Something’s got to give in Friday night’s showdown between two undefeated teams.
Durango High School football (3-0) is looking for a sweep of its New Mexico schedule after beating Aztec 53-14 two weeks ago and overwhelming Piedra Vista 21-3 last week. However, the Demons will have their hands full this week, on the road, visiting fellow unbeaten New Mexico Class 5A No. 5 Farmington (3-0), Friday at 7 p.m.
DHS also received votes in this week’s Colorado High School Activities Association and Associated Press Colorado High School Class 4A polls.
“It’s a big game, that’s for sure, and these are the games you want to play in,” said Farmington head coach Jeff Dalton in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “We have two really good teams, and one of them has to go down. It doesn’t get much better than that. It’s going to be a battle.”
Farmington is confident coming off last week’s dominant performance, a 56-28 win against Belen that saw sophomore quarterback Kody Becenti throw five touchdown passes. The Scorpion offense, led by Becenti and his favorite target Diego Elebario, has scored a whopping 119 points in the past two games.
Meanwhile, the Demons haven’t given up more than 14 points in each of their three wins.
“We got off to a slow start this year offensively, and it has kind of picked up from there,” said Dalton. “We know Durango has a good, fast, disciplined defense, and we won’t take a yard gained for granted.”
Durango’s defense was impressive last Friday in a 21-3 win against Piedra Vista. The quick and physical Demons’ defense stymied the Panthers’ offense, dominated the line of scrimmage and made opposing ball carriers struggle to earn every yard.
“We did well on that side of the ball last week, but our coaching staff really challeneged the guys this week,” said Durango head coach David Vogt in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “I keep telling them that Farmington has a top five offense in New Mexico. It’ll be a huge challenge but we’ve got to rise to it.”
Durango will look to their experienced two-headed monster, seniors Lawrence Mayberry and Terrence Trujillo, to keep the momentum going on offense. Mayberry has piled up over 100 yards rushing in each of the three Durango wins. He and Trujillo combined for over 200 rushing yards last week, but the Demons are hardly a one-dimensoinal offensive unit.
Trujillo has the ability to pull it back and let it fly, especially when Durango wide receiver Lucas Baken is streaking down the field. The two hooked up again last week for their fourth touchdown connection this season.
“It’s so important for us to have Baken’s speed and Gavin (Mestas) on the other side, who we really haven’t unleashed yet,” said Vogt. “We try to stay as balanced as possible in our attack to keep the other team honest and keep them guessing.”
While Mestas hasn’t been unleashed in the passing game, he has provided a spark on special teams with a some big plays on fourth down. Senior wide receiver Kyle Duran is another weapon to watch for in Vogt’s offense. He took a pitch from Mayberry on a reverse play last week and broke the game open by turning it into a 52-yard touchdown run.
“We have a lot of threats, and we’re going to need them all this week,” Vogt added. “When you’re playing an undefeated team, especially on the road, there’s always some added excitement and incentive to get the job done.”
jfries@durangoherald.com
If you go
Who: Durango at No. 5 Farmington
What: high school football
When: 7 p.m. today
Where: Farmington High School
Twitter: @The7thFreezer
