Hayden Farmer connected with Dax Snooks on three touchdown passes, and the Bayfield High School football team rolled past Gunnison on Friday night in the 2A Intermountain League opener.
The Wolverines (5-0, 1-0 IML) scored on their first four possessions of the game and held the Cowboys (0-5, 0-1 IML) to five consecutive three-and-outs. Bayfield stormed to a 34-0 halftime lead and scored with 7 minutes left to play in the third quarter to start the mercy-rule running clock with a 40-0 lead. Reserve players entered the game and preserved the 40-0 lead for a big Bayfield road win.
“We got the play-action passing going a few times, and Hayden was on the spot with the ball tonight,” BHS head coach Gary Heide said. “I asked him to do a lot tonight passing because we felt it was there.”
Farmer hit Snooks on a 35-yard TD pass with 9:53 to go in the first quarter to give BHS an early 6-0 lead. The extra-point attempt failed, as the Bayfield kicker, Chris Mooney, was out sick and didn’t make the bus trip to Gunnison. A wet and sloppy field made the kicking game difficult, and BHS also struggled on attempted 2-point conversions.
Snooks hauled in another 23-yard TD pass from Farmer on a play-action fake handoff to fullback Hunter Killough, and Bayfield led 12-0 with 6:49 to play in the first quarter.
Dylan Hilliker found the end zone on Bayfield’s next drive, as he ran in from four yards out. This time, Farmer ran in for the team’s lone 2-point conversion of the game to give the Wolverines a 20-0 lead with 2:43 to play in the opening quarter.
Farmer again took advantage on the team’s next possession with a 16-yard TD pass to Killough to push the lead to 26-0.
Bayfield’s offense drove again on its next possession, but Killough was stopped on the 1-yard line on a fourth-down run, turning the ball over on downs to Gunnison for the Cowboys’ first defensive stop of the game.
One play later, the BHS defense swallowed a Cowboys ball carrier in the end zone for a safety that gave BHS a 28-0 lead.
After the free kick that followed the safety, Farmer was immediately intercepted. But the Bayfield defense got a quick stop and got the ball back into Farmer’s hands, who redeemed himself with a 25-yard TD pass to Snooks to give the Wolverines a 34-0 lead at halftime.
“Those plays from Hayden to Dax were a great jump-start for the whole team all night,” coach Heide said. “Dax has great hands and made the catches all night.”
A Dawson Heide interception in the third quarter got the ball back to the Wolverines. After a 50-yard pass play from Farmer to Snooks to get to the Gunnison 26-yard line, Carl Heide ran into the end zone from 17 yards out to give BHS its 40-0 lead.
Bayfield got big contributions from runners such as Jake Sandrey, Max McGhehey and Garrett Beebe, and Hilliker had another strong night for the Wolverines.
“It was nice to see all the guys come in and be able to do what they did,” coach Heide said.
“The guys all respond and rally around those guys. It’s good to see that camaraderie when other team members come in and do a heck of a job.”
Bayfield junior running back and linebacker David Hawkins also returned to the game for the Wolverines. The star injured his knee three weeks ago in the first quarter of a win at Aztec and sat out last week in the 20-13 win against Durango. He didn’t play offense but was able to play a few series on defense for the Wolverines on Friday.
“We’re real happy he’s back,” coach Heide said. “He was a force out there and made some really nice tackles. We erred on the side of caution with him last week, but he will get plenty of playing time a lot more in the next week.”
Up next for BHS is a trip to Montezuma-Cortez on Saturday, Oct. 7. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. The Panthers (1-3, 0-1 IML) fell on the road at Alamosa on Friday night.
“Every game we play at this point, every snap, we will use as a chance to improve,” coach Heide said.
“Cortez, we went there two years ago and they were a very active team with kids flying around. We gotta be ready to go.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
