The secondary of the Durango High School football team is sure to be tested this week.
The Demons are home for the second game of a three-game home stretch to start the season and will be tasked with containing the high-powered passing offense of the Aztec Tigers led by senior quarterback Cody Smith. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at the DHS stadium.
“Their quarterback is a stud, and their head coach (Matthew Steinfeldt) is a former college coach,” Durango head coach David Vogt said. “He’ll be able to break us down and do some different things. He’ll have wrinkles for us we haven’t seen or prepared for. We’ve been playing them for a few years now, and it’s been a good battle between us and a good rivalry.”
The Tigers (0-1) lost last week’s season opener on the road in a 60-54 shootout with Los Lunas, New Mexico.
The Tigers piled up 530 yards of offense with Smith accounting for a major chunk of those yards. Smith, a three year starter at QB, threw for 376 yards on 23-for-37 passing with five touchdowns and no interceptions. He also racked up 110 rushing yards and two TDs on 19 carries.
“It’s great having a third-year quarterback, specifically in our offensive system,” Steinfeldt said. “If Cody and I can do our job well (in practice) Monday through Thursday, he gets a lot of leeway on Friday to make sure the team is in the right position. ... He’s comfortable in that position on Friday night to look at a play and get himself in the right position, which puts the team in the optimal position to score.”
Senior receiver Justin Black led Aztec with 10 receptions for 165 yards and a score.
But Durango won’t be able to key its defense to stopping Black, as the Tigers have a multitude of options on the outside with five different players hauling in touchdowns.
The challenge of slowing down Aztec’s air assault won’t be easy, but the Demons’ defense appears to be capable.
Durango limited Delta to 150 yards of offense in last week’s 3-0 overtime win, and held the Panthers to 53 yards on 3-of-12 passing. Friday night Vogt plans to use a similar game plan from last week’s dominating defensive performance.
“We’re always looking to be aggressive on defense and we never want an offense to dictate what we do,” Vogt said.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to blitz when the time is right and bring guys from different angles than (Aztec) has seen before and keep them on their heels and keep them guessing.”
The matchup will be the fourth meeting between Vogt and Steinfeldt with the Demons holding a 2-1 advantage. Both coaches said they relish the rivalry and how they throw the other a new challenge every game.
The respectful rivalry between the coaches and the rivalry between the two programs and school that comes with being in close proximity – about 35 miles from each other – pales in comparison to the bragging rights up for grabs among the players, many of whom have been playing against each other since their days in youth leagues.
“It’s a rivalry. Aztec and Durango is a thing,” Steinfeldt said. “People in Aztec want to come up and play Durango and beat Durango, and Durango wants to beat Aztec. It’s everything you want in a football game.
“These kids see each other in football, they see each other in baseball and basketball. They grow up knowing each other very well. ... There are bragging rights on the line, especially in this day and age when they can Snapchat each other and tweet each other. I think all the kids do a good job of keeping it positive while getting after each other, and that’s the way it should be.”
kschneider@durangoherald.com
If you go
Who: Aztec (NM) at Durango
What: High school football
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: Durango High School stadium
Listen Live: KKDG 99.7
Twitter: @karltschneider
