Bayfield turned the ball over three times, missed a field goal and had a turnover on downs in the first half. None of that mattered in the second half.
The Bayfield High School football team marched down the field to start the third quarter. After a big David Hawkins run, Dylan Hilliker scored on a 2-yard run to get the Wolverines on the scoreboard and cut Salida’s lead to 14-8, as the team had to go for 2-point conversions in the second half with senior kicker Max McGhehey en route to a hospital with a rib injury that threatened his spleen. That score gave Bayfield momentum and confidence, and they carried it to a 22-14 victory at Salida (8-1, 3-1 IML) in the Class 2A Intermountain League Championship game.
“We didn’t say anything out of the ordinary coaching clichés of, ‘let’s keep our heads up, let’s not get upset at each other. Let’s go score the first touchdown, get momentum and make this a close game,’” BHS head coach Gary Heide said. “We felt like we were maybe down more than 14, but the fact was we were only down 14, so we felt better about that. We got the first touchdown, and it was anyone’s game at that point.”
It was Bayfield’s fourth consecutive league championship. The Wolverines (7-1, 4-0 IML) have won 21 consecutive league games, and the graduating class of seniors never tasted defeat in a league game.
“You play each game week by week,” Hawkins said. To be able to say that, it’s awesome. We can come out of league feeling like we dominated. Not many people get to say that.”
After Bayfield cut the Salida lead to 14-8, the Wolverine defense was tenacious. Salida attempted a fake punt, but the punter fumbled after being hit by Spencer Funke. At the bottom of the pile, Bayfield’s John Foutz came up with the ball to give it to BHS on the Salida 33 with 5 minutes, 28 seconds to go in the second quarter.
Moments later, Hawkins ran for a 17-yard touchdown, and Keyon Prior hauled in his second consecutive 2-point conversion pass from senior quarterback Hayden Farmer to give the Wolverines a 16-14 lead with 4:28 to play in the third quarter.
“We’ve been here before after coming out with a tough win last week in Pagosa,” Hawkins said. “We came back and took that lead, and that’s exactly what we needed to get momentum on our side. We took complete control after that.”
Bayfield’s defense forced another three-and-out and a Salida punt. It was partially blocked and went only 12 yards to the Bayfield 48-yard line. The Wolverines’ offense again marched down the field, and Prior capped off the drive with a touchdown pass to Hawkins. Prior took a pitch from Farmer to the right, and he lofted a pass into the end zone where Hawkins went above two Salida defenders to haul it in. BHS couldn’t convert a third 2-point conversion, but the lead was 22-14 with 10:50 to play in the game.
“After last week at Pagosa when Keyon carried the load for us, we knew they were keying on Keyon,” Heide said. “We had run the same play quite often over there. We thought as a group it was a good time to call that pass.”
Hawkins had been split out right several times as a blocker, but he caught Salida’s defense by surprise when he ran a route.
“Keyon threw a dime,” Hawkins said. “I had position against the defenders and went up and rebounded it. I focused on the ball. I saw Keyon throw it, knew it was a 50-50 jump ball, and I wanted it to go in my favor.”
Bayfield’s defense iced the game with interceptions from Alec Demko and Crosby Edwards. It was Edwards who was thrust into the game at safety with McGhehey out with the injury. Hawkins dropped back to strong safety at times, but he played up at the line of scrimmage on the play Edwards made the interception with 1:30 to play and Salida down to only one timeout that couldn’t help the Spartans get the ball back.
“We talked so much to Alec about getting to the flat. He does and gets an interception,” Heide said. “Crosby, we were telling him to get his deep fours, he does and gets the big interception. They were in position and secured the win. Hats off to them.”
Salida scored first on a 1-yard run from Vince DeLeo with 1:24 to go in the first quarter. The Spartans made it 14-0 with a 50-yard touchdown run by Ben Fuller with 5:45 to go in the second quarter. Besides that, Bayfield was stingy.
Hawkins finished with 120 rushing yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. Dylan Hilliker added 66 yards on eight carries. Prior had three receptions for 27 yards and ran for 29 yards on seven carries.
Now, the defending Class 2A state champion Wolverines will prepare for a home playoff game next Saturday. Through all the ups and downs of the season, BHS has a chance to earn the top seed in the tournament and is likely to do no worse than a second seed.
“This team really came together the last week,” Heide said. “They should be commended for that with some of the things that had been going on. Every single guy came together and contributed, and our line coach Frank Hawkins deserves credit for being a positive person that entire first half when things weren’t going good.
“Now, we’re not looking ahead to anything. It’s one game at a time. We will play a football team that’s hungry because they’re in the playoffs. We will stay focused and take care of business one quarter, one play at a time.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
