With snow on the ground today in Durango, surely fall sports must be over and Durango Demons supporters will move to gymnasiums for basketball season, right? Wrong.
Durango football and volleyball postseason matchups were released in the last few days. The football team finished as the No. 6 seed in 4A and received a first-round bye After that bye, Durango will either play Air Academy or Heritage. Volleyball will hit the road as the No. 33 seed in the 5A regionals to face Legend and Ralston Valley.
The Demons football team ended the regular season winning seven of their last eight games and finished 7-3 overall and 4-1 in the 4A Soco 2 League. Durango’s only losses on the season were 4A’s second-best team in Montrose, New Mexico’s 5A Farmington and 4A’s No. 4 seed Palmer Ridge.
During the last eight weeks of the season, the Demons beat the No. 9 seed in 4A in Grand Junction, the No. 12 seed in 4A in Vista Ridge the No. 13 seed in 4A in Rampart and the No. 22 seed in 4A in Air Academy.
“We figured we would be in the seven or eight spot, honestly,” Durango football interim head coach Ryan Woolverton said. “In the last two weeks, we thought maybe we could sneak into that six seed. Vista (Ridge) is a top team with a good RPI. We thought going into that game, we could possibly sneak into that six seed. Obviously, we were happy anywhere in that top eight, to be honest. With that being said, you always want to avoid the number one team.”
The Demons will host the winner of No. 11 Heritage and No. 22 Air Academy on either 11/15 or 11/16. Durango previously beat Air Academy on the road 58-0 on Oct. 18. The Kadets finished 4-6 overall and finished fifth in the 4A Soco 2 League at 1-4. Woolverton said his team is comfortable with their game plan against Air Academy but also realizes the Kadets aren’t as bad as they were in the previous matchup.
Heritage, from Littleton, finished the regular season 5-5 overall and 3-2 in the 4A South Metro League. Woolverton thought the Eagles’ record was misleading and that they might be the best .500 team in the state. The Eagles put up 40+ points four times this year and 60+ points twice this year.
Woolverton said Heritage’s quarterback, junior Jamison Seese, is a college-level quarterback who makes good reads and has a quick release. The offensive line gives him time and the Eagles have some quality skill players. Heritage has given up a lot of points at times this season. Woolverton said he’s surprised by that because, on film, it looks like they run a good scheme.
Durango hasn’t been hit with too many injuries, so with its week off, other than lifting, the Demons won’t focus too much on physical health.
“More than anything, we needed this physically, but mentally, to recharge,” Woolverton said. “Last week was a very emotional week for us with Braxton’s (Waddell) car accident. It's a close-knit team, and it hit a lot of people pretty hard. So this is a great time to refresh and have some fun. We've started breaking down potential teams we could play and we’ve lightened up the practice load.”
Volleyball faces uphill battle to make it out of regionals
Durango volleyball’s future is set with two matchups in the 5A Region 4 Regionals. Beyond that, it will be an uphill road for Durango to make it back to the state playoffs for the first time since 2022. It has to play No. 4 Legend and No. 21 Ralston Valley.
The Demons were the No. 33 seed in 5A after finishing the regular season 10-13 overall and 3-7 in the 4A/5A Southwestern League. Durango finished the regular season by going 1-3 in the Cheyenne Mountain Invitational last week.
Durango volleyball head coach Kelley Rifilato said the Demons went into the Cheyenne Mountain Invitational ranked No. 29 in 5A. If the Demons had won a game or two more at that tournament they might’ve stayed in the high 20s which would’ve been a bonus. But Rifilato is happy the Demons avoided one of the top two seeds.
Legend is 16-6 overall and went 9-1 in the 5A Continental League. The Titans beat Cheyenne Mountain 3-0, Palisade 2-1 and Lewis-Palmer 3-0. Durango lost to all of those teams.
Ralston Valley is 15-8 overall and 5-3 in the 5A Jeffco League. The only common opponent it had with Durango was Mead. Ralston Valley beat Mead 3-1 while Durango lost to Mead 3-0.
Rifilato was happy Durango participated in the Cheyenne Mountain Invitational because it allowed her team to play against teams with a lot of size and a lot of athleticism. She thinks the Demons match up well with Ralston Valley and her girls won’t be nervous like they were last weekend at the Cheyenne Mountain Invitational.
Durango must beat both Ralston Valley and Legend to move on to the state bracket.
“We got a great draw and no matter what, we're going to have to earn our keep,” Rifilato said.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
