The Durango High School football team proved why it’s ranked No. 2 in Class 3A on Friday. The Demons welcomed No. 7 Summit and its 5-0 record to town for its homecoming contest and dominated all phases of the game to win 56-3.
“We’re playing our best football every week,” said DHS head coach Todd Casebier. “This is the best we’ve played since I’ve been here, but we have to keep it up.”
The Demons scored on its first seven offensive possession to enact the 40-point mercy rule with 9:20 remaining in the third quarter.
“I have to give this one to the line,” said senior running back Jeric Baruch. “It was a battle in the trenches, and we definitely won that battle.”
Baruch rushed for two touchdowns in the game – a 43-yard run and a 51-yard score, and said he had “some wide-open holes.”
Quarterback Tyler Harms threw three touchdowns – two to AJ Folk and one to Taggert Bardin. Jaxon Fancher and Zach Haber both rushed for scores, as did the team’s backup quarterback, Cully Feeney.
The Demons scored on all five of their possessions in the first half to take a 35-3 lead into the break.
Dylan Burns began the game with an onside kick that he was able to recover himself.
“We dominated the three phases of the game, and it started with that onside kick,” Casebier said.
DHS ran the ball on its first five plays, getting first-down runs from Haber and Fancher. Harms then connected with Folk on a 34-yard touchdown pass to put DHS up 7-0.
On Summit’s first possession, Fancher and Miguel Garcia Rodriguez combined to sack Summit quarterback Jack Schierholz. Folk then sacked him on third down to force Summit to punt.
“Our defensive coaches (Ryan) Wolverton, (Justin) Bates, (Nate) Bair and (Griff) Gans had a great plan, and our kids executed it well,” Casebier said.
On Durango’s next possession, Haber had a 14-yard rush, and Fancher carried several Tigers with him for an 11-yard run that gave Durango first-and-10 at the 10. Two plays later, Fancher scored on a 7-yard run to put DHS up, 14-0 with 5:29 remaining in the first.
Summit put together its best drive of the half on its next possession and reached Durango’s red zone. A third down sack by Fancher and Lincoln Griego, however, forced Summit to kick a field goal and Henry Eslich nailed a 34-yard kick to get Summit on the board, 14-3.
Durango, however, answered on the very next play from scrimmage. Folk once again got behind Summit’s defense and Harms hit him in stride for an 80-yard touchdown.
Baruch and Wesley made a big tackle for a loss on Summit’s next drive and the Tigers eventually punted.
“They were a good team, I just don’t think they were ready for such a hard-hitting game,” Baruch said.
DHS made another big play on offense. On third-and-five, Baruch ran up the middle, but broke through the line and then won a 43-yard foot race into the end zone. Burns’ kick put the Demons up, 28-3.
The Demons scored on another pass with 1:10 left in the half. Bardin got a step on his defender, and Harms dropped the ball perfectly over the Tiger and Bardin caught the ball in the end zone with a Tiger in his face.
Summit almost capitalized on a couple long passes. On one, the receiver dropped the ball after getting behind Durango’s secondary. On another, with Durango up 35-3, a Summit receiver caught a 53-yard pass and ran in the end zone, but a penalty negated the play.
The first half ended with Kaleb Roberts intercepting a Summit Hail Mary.
DHS kept the momentum rolling in the second half and Baruch scored on the second play from scrimmage, using some misdirection to break free for 51 yards.
Haber broke up a pass that helped force Summit to punt. And then he broke free for a 45-yard score on Durango’s second play from scrimmage on the ensuing possession.
In the fourth quarter, Durango’s backups took over and they also reached the end zone when Feeney lunged in from a yard out to cap a 12-play, 50-yard drive that ate the final 9:35 off the clock.
“At that point, we were just trying to keep the clock running,” Casebier said.
With the win to start its 3A League 3 season, DHS improves to 5-1 overall and 1-0 in the league. Summit slipped to 5-1, 0-1.
“I’m happy for our seniors on homecoming,” Casebier said. “They deserve it.”
The Demons will be at home again next week when it hosts Glenwood Springs. The game is scheduled to kick off at 6 p.m. Friday.
