ALAMOSA - Crucial towards the Wolverines overcoming another slow-cooked first half as one of the team's road-grading offensive linemen, Cole Wood's best defensive effort not only bulldozed under the Alamosa's best - and last - Senior Night scoring hope, but ultimately gave fans a definitive glimpse of Bayfield's upcoming postseason resolve.
Not long after Wolverine sophomore Dylan Hilliker put the visitors up by more than four scores with a 37-yard show of speed, AHS ran senior Chris Mooney's ensuing kickoff back 58 yards to the BHS 20 with 11:27 left in the contest.
And after a bizarre, but in the game's flag-filled context, not-too- surprising double penalty went against the guests and advanced the Mean Moose down to the 6 (Bayfield historian Dan Ford more accurately described it as the "six-and- a-quarter") with a fresh four tries at breaching the end zone.
"The Moose and the zebras-you've got to play them both," quipped BHS senior Wyatt Killinen, "and that's how it goes."
But even with Alamosa quarterback John Lujan back under center after a brief trip to the locker room late in the third
quarter, it was not meant to be for the home team. Lujan threw incomplete on first down, freshman Zaquarya Bernal took a three-yard loss on second, and after Lujan's third-down throw went incomplete, Wood showed running-back jets from his linebacker position and not only tracked down Lujan on fourth but threw the junior for a five-yard loss.
"I saw it coming," Wood said with a grin afterwards. "Saw them go for one side and I knew they were going to roll out. We worked on it all week, and I made sure that was one of my jobs: Make sure that rollout didn't come out."
"That was huge," senior Hunter Killough said, of the shutout-saving slam. "I was praying he was going to make that play, because I wasn't sure if I was in the right position to get there in time! And Cole came flying through, made that play, and I was smiling ear-to- ear after that one."
Senior Ryan Phelps was forced to punt, ending the resulting Bayfield possession, but a quick, heavy hit by Killough and senior Dax Snooks left the returner flattened at the AHS 19-a net kick of 44 yards. The Wolverine offense went back to work after the 'D' forced a three-and- out and an unreturned Lujan punt to the BHS 42 in only 25 seconds.
Seventy one seconds later, Hilliker crossed the goal line on the receiving end of a 23-yard Hayden Farmer throw over the middle, finishing a 3-play, 58-yard drive with 5:10 still remaining. Mooney's fifth point-after kick in as many tries was good and BHS' lead grew to 38-0.
Only head coach Gary Heide could stop it from increasing further.
The Moose ran Mooney's kickoff back to their own 43, but junior Isaac Lorenzen crashed through to sack Lujan on fourth down and the #2-ranked Wolverines were back on offense
at the Alamosa 45 with 3:36 left.
"Our base goal is to stop the run. We stop the run, we force them to change their offense.and they're a run offense, so we forced them to pass," said Killinen. "We figured we'd have more of an advantage over them."
Junior David Hawkins rumbled for 24 yards on the series' first two snaps, and three plays later, Hilliker carried for 18 more down to AHS' 7. His left ankle painfully wrenched on the tackle however, he hopped painfully off the field and that convinced the boss enough was enough-even as senior lineman Cade Killough gestured to at
least send out Mooney and the field-goal unit to break the 40-point barrier.
He'd earlier hit from 33 yards out, giving Bayfield its eventual 10-0 halftime lead with 4:46 left in the
second, but Heide told Farmer (6-of- 13, 88 yards, INT) to kneel out the final 50-something seconds.
"That was an awesome display of football," he shouted to the 2A Intermountain's undisputed 2017 champions in their post-game huddle. "Now we move forward! We have so much to gain the next four weeks; I want everyone to buy into it!"
Hunter Killough finished with 105 yards rushing on 14 carries and totaled three touchdowns. Senior Carl Heide gained 102 yards on 17 carries, Hawkins finished with 96 on 13, Hilliker 58 on only three (a 13-yard run was wiped out by penalty), and junior Keyon Prior 39 on five before coming out following BHS' first second-half series due to an ailing leg.
Killough was in on a reported 16 total tackles defensively and Wood nine. Senior Kirk Malone assisted on eight stops, while Killinen and senior Mike Kirk were each in on six. Snooks (four tackles) intercepted Lujan early in the third quarter for the game's only turnover.
"It feels great," said Wood. "We killed it on defense, we executed, and finished it off like this."
Up next, Bayfield (9-0, 5-0) will begin the State Playoffs hosting Elizabeth at 1 p.m. this Saturday, Nov. 4. Winning three of their four October outings, the Cardinals will enter Wolverine Country Stadium 6-3 overall, and a third-place 3-2 in the Colorado Conference-dominated by #1-ranked Englewood Kent Denver (9-0, 5-0).
"We look at each and every game as one last chance," Killinen said. "And we're writing a book right now-just got to finish it!"
"At this point, every day's 'Senior Day' because nothing past this is guaranteed," Killough said. "We've got one more game, and if we make it past that we'll have another. So we're going to pound it out; it's for the whole team, not just the seniors."
Missing the postseason, Alamosa finished 5-4 overall and a fourth-place 2-3 in the Intermountain.
