The Bayfield High School football team is in danger of finishing below .500 for the first time since 2006, when this year’s crop of seniors was in fifth grade.
The Wolverines will host Pagosa Springs at 6 p.m. Friday at Wolverine Country Stadium in both teams’ regular season finales.
It’s also the last regular-season game for the Wolverines’ seniors, who have won a total of 35 games throughout their four years.
“There’s an outside chance, and I mean outside, that if we win we could sneak into the state playoffs,” BHS second-year head coach Gary Heide said. “But that’s not our main concern because we had a chance to control our own destiny last week, and we didn’t do it.”
BHS (4-4, 3-3 Western League) has lost its last two games against league leaders Olathe and Gunnison after a two-game winning streak.
Both teams held Wolverines’ sophomore fullback Zane Phelps more than 20 yards under his season average of 109.5 rushing yards per game. Phelps leads BHS with 876 yards on the ground, while no other Wolverine is above 160.
The Wolverines also will have to stop the run to be successful against the Pirates, who average more than 200 yards per game on the ground, led by Keenan Early’s 94.5 yards per game and Jeremiah Miller’s 69.5.
Bayfield allowed 237 yards to Olathe running back Trenton Jole and will need a better effort against Pagosa Springs.
Defensive tackle Zane Westbrook missed much of the second half of that game with a shoulder injury, but he was cleared medically Tuesday and will suit up for the game.
“He took another stinger on the shoulder, but he’s ready to go,” Heide said.
The Wolverines’ above-.500 record streak isn’t the only one on the line; they haven’t lost to Pagosa Springs in football since 2005 or dropped more than one home game at Wolverine Country Stadium since the 2006 season.
“This is a big game for us, obviously we want to win on our home field, the last game of the year,” Heide said. “That would get us over .500; those are big things, and they’re important to us.”
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
