The Durango High School football team did the one thing they could not afford to do against No. 4 Pueblo East in a potential 3A South Central League championship matchup Friday night: Turn the football over.
Three first-half turnovers, including two in the first quarter, led to a 17-7 halftime deficit and a 24-7 win for the Eagles in the regular-season finale at Dutch Clark Stadium in Pueblo.
Durango (6-4, 3-2 SCL) was uncharacteristically sloppy on offense, as the Demons fumbled on both of their possessions in the first quarter. The Demons’ second turnover was deep in their own territory, at their own 7-yard line, and on the ensuing play, junior running back Noah Rivera took it up the middle to give Pueblo East a 7-0 lead with 8:16 remaining in the first quarter. That would be the score at the end of the first frame.
“I told them we were beating ourselves. It was just about minimizing those mistakes and we can’t do that against a good team,” said Demons head coach David Vogt. “We made too many mistakes and it was just one of those nights where nothing seemed to be going our way early and we had to dig ourselves out of a hole again.”
In the Demons’ second possession of the second quarter, senior running back Dawson Marcum lost the football, the third fumble of the night for DHS, as full safety Kain Medrano recovered for Pueblo East.
Once again, the Eagles (8-2, 5-0 SCL) would take advantage as senior quarterback Luc Andrada led his team on an 8-play, 62-yard drive that was capped off with a 14-yard strike to senior wide receiver Joe Padula to make it 14-0 with 2:36 remaining in the first half.
Durango knew they had to get back into the game before halftime to limit the damage and they did just that. Sophomore quarterback Jordan Woolverton led DHS on hurry-up, two-minute drill offense, which resulted in a 10-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Kiernan McKinnis. The drive took seven plays and went 57 yards and the Demons were able to get on the scoreboard with just 44 seconds remaining in the half.
However, Andrada led the Eagles down the field and Durango’s defense was unable to get a stop as sophomore kicker Thomas Wagner split the uprights for a 28-yard field goal as time expired to give the Eagles a two-score lead at 17-7.
It would get worse for DHS as junior running back and safety Everett Howland was transported to the hospital with a wrist and elbow injury he sustained early in the first quarter.
At the start of the third quarter, Pueblo East received the ball and were able to put an exclamation point on the night. Andrada was efficient again on the drive, as he and the Eagles’ offense went 9-plays, 67 yards and senior running back Patrick Gonzales ran up the middle for a 13-yard score to make it 24-7.
Vogt said the defense kept Durango in the game throughout most of the night, but the Eagles capitalized when they needed to.
“Andrada was a tough quarterback to defend, but I thought we did a good job against (Padula),” Vogt said. “Whenever we were able to defend (Padula) well, Andrada would take off with his feet and I thought he was a great athlete. But still, our defense was solid and we only gave up one true touchdown on the night, so all in all, it wasn’t bad from that end of the field.”
The Demon defense finally got its first stop in four possessions on the following drive, but the offense was unable to capitalize and it remained 24-7 at the end of the third quarter.
The final frame was a culmination of a frustrating offensive evening for DHS, as they punted on two out of three possessions and Marcum was picked off on a fake punt attempt. In Durango’s five second-half possessions, four drives stalled and were punted away. The Eagles took a knee on their final possession, and with the win, wrapped up a league title and defeated Durango for the third consecutive season.
Marcum finished the night with 75 yards on 19 carries and was DHS’s leading rusher. Woolverton was looking to replicate last year’s breakout game against the Eagles when he finished 22-of-28 for 262 yards, and while it wasn’t as memorable of performance as last season, the sophomore still finished with an impressive 13-of-17 for 98 yards and one touchdown and no interceptions.
Andrada finished the night 12-of-20 for 114 yards and one touchdown and zero interceptions and he also was the leading rusher for the Eagles with 12 carries for 104 yards. Sophomore wide receiver Gage Mestas was the Demons’ leading receiver with four catches for 43 yards.
The Demons will now await their fate as the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 3A playoff bracket will be released on Sunday. Durango came into the matchup holding the No. 6 spot in the latest Ranking Percentage Indicator, which determines the playoff bracket. With the loss, Durango will undoubtedly drop, but to what extent will not be known until Saturday morning, when the latest standings will be released.
“We’re just trying to focus on getting better, especially now,” Vogt said. “We could play anybody in the playoffs, and while we don’t know who we’ll play yet, we’ve got to switch into that different mode and get better. No matter who we’ve got, we’ll definitely go into practice this week and work on preparing for the state playoffs as best we can.”
bploen@ durangoherald.com
