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Demons get revenge against Mead

DHS football blows out Mavericks, 42-14
Zach Haber scampers into the end zone for the first score of the game Friday against Mead. (Cody Olivas/Durango Herald)

The Durango High School football team avenged its playoff loss from last year to Mead in a big way at home on Friday.

The game was close early and the No. 3 ranked Demons and No. 10 Mavericks were tied 14-14 early in the second quarter. DHS, however, scored the next four touchdowns while stifling Mead’s offense to win the game, 42-14.

“It was a big game against a top Front Range team,” said DHS head coach Todd Casebier. “Tonight we had a good night, but we’ll keep working.”

Mead got the ball first and completed a short screen pass on second down, but Jeric Baruch stripped the ball from the Maverick and jumped on it for a fumble recovery.

DHS then put together 10-play drive to take the first lead of the game. A Tyler Harms to Jaxon Fancher to Zach Haber trick play kept the drive going with a 13-yard gain on fourth-and-nine. Harms later had a touchdown run called back, but on another fourth down, DHS went for it again and Haber rushed into the end zone from five yards out.

On Mead’s next possession, A.J. Folk recovered a fumble for DHS and returned it 36 yards to Mead’s 44. The Demons, however, fumbled on first down and Mead was able to put together a scoring drive to tie the game, 7-7, with 1:19 remaining in the first.

Jaxon Fancher returned the ensuing kickoff 79 yards all the way to Mead’s 21 to set up Durango’s next touchdown – a 10-yard rushing score from Haber with 38 seconds left in the first.

Mead answered with a 34-yard touchdown pass to begin the second quarter.

After that, however, it was all the Demons.

Harms scored on a 31-yard rush, getting to the outside and then winning a foot race into the end zone to put DHS up, 21-14.

“Our quarterback did a real good job leading us,” Casebier said about Harms. Casebier said Durango’s offense made a few errors early in the game, but it was doing things it can fix.

After forcing Mead to punt, Harms got hit as he was throwing and intercepted at Mead’s 16.

The Demon defense, however, forced Mead to punt again with 1:18 remaining in the first half and capitalized.

Harms completed an 11-yard pass for a first down to Jacob Neubert, then ran 13 yards for another first. With 20 seconds left in the half, Baruch scored from 3 yards out and Dylan Burns’ fourth extra point put DHS up, 28-14 at halftime.

“I was pleased how we executed the hurry-up offense with not a lot of time on the clock,” Casebier said.

DHS then scored on its first two drives in the second half to put the game out of reach for Mead.

Baruch and Haber ran for some first downs and then Harms scored on a 1-yard run with 7:15 left in the third, giving DHS a 35-14 lead.

On Mead’s next drive, Jackson Hubertus hit Mead’s quarterback as he was throwing on fourth down, causing an incomplete pass and a turnover on downs.

Two plays later, Harms connected with Folk on a 60-yard strike to give DHS a 42-14 lead.

“I thought our offensive line and our defensive played tough, and I feel we beat them on both sides of the ball in the trenches,” the coach said.

Durango’s backups then got in the game. Mead tried to reach the end zone with a couple long passes, but the Demons didn’t budge.

The Demons improved to 3-1 with the win while Mead slipped to 1-3, with all three losses to ranked teams. DHS will have a bye next week, then host the 4-0 Summit Tigers at 6 p.m. Oct. 7

“I feel we have a good team and we’re playing good football at the right time with league season right around the corner,” Casebier said.

Zach Haber makes a leaping catch for a first down on Friday while playing Mead at DHS. (Cody Olivas/Durango Herald)
Durango quarterback Tyler Harms breaks free for a 31-yard touchdown on Friday against Mead. (Cody Olivas/Durango Herald)