Holding penalties couldn’t hold back the Bayfield Wolverines.
Despite incurring several penalties Friday night, the Bayfield High School football team had no problem earning its third consecutive win with a 41-7 win at Pagosa Springs.
The win moved the Wolverines to 5-2 overall and 3-0 in 2A Intermountain League play with a big showdown looming next Friday at Delta.
“We wanted to come out and execute, continue to elevate our game for whatever chances we have coming up,” BHS head coach Gary Heide said in a radio interview after the game. “We’ve earned a chance to accomplish our dream, and that’s go play next week for the conference championship.”
Bayfield stretched its winning streak against the Pirates to eight games. It didn’t take long to establish dominance, as the defense held Pagosa (1-6, 0-3 IML) to only two first downs in the first half.
BHS opened the game with a long scoring drive. A holding penalty negated a long kickoff return and another big play later in the drive, but it didn’t matter. Senior quarterback Josh Westbrook connected with senior wide receiver Brian Mashak on a 66-yard touchdown pass, and Mashak converted the extra point for an early 7-0 lead.
The Wolverines scored again on their next drive on a 15-yard TD run by sophomore running back David Hawkins, who scored again late in the third quarter on a 10-yard run to start a running clock after giving BHS a 41-0 lead.
After Hawkins’ first score, it was Westbrook finding Mashak for another TD pass, this time a 29-yarder to quickly end a one-play drive. That score gave BHS a 21-0 lead after one quarter. Mashak also went 5-for-5 on extra-point attempts.
“We’ve been working a little more on that,” Heide said of the extra points. “Coming up, that may be really important. Hats off to Brian, he had a great nice receiving the ball getting a couple of touchdowns, too.”
A huge catch-and-run by Keyon Prior set the Wolverines up for their next score in the second quarter. Sophomore quarterback Hayden Farmer hit Prior in stride, threading the needle between the Pagosa defense. Four plays later, Farmer was in the end zone on a 1-yard TD run.
BHS added one more score in the second quarter, as Jesse Westbrook ran in from 2 yards out. That helped the Wolverines carry a 35-0 lead into halftime.
Josh Westbrook showed his continued improvement at quarterback with another two touchdown passes. He also ran the bell effectively, as he takes strides forward every week.
“He’s really come along,” Heide said of his senior QB. “We have confidence in all phases of our game. We started off the season with a strong inside running game with David and the offensive line. Now, we have a bit of everything going.”
The story continued to be the dominating defense of the Wolverines, who didn’t allow a point until the fourth quarter. Pagosa Springs quarterback Isaiah Griego hit Javier Marinelarena on a beautiful 35-yard TD pass with a little more than 4 minutes to play. The Pirates avoided the shutout, but the Wolverines’ defense could be proud after surrendering only 10 total points in the first three league games.
The final two weeks will decide the IML, as Bayfield will travel to face Delta in a top-10 showdown next week. BHS will finish the regular season at home against Alamosa on Saturday, Oct. 29.
Delta (4-2, 2-0 IML) will play at Montezuma-Cortez on Saturday in what will likely be a lopsided win. Delta beat Alamosa 28-6 last week, leaving it and BHS as the only teams unbeaten in league play.
“If we play to our potential, we will win that game,” Heide said of the Delta matchup. “Football is a funny game, but we’re ready to go. I really like our chances up there.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
