Highlighted by the first varsity-level clash with neighboring Bayfield since 2010, Ignacio High’s 2024 football season gets underway this weekend with a game about as far from the Pine River Valley as one might consider.
Ready to build upon a 4-5 mark in ’23, including a third-place 3-2 showing in the Class 1A Southern Peaks, the Bobcats will journey to Denver to meet nonconference Manual – which also finished 4-5 overall last fall, including a 3-2 record against 1A Longs Peak opposition – on Friday. Kickoff time at MHS Field is set for 6 p.m.
“It’s a (CHSAA) ‘cycle’ year, so to find a game around here … is trying to find a needle in a haystack,” IHS head coach Alfonso ‘Ponch’ Garcia said. “And Manual, believe it or not, they were one of the few teams that was free – who didn’t have a game. That’s why we’re playing in zero week because that was the only time we could fit them in.”
Only two of MHS’ victories, however, were on-field achievements. The Thunderbolts won their 2023 opener 28-0 over nonconference Jefferson in Edgewater, but then dropped three straight – allowing an average of 46 points per game before logging a 2-0 forfeit over Denver Sheridan (winless since 2019) beginning league play. Federal Heights-based The Pinnacle also forfeited before Manual then suffered a season-ending 54-6 loss at Ault Highland.
The Thunderbolts’ other true victory – possibly the better of the two – came at home against Estes Park in conference action, 44-32.
After returning from the Mile High City, Ignacio will begin preparing to host Cedaredge on the 30th, beginning an apparent 2024-25 home-and-home with the Bruins (3-5, 0-4 1A Western Slope in ’23). Kickoff at IHS Field is set for 6 p.m.
“Cedaredge was already in the making since last year; they called and said, ‘we want to play you guys,’ then we ended up with the same records and we were like ‘why not?’” Garcia said. “So instead of playing (Hotchkiss) North Fork – and North Fork, last year, was a one-game deal – we said alright, as long as we do a ‘cycle’ piece.”
The Bobcats’ third nonconference opponent will be Olathe, back at a varsity level after spending 2023 as a rebuilding JV crew (the Pirates went 0-9 overall in ’22, and were outscored by an eye-popping 380 points) on Sept. 13 at 7 p.m., before Ignacio heads to BHS on the 20th (7 p.m.) to begin a telling three-game road swing. The Bobcats usually go to Cortez but decided to play Bayfield this year. Garcia hopes it will be a fun game for both sides.
Conference play for the ’Cats then begins at 7 p.m., Oct. 4, in La Jara against powerhouse Centauri. IHS will next travel on the 11th to Trinidad. Regular-season work will then wind down with 7 p.m. home games versus Center (10/18), Monte Vista (10/25) and Del Norte (Nov. 1).
“You know, we lost a great senior class last year but we’ve also gained a couple good kids,” Garcia said while saluting preseason leadership shown already by a talented junior class. “One – who came from Bayfield – that I’m not going to see for another two weeks because he’s on vacation, and then I have a home-school kid and he’s raw, never played football before. But they’re good-sized boys, got a good understanding of what we’re trying to teach them.”
Garcia said he has around 28 or 29 kids which is up from the usual 18-20 kids. He has eight freshmen and hopes to keep them together in the future.
