The Durango High School football team scored on its first possession Saturday against Palisade. The Demons didn’t reach the end zone again, but they kept the Bulldogs from scoring all game to win 7-0 and lock up the 3A League 3 title.
“It was a battle all through the game,” said DHS senior A.J. Folk. “It’s awesome. Winning the league sets us up for the rest of the year and is the first step going into the playoffs. It’s huge for seeding. I’m thankful for our coaches. They prepared us for a tough Palisade team.”
The league title was Durango’s third in a row and first in the 3A League 3, which Palisade won the past five years.
“We just beat the five-time defending league champs, and they played like it,” said DHS head coach Todd Casebier. “Fortunately, we made a couple more plays today.”
The Demons had scored at least 42 points in its previous six games, and it looked like they were on that track again Saturday. On the first play from scrimmage, quarterback Tyler Harms completed a 49-yard pass to Zach Haber to reach Palisade’s 16. Back-to-back Jeric Baruch and Haber rushes gave DHS a first-and-goal at the one. Baruch then ran into the end zone from a yard out, and Dylan Burns’ kick put the Demons up 7-0 with 10:17 remaining in the first quarter.
DHS threatened a few times after that, but Palisade kept DHS from adding to its lead.
Durango’s defense, meanwhile, gave up some decent drives and a few big plays, but they also made lots of big plays shut out the Bulldogs.
“We shut them down on defense, and they had the best offense we’d seen all year, by far,” Folk said. “They had some big guys and a good offense, but we had a good game plan and were able to mix it up.”
On Palisade’s first drive, Miguel Garcia Rodriguez made a tackle for no gain on third down to force PHS to punt.
On the first play of the second quarter, Palisade running back Rhett Ward broke free for a 20-yard gain, but Brady Hansen chased him down. Quarterback Malakhi Espinosa rushed for 21 yards on the next play, and Palisade eventually got a first down at Durango’s 12. After no gain on first, Rodriguez made another tackle for a loss on second down, and an incomplete pass brought up forth. Palisade went for it and completed a pass, but the Bulldog was met by a swarm of red that tackled him short.
“Our defense bailed us out over and over again,” Casebier said. “Our offense is the No. 1 scoring offense in Class 3A, and they held us to seven points. We’ll have to look at that and figure out why.”
Holding penalties wiped away two Durango first-down plays on its next drive. Two holding penalties then hurt Palisade and DHS took a 7-0 lead into halftime.
Luke Wesley made a third-down tackle to force Palisade to punt on the opening drive of the third quarter. A dropped snap resulted in a DHS sack, however, and Durango punted.
After Palisade punted, both teams put together their best drives of the half.
Harms completed two passes to Haber for a first down and then tossed a 16-yarder to Wesley for another first. Baruch wrestled a fumble away from two Bulldogs to keep the drive alive, then broke a few tackles to pick up 13 yards to set up a fourth-and-3 at Palisade’s 14. Haber then rushed the ball, but was tackled just a couple inches short.
Palisade then picked up first down to get to midfield. Jaxen Fancher, Jaylen Jeffries and Baruch made tackles to bring up fourth-and-five. Palisade went for it and Tyrus Despain ran for 29 yards, but the play was negated by a holding penalty.
On the redo, Rodriguez hit Espinosa as he threw the ball, and the pass fell incomplete.
Durango picked up one first down, but punted to Palisade with 2:57 remaining.
The team’s defense then locked up the win. Josh Bates sacked Espinosa on third down, but Palisade converted on fourth. After two incomplete passes, Jeffries and his teammates sacked Espinosa again. Palisade had one more shot, but its final pass fell incomplete and DHS picked up a seventh straight win.
After blowing out so many opponents this season, the late season test might pay dividends for DHS later.
“The best thing for us was to have to play four quarters,” Casebier said. “That’s what we need to be ready for going forward.”
“Going into playoffs, playing a good team is huge,” Folk said. “It’s good to be prepared for the physicality of the state playoffs.”
The Demons are now 8-1 overall and 4-0 in the league. Palisade slid to 3-6, 2-2.
DHS will now have a bye week to prepare for the playoffs after Battle Mountain forfeited the remainder of its varsity schedule.
