Everett Howland was willing to guarantee a Durango High School victory in the season opener against a smaller Pagosa Springs High School. It didn’t take him long to back it up.
On the first play from scrimmage, Howland ran for a 56-yard touchdown. He had 136 yards and two scores on his first three carries of the game, while the Durango Demons scored five times in their first 15 plays of the game to take a 34-0 lead when the opening quarter expired. The lead grew to 41-0 at halftime to start the mercy-rule running clock, and the Demons continued to dominate in a 47-0 victory.
“To come out here in the regular season, it’s nice to know we can do this,” Howland said. “I knew I was faster than their whole defense, so I knew I could beat them on some of those runs.”
The Class 2A Pirates (0-1) could do nothing to slow the offense of Class 3A No. 10 Durango (1-0), and the Demons frequently started on Pagosa’s side of the field. Howland rushed for 183 yards and three TDs on only six carries. Junior quarterback Jordan Woolverton was 9-of-14 passing for 151 yards and one TD to go with 58 rushing yards and two scores on the ground. It was the kind of rhythm the Demons hoped to see going into next week’s home showdown with No. 3 Palisade, which did not play Week 1.
“Definitely wish I had more field to work with on some of those drives,” said Woolverton. “I actually didn’t have a great night throwing the ball – a little slumped with my throwing – but I love when we’re going out there and scoring in one or two plays almost every series. It shows our potential as a team and where we are right now, and it’s exciting.”
Breyton Jackson got momentum going with a kick return to the Durango 44-yard line. Howland was off to the races one play later. The Durango defense held Pagosa Springs to three plays and a punt, and Durango again had the ball on its own 20. After a seven-play, 80-yard drive, the Demons were in the end zone on an 11-yard run by Woolverton. The lead was 12-0, as DHS missed both of the first two extra-point attempts.
The Pirates looked as though they’d get into the game with a nice drive to the Durango 27-yard line, but running back Wil Aucoin was stood up by the Durango defense and had the football punched out of his grasp. It was recovered by Alex Finneseth of Durango, and the Demons were in business again. This time, Howland ripped off a 73-yard TD run up the middle of the field, as one cut past the safety left him untouched. Woolverton rolled right on a 2-point conversion attempt and dove into the end zone to make it 20-0 with 4 minutes, 36 seconds to go in the first quarter.
“I saw one high safety, and I saw he was back pedaling high on his feet,” Howland said. “I knew I could make one cut and beat him.”
After the Pirates attempted a fake-punt run on fourth down deep in their own territory, Durango once again took advantage and scored one play later on a 20-yard TD pass from Woolverton to Ben Finneseth to make it 27-0 with 2:41 left in the first quarter.
A shanked punt by Pagosa Springs on the next series gave the Demons the ball deep in Pagosa territory. Four plays was all Durango needed to score, as sophomore running back Nate Messier broke a 21-yard TD run as the first-quarter clock expired with the Demons up 34-0.
Pagosa finally forced a Durango punt with 5:46 to go in the first half, and the Pirates looked like they might start a drive. But star running back Paden Bailey sustained a left ankle injury, and the Pagosa drive quickly stalled. A Ben Finneseth punt return of 40 yards set Durango up on the Pagosa 21. After a penalty, Durango scored on a 26-yard run by Woolverton to initiate the mercy-rule running clock with more than two minutes to go in the half.
Pagosa got the ball first in the third quarter, but a promising drive ended with QB Grant Aucoin being intercepted by DHS cornerback Ean Goodwin. It took Durango only four plays to go 65 yards, as Howland ripped off a 36-yard TD run to push the Demon lead to 47-0.
The Demons again intercepted Pagosa Springs in the fourth quarter, as Chase Medenwaldt hauled in an Aucoin pass. That and a sack by Jordan Stanley on the final play of the game put a stamp on the shutout win.
“That’s our goal every game is to get a shutout, but to actually do it is something that’s really hard to do,” DHS head coach David Vogt said. “To accomplish that and to not make a whole lot of mistakes, that’s what you want to do defensively.
“And the sophomores to get those interceptions, I wish you could see those guys work so hard in the weight room and offseason. Last season, you would never think those kids would be varsity players this quickly, but it’s all the hard work they’ve put in that is paying off.”
Next up for Durango is Palisade, which beat the Demons 20-3 last season in Palisade. It is a game the Demons have wanted since that loss a year ago.
“This week in practice, we have to be super focused,” Vogt said. “They’re a great team, and if we make any mistakes, they are going to capitalize on it. It’s going to be a really tough, probably low-scoring game.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
