After starting the season 0-2, the Durango football team and its fans probably would’ve been happy with a 42-0 win on the road in October. But despite beating Liberty 42-0 on Friday, Durango interim head coach Ryan Woolverton knew the Demons didn’t play at the level they should have.
“Once again, the defense was stellar,” Woolverton said. “They did what they've been doing the whole year: Played solid, didn't give Liberty much either in the pass game or run game and had some turnovers. Offensively, we were sloppy. We probably played one of the worst games we played offensively in a while. The score may not reflect it, but we played to a lower standard. Something I had talked to the team about was at the beginning of the year, we were sneaking up on teams and we're not doing that anymore.”
Woolverton wasn’t happy with the interceptions, the drops and a fumble his team had against Liberty. He said Durango went through the motions on offense and lacked the intensity it has had the majority of the season.
Durango improved to 6-3 overall and 3-1 in the 4A Soco 2 League. Liberty fell to 2-7 overall and 0-4 in the 4A Soco 2 League.
Senior quarterback Cully Feeney finished 18-27 passing for 222 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also had eight carries for 148 yards and two rushing touchdowns.
Sophomore running back Grady Feeney had 13 carries for 78 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore wide receiver Mason Miller had seven catches for 74 yards and a touchdown. Junior wide receiver Will Zahradnik had four catches for 62 yards and a touchdown.
Durango plays at home for its regular-season finale against Vista Ridge on Friday at 6 p.m. Vista Ridge is also 6-3 overall and is ninth in 4A while Durango is seventh. Woolverton said Vista Ridge has a four-year starter at quarterback who’s a college talent, can run and pass.
Girls cross country makes it to state as a team after third-place finish at regionals
In the summer, it was immediately evident to Durango cross country head coach Michael Fadil that the girls’ team could compete at the top of 5A with the team’s depth of talent.
Fadil managed the talent well as the Demons girls cross country team finished third at the Colorado 5A Region 5 Regional on Thursday at Monument Valley Park in Colorado Springs.
“The girls were solid,” Fadil said. “I told the boys and the girls they don't have to do anything crazy special or Herculean. They just got to get out there and do what they've been doing all year … the girls really stepped up nicely and they did everything they needed to do … that was great. Air Academy girls are real strong this year, one of the best teams in the country. We knew we weren't going to touch that. There were some teams in there that I think were very shocked by us.”
Sophomore Lacy Ruggiero finished 10th and finished her 5-kilometer run in 19 minutes and 20.46 seconds. Senior Bryn Aggeler finished 15th in 19:48.95. Junior Ayumi Lambert was 22nd in 20:28.22, freshman Mena Cerwin finished 29th in 20:37.82 and junior Mira Quayle finished 31st in 20:39.46 to round out the scoring positions for the girls.
The top four boys and girls teams from each regional made it to state as a team. Team points were assigned by combining the finishing positions of the top five runners.
The Air Academy girls finished first with 15 points after its top five runners finished in the top five. Castle View was second with 101 points and Durango was third with 107 points.
Fadil was surprised at how close the Demons were to Castle View.
On the boys’ side, the Demons finished seventh out of 13 schools and missed state as a team. Fadil said the boys had an outside shot at the fourth spot but faced a lot of tough competition. He acknowledged this was a rebuilding year for the boys with a young squad.
Senior AJ Bonanno was the top Demon and finished 25th in 16:47.60. Freshman Caden Voss finished 32nd in 17:04.63. Sophomore Rocco Enea finished 39th in 17:13.78, sophomore Jack Purcell finished 44th in 17:15.73 and sophomore Jackson Fisher finished 63rd in 17:50.03.
The Demon girls will compete at state on Saturday at Norris Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs.
Boys soccer ties Montrose 2-2 in final regular season game
The Durango boys soccer team continued its unbeaten streak with a 2-2 tie against Montrose on Friday but it might’ve felt like a loss with what was at stake.
Durango had a chance at a top-eight seed in the 4A state playoffs with a win. The Demons were up 2-1 in the second half but allowed a Montrose goal with about 10 minutes left for the tie.
“Performance-wise, the main thing I've been pushing recently is just giving your best effort, no matter what the result is,” Ackerman said. “If you can be proud of what you've done and look at your teammates and not feel like you've let them down, then you've done your job. On that front, they did that. They're fighting and they fought hard; they gave it their all. Unfortunately, there were just some mistakes. But if they're going to give their best effort, you can't really be too upset about it. So I was proud of them for that.”
The Demons finished the regular season 10-2-3 overall and 7-1-2 in the 5A/4A Southwestern League with the tie. It’s the first time Durango hasn’t won the league since 2021.
Montrose moved to 9-5-1 overall and 6-3-1 in the league after the tie.
Senior midfielder Orlando Palacios scored a goal for Durango. Junior forward Dylan Burns, who played with the soccer team instead of with the football team due to the significance of the game, finished with a goal and an assist for the Demons.
Durango plays at home against George Washington on Thursday at 4 p.m. in the opening round of the 4A state playoffs.
Volleyball loses third consecutive match with loss to Palisade
Durango volleyball should still make regionals. But, Demons head coach Kelley Rifilato has some work to do for her team to do some damage in the postseason after three consecutive losses over the last two weeks.
The Demons most recently played at home on senior night against Palisade on Friday and lost 3-1. Durango fell to 9-10 overall and 3-7 in the 4A/5A Southwestern League with the 12-25, 26-24, 10-25 and 20-25 loss. Palisade improved to 16-3 overall and 10-0 in the 4A/5A Southwestern League with the win.
Freshman Devyn Edwards led Durango with 12 kills. Senior Avery Rike and junior Hadyn Neiman each had 11 kills. Senior setter Eva Stewart had 32 assists.
The Demons hit the road to play Longmont in Colorado Springs on Friday at 10:45 a.m.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
