A comeback win overshadowed a slew of Durango High School mistakes last week, but the Demons know they can’t repeat those mistakes this week if they expect to hang tough with one of the state’s best teams.
The DHS football team (2-2) will welcome regional rival Montrose (3-1) for a home game at 7 p.m. Friday night. The Indians will enter the game as the third-ranked team in the Class 4A CHSAANow.com poll and received one first-place vote in this week’s poll. MaxPreps.com ranked Montrose No. 4 this week behind three undefeated teams in Pine Creek, Fort Collins and Pueblo South, respectively. Pueblo South stands at No. 2 in the CHSAANow.com poll, and Fort Collins is No. 4 behind the Indians.
DHS will host Class 4A defending champion Pine Creek on Oct. 17.
“We’ve had flashes early in the season of us playing really good. If we do all the little things right, we can play with anybody,” DHS head coach David Vogt said after last week’s 29-22 win against Farmington. “The big challenge is going to be cleaning up mistakes before Montrose.”
Vogt couldn’t be reached Thursday for comment.
DHS junior quarterback Terrence Trujillo has shown flashes of big-play ability in two starts and three appearances this season. The Demons will need all the big plays they can get out of wide receivers Lucas Baken, Casey Dunlap and Justin Marcum as well as dynamic running back Lawrence Mayberry, who had more than 160 rushing yards last week against Farmington, if they want to keep up with the explosive run game of Montrose.
Montrose senior Mike Rocha already is closing in on 1,000 yards this season. In four games, Rocha has 761 yards on just 121 carries, good for an average of 6.3 yards per carry. He also has eight rushing touchdowns this season.
Rocha averages more than 190 yards per game running the ball, but he isn’t the Indians’ only threat, as they have averaged 358 rushing yards per game. Another senior, Nick Foster, has 317 yards on 21 carries in three games of work.
The Indians are fresh off a bye week after a 51-0 win in Week 3 at Class 5A Fruita Monument (0-4).
The up-and-down Demons have had one consistent presence this season, and that comes on defense. DHS has given up an average of just 18 points per game.
Friday’s game is the final non-league contest of the year for the Demons, who used to play with Montrose in the Southwestern League. They will host Class 4A Pikes Peak League foe Liberty in Week 6 before they will travel to play Palmer Ridge on Oct. 10.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
