Once again, the Durango High School football team will be tasked with slowing down a run-heavy offense when the Demons face Pueblo County at 7 p.m. Friday at Hornet Stadium in Pueblo.
The Demons (5-3, 2-1 South Central League) are coming off a dominant defensive performance in which they held Pueblo Central to negative 9 rushing yards and only 59 yards of offense en route to a 46-6 win last week on Durango’s homecoming.
And they won’t have to adjust their defensive game plan too much to prepare for the Hornets (2-6, 1-2 SCL).
Like the Wildcats last week, Pueblo County is a run-dominant offense and has carried the ball on 342 of their 420 offensive plays this season.
Leading Pueblo Central’s running game is senior Adrian Soto, a 6-foot, 175-pound senior who has averaged 109.2 yards per game this season.
Durango’s offense could be in for a big game against the Hornets.
Similar to the Hornets, the strength of the Demons’ offense is their running attack, but unlike the Demons, Pueblo County’s defense has struggled to contain opposing runners.
Pueblo County hasn’t held an opposing team to fewer than 250 rushing yards in any of its last five games.
With a porous run defense, Durango’s backfield trio of Everett Howland, Max Hyson and Dawson Marcum could be in for a big day. Last week, all three running backs broke big plays, and Hyson and Marcum had rushing touchdowns.
When the two teams met last year at DHS, Hyson and Marcum combined for 187 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the way to a 34-14 victory.
The Demons will be without freshman quarterback Jordan Woolverton, who fractured his non-throwing hand in two spots during last week’s game.
With Woolverton out, Hyson will get the start at QB.
Hyson started the Demons’ first six games of the season before Woolverton took over the starting job.
kschneider@durangoherald.com
If you go
Who: Durango at Pueblo County
What: 3A South Central League football
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: Hornet Stadium, Pueblo
Listen Live: KKDG 99.7 FM
Twitter: @karltschneider
