Durango’s youth football teams had a dominant weekend with four of the five Young America Football League teams coming away with shutout victories.
The Demons’ second-grade team opened its season with a crushing 31-0 victory against Bloomfield.
The Demons’ defense highlighted the win, forcing a fumble that was recovered and returned for a touchdown by Jerad Lopez on the first play of the game.
Lopez was one of several Demons who came up with big plays on defense with Darion Allen, Stetson Coulier, Byayan Hernandez-Martinez, Rylan Ernst and Isaiah McGrady all making key tackles.
Lopez added two rushing touchdowns while Ethan Aggeler scored on a 15-yard run to help pace the offense.
The second-grade Demons will play Kirtland at 11 a.m. Saturday at Miller Middle School.
The third-grade team also earned a lopsided shutout victory, blasting the Cortez Titans 52-0.
The Demons’ offensive line of Jayden Dosch, Cole McWhirter, Vance Southerland, Hunter Wildman and Nedell Wilson controlled the line of scrimmage and opened up holes for five rushing touchdowns.
Grady Feeney ran for two scores while Tyler Dugan, Jakob Maycock, Blaze Aguilar and KJ Reynolds each found the end zone on the ground. Feeney also threw one TD to Tyler Hoerl.
Defensively, the Demons forced two fumbles. One was recovered by Dugan and the other got scooped up by Aden Urias, who returned the fumble for a touchdown.
The third graders will play the Farmington Furry at 1 p.m. Saturday at Miller Middle School.
The Demons’ fifth-grade team moved to 2-0 on the season with a 13-0 win against the Bloomfield Bobcats.
The win was the second shutout in a row for the Demons, who saw Otto Aaland recover a fumble for a TD and Ryan Dugan lead the team in tackles and intercept the Bloomfield quarterback.
Durango’s other score came on the first drive of the game. After Linkin Griego found Malakai Baier for a long gain, Cole Pontine, who finished the game with 112 rushing yards, powered into the end zone for a 1-yard score.
The Demons will play the Farmington Lobos at 5 p.m. Saturday at Miller Middle School.
The sixth-grade Demons faced off against Kirtland’s sixth-grade team and cruised to a 46-0 win after allowing just one first down in the game.
Ian Szura led the Demons’ defense with nine tackles and an interception returned for a touchdown.
Bret Hamer ate up Kirtland’s defense with 137 rushing yards and three TDs on just 11 carries.
Quarterback Tyler Harms threw for 58 yards on 4-for-6 passing and ran for one touchdown.
Durango will play Bayfield at 3 p.m. Saturday at Miller Middle School.
The Demons’ fourth-grade team was the only team to taste defeat, falling 14-0 to the Farmington Panthers.
The Panthers’ two scores came on a fumble returned for a touchdown and a long run.
Aside from giving up the long TD, the defense played well and forced many three-and-outs, led by Cooper Mitchell’s nine-tackle performance.
Offensively, the Demons struggled to get going. Nathan Beal led the Demons with 57 all-purpose yards.
The fourth-graders will look to bounce back against Kirtland at 9 a.m. Saturday at Miller Middle School.
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
