The Durango Young America Football League season continued in earnest, as the Demons went 3-2 last weekend, which was topped off by a shutout at the third-grade level.
The third-grade squad is not only perfect on the season in the win column, but the scoreboard as well after a 33-0 win over Bloomfield. With the win, the Demons improved to a perfect 5-0 and have recorded a shutout in every game this season.
Quarterback Jerad Lopez opened the scoring after the first possession with a 45-yard touchdown run thanks to the blocking of Griffin McCroskey and Isaiah McGrady to give the Demons an early 7-0 lead. Lopez scored another touchdown on the day, while Malique Rodriguez had two scores and Oliver Nez had another. Owen Erwin and Rylan Ernst recorded extra points on the day. The Demons continued their strong defensive play with numerous tackles for losses by McCroskey, Kegan Cowan and Jordan Willbanks. The Demons will travel to play Bayfield at 9 a.m. Saturday.
At the sixth-grade level, the Demons capped off the weekend with a 50-13 win over Kirtland. Quarterback Linkin Griego had 207 yards passing and a rushing touchdown. Griego’s main target was wide receiver Malakai Baier, who finished with 81 yards and two touchdowns. Meanwhile, Cole Pontine was not far behind with 70 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Pontine led the Demons with seven tackles and an interception. Durango will head to Farmington to take on the Titans at 11 a.m. Saturday.
The fifth-grade team did not have enough energy in the tank, as it fell to the Farmington Panthers 27-12. After going down early 13-0, Wes Recla got the Demons back in the game with a 15-yard score to make it 13-6 at halftime. JJ Vickers had a strong second half and got Durango within one with a 24-yard touchdown run that cut the deficit to 13-12. The rest of the half proved too much, with two blocked punts and turnovers. Cooper Mitchell led Durango with 11 tackles in the loss followed by Brady Hoerl with nine. Durango will play on the road at 1 p.m. Saturday in Aztec.
The fourth-grade team had much better luck and improved to 3-2 after an 18-6 road victory against Cortez despite numerous injuries, penalties and miscues. Quarterback Grady Feeney threw a 42-yard bomb to Jakob Maycock midway through the second quarter to give Durango the lead. Durango’s duo of Feeney and running back Blaze Aguilar continued, as Aguilar threw a touchdown pass to Feeney and Feeney later ran for a score. On defense, Jude Alderton and Feeney had 11 tackles and Jayden Dosch had two fumble recoveries and 10 tackles.
The Demons will take to the road again against Blomfield at 11 a.m. Saturday.
The second-grade team lost to Bloomfield 15-0. M.J. Keo, Cole Perkins and Wyler Stewart led Durango’s defense in the loss. Stats were not provided. Durango has a bye week this weekend.
heraldsports@ durangoher.com
