BAYFIELD – Bayfield barely had enough time to get reacquainted to its home stadium before Gunnison jumped out to a three-score lead.
The Cowboys scored three times in the first 20 minutes of a 39-14 win over the Wolverines on Friday night at Wolverine Country Stadium.
“They were very physical, and I think we came out a little flat,” BHS head coach Gary Heide said.
BHS (3-4, 1-1 Western Slope South League) hadn’t played a home football game in more than a month by the time its literal homecoming game rolled around.
Gunnison running back Luke Tovar made himself at home in the Wolverines’ endzone all night. He opened the game’s scoring with a 15-yard touchdown run with 9 minutes, 35 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Tovar then scored from four yards out with 29 seconds left in the first quarter, a 53-yard screen reception halfway through the third quarter and on a 35-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter.
“We just didn’t really come out and try. They had really good blocks,” said BHS senior Zane Westbrook, son of Kathy and Richard Westbrook. “Our defensive line wasn’t coming off too high, we weren’t firing out. They were on the gas pedal all night.”
Tovar finished with 26 carries for 150 yards and two touchdowns and caught two passes for 68 yards and a touchdown.
“It’s our line and our coaches. They study, and they know how to put things together,” Tovar said. “I just run through the hole they make for me.”
BHS trailed 24-0 at halftime but found some traction early on a 12-play drive to open the third quarter that resulted in a 3-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Kelton McCoy to junior running back Zane Phelps.
McCoy also threw Brody McGhehey a 25-yard touchdown pass with 1:32 left in the third quarter.
McCoy finished the game 10-for-13 passing with 123 yards and two touchdowns.
“We’re built on the run power game. We can go to the air a little bit, but it’s not something we can live on the entire game,” Heide said. “We want to be successful in those spurts, so that’s what we expect out of it.”
Phelps carried much of Bayfield’s running game, as he has all season. He carried the ball 21 times for 105 yards, in addition to making three catches for 41 yards and a touchdown.
The Wolverines just trailed by too much for too long to be able to lean on their power game for stretches.
The victory puts state-ranked Gunnison (5-1, 2-0 WSL) squarely in the driver’s seat for a second consecutive league title, while BHS is viewing its next three games as must-wins to make the playoffs.
“If we lose another league game, we’re not going to playoffs,” Westbrook said. “It’s very vital that we win the next game, but we want to take it one step at a time, like you’re climbing a mountain.”
Montezuma-Cortez is up next for the Wolverines in WSL play after the Panthers beat Pagosa Springs 41-6 on Friday. They’ll play at 7 p.m. Oct. 10 at Wolverine Country Stadium.
“We want to basically get our minds back on what we can accomplish and really come out with a lot of passion,” Heide said. “We want to coach ’em up well, put them in a position to win and come out with a lot of desire to win a football game next Friday night.”
kgrabowski@ durangoherald.com
