' third round, more than proved that 2015 wasn't a one-year wonder. That fact alone could have buoyed spirits had a fifth quarter been necessary.
"A lot of people said we couldn't do it," Josh Westbrook said of the team's run into the state playoffs. "We just had to come out and prove them wrong, and we did. "We had a great year.ended a little too soon, though."
For despite pressuring not Nuschy, but Furtado-Tom into a hurried two-point pass while scrambling for dear life to the bizarre swinging-gate formation's weak side, DiRezza - who'd caught a 16-yard Nuschy pass midway through the scoring drive - rose highest in a crowded end zone to clutch a most unlikely two-pointer.
But a heroic victory - even that wasn't sure until the very end.
Planned or not, La Junta's kickoff was a fast squibber which shot off a surprised front-row Wolverine on the return unit, and was smothered by an oncoming Tiger for a heartbreaking recovery at midfield with only 2:15 left.
Still, BHS wasn't thinking defeat.
Heeding "Strip it!" shouts from assistant coaches Frank Hawkins, Mike Wood and Mike Wnorowski, Bayfield did precisely that on first down, punching free the ball from Nuschy's blind side.
But fate finally showed its ugly side once and for all; not only did La Junta junior lineman Carlos Rangel fall on the fumble, but he actually gained six yards in the process.
A Bender carry then picked up three, and Nuschy then gained three more - and a vital first down - down to the 38, with a personal-foul penalty against Bayfield after the play gifting LJHS another 15 down to the 23. One last Nuschy run and two by Bender rammed the ball down to the BHS 11, but another play wasn't required as time expired.
"Rain, wind, snow, mud-anytime we stepped on the field, we were determined to impose our will," Nava said. "God, this team has a lot of heart, and it really motivates the whole team-freshmen through seniors. Looking in the future, you know, I don't really know how many names are going to come through Bayfield. But one thing's for sure: A lot of heart is always going to be at our school, regardless of skill, anything."
Added Westbrook: "It was a great team that got stopped a little too soon, but it's a great team nonetheless. Thank you to everybody - the whole team, and the town, the community.they all came out and supported it. It's been a great year, and I wouldn't trade it for anything."
"It meant the world to me to know that my team could come out and compete with all the other teams in the state," Mashak said. "La Junta was a great team - I've got to give that to them. They came out and showed us that."
Having improved to 12-0, La Junta will end the season with a third playoffs home game in four weeks when Kent Denver travels south and east from Englewood to contest the 2A state championship this Saturday.
Ousted in last year's semis, the #6 Sun Devils (11-1) advanced by outlasting another Intermountain Conference crew-Delta, initially seeded tenth - by a close 21-14 margin. Had a matchup between BHS (9-3) and the Delta Panthers (8-4) materialized for the Nov. 26 grand finale, not only would the Wolverines have hosted it, but also would have been favored due to their 23-7 victory Oct. 21 at Panther Stadium.
COULDN'T GAIN TRACTION: As a team, Bayfield rushed for just 63 yards on 20 carries in the loss. Heide's 29 yards on one fourth-quarter run was the team's high, and senior Jesse Westbrook gained 23 on six. Junior Hunter Killough carried twice for five, and sophomore workhorse David Hawkins - fighting both an ailing right shoulder and the well-aware Tigers - netted zero on three scattered tries.
Nuschy, by comparison, ran 25 times for 59 yards unofficially. Bender was 8-28 and senior Carlos Triana 7-39 rushing before being rattled on a third-quarter hit near BHS' sideline.
