The Durango High School football scored touchdowns the first seven times it got the ball Friday against Glenwood Springs, enacting the running-clock mercy rule early in the third quarter and cruising to a 57-14 victory.
“We’re getting really good at mixing the run and the pass,” said DHS head coach Todd Casebier. “(Quarterback) Tyler (Harms) had another good game, and I was really happy how we caught the ball. Zach (Haber), Tagert (Bardin) and Luke (Wesley) all had really nice catches.”
The coach also credited his offensive line for keeping Harms clean for the most part and doing a lot of good things. Durango’s offensive line includes tackles Brett Franklin and Andres Garcia, guards Josh Bates and Ben Simpson, center Elijah Oyler and tight ends AJ Folk and Jacob Neubert.
Glenwood’s Demons, however, were also able to move the ball some against DHS and found the end zone twice.
“I didn’t think we played with great energy on defense for the first time all year,” Casebier said. “We can play and tackle better than we did, and we will.”
Glenwood also had some success passing and cut Durango’s lead to 21-7 with a 23-yard strike in the second quarter.
Zach Haber, however, intercepted a trick play before that. And after Glenwood scored, Kaleb Roberts picked off one pass and Luke Wesley intercepted two. Brady Hansen also broke up several passes.
Durango wasted no time getting on the scoreboard.
After forcing Glenwood to go 3-and-out on its first drive, Durango drove the ball 60 yards on just four plays. Jaxen Fancher ran 13 yards on first, and then Haber broke free for a 38-yard rush. Two plays later, Haber scored the game’s first touchdown on a 4-yard rush with 9:10 remaining in the first quarter. Haber rushed for two more touchdowns in the game and caught another one.
Durango scored on its next five possessions in the first half as well to take a 43-7 lead into the break.
Bardin caught a 16-yard pass to get into Glenwood’s red zone and Fancher eventually scored on a 5-yard rush to put DHS up 14-0.
On Durango’s next drive, Haber took off on a sweep for 29 yards, Fancher broke some tackles up the middle for 12 yards, and Harms eventually scored on a 4-yard keeper for a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Glenwood got on the scoreboard with a 10-play drive, but DHS answered almost immediately. On second-and-four, Harms dropped a nice pass over Glenwood’s defense, and Haber caught it in stride for a 57 – yard score. Fancher ran the two-point conversion in and DHS went up 29-7. Kicker Dylan Burns, meanwhile, was a perfect 7-7 on extra points.
Roberts’ interception gave DHS the ball at midfield. After Wesley hauled in a 33-yard reception, Haber rushed into the end zone from 2 yards out with 1:21 left in the half.
Glenwood went back to the air, but Wesley picked off a pass to get DHS the ball back with 1:01 left at Glenwood’s 20. A tackle for a loss and a fumbled snap backed DHS up, but it didn’t matter. Harms threw a 34-yard touchdown strike to Bardin to give the Demons a 43-7 halftime lead.
DHS received the kickoff to start the half and proceeded to march down the field. Haber had a 20-yard rush, Jeric Baruch busted free for 10, Harms threw a 30-yard pass to Wesley and then Haber scored on a 3-yard to enact the mercy rule with 9:30 left in the third quarter.
Glenwood quarterback Joaquin Sandoval got hit in the backfield on the ensuing drive, but broke the tackle and several more for a 35-yard score.
After Wesley’s second interception, Cole Pontine scored Durango’s final touchdown on an 18-yard run.
Miguel Garcia Rodriguez also made some big plays on defense, getting sacks and disrupting multiple plays.
DHS improved 6-1, 2-0 in the 3A League 3 with the win and is now the only team undefeated in league play. Glenwood dipped to 4-3, 1-1.
Next, DHS will play at Eagle Valley (1-5, 1-1) on Friday. “That will be good for us to get away together,” Casebier said.
DHS will then host its final regular season game the following Saturday at 1 p.m. against Palisade.
