Fresh off a rivalry win on its home field, the Durango High School football team will be back Friday night to host an opponent that quickly rebounded from an 0-2 start.
Durango (2-2) will host the Farmington Scorpions (2-2) at 7 p.m. Friday at DHS. After a 32-16 win against Bayfield last week in front of more than 3,000 fans, the Demons hope to see similar fan support and will want to avoid a potential trap game.
DHS head coach David Vogt is hopeful that fans who turned out to support the Demons in the rivalry clash last week will continue to support the team this season.
“Especially if we’re scoring a bunch of points, everyone likes that,” Vogt said after last week’s game.
“It’s a fun atmosphere, especially if we’re winning.”
Class 3A Durango, ranked ninth in the Colorado High School Activities Association poll, will look to ring the victory bell for a second consecutive week. The team got off to a 1-2 start after two tough losses, one on the road to Class 3A No. 2 Palisade and another at home to Class 4A No. 4 Montrose.
Durango will enter the game ranked fifth in the Class 3A RPI standings, a math equation formulated by CHSAA to determine playoff seeding. Durango has the top-ranked strength of schedule in the classification so far this season.
Farmington, a Class 5A team in New Mexico, fell 54-13 at home to Bayfield in the season opener and 26-12 to a tough Belen team in Week 2. But the team has rebounded with two consecutive wins, a 28-7 win against Albuquerque’s Del Norte and a 32-27 home win last week against Aztec.
The Scorpions struggled with turnovers early in the season with five interceptions in the first half alone against the Bayfield Wolverines. A Durango defense that forced five turnovers against Bayfield last week will be giddy about the chance to take the ball away more Friday night.
Of the five takeaways last week, four came via interception, including two from senior Alex Hise.
“Turnovers are definitely the key to every game,” DHS senior Dawson Marcum said. “They can win ya the game or lose ya the game. If you make plays on defense, you get more plays on offense.
Marcum has rushed for 511 yards and five touchdowns this season. He has surpassed 100 yards rushing in three of the team’s four games. He also is 2-for-2 passing for 57 yards and a touchdown.
“He’s our heart, and we’re just gonna go with him and he’s gotta make a ton of plays for us,” Vogt said. “Everyone is keying on him. If he throws it, everyone else is gonna be open.”
Most of the throwing is handled by sophomore quarterback Jordan Woolverton, whose poise and maturity goes beyond his years and overshadows his statistics. Woolverton has totaled 657 yards and four touchdowns to two interceptions, while he has completed 62.3 percent of his passes. He also has rushed for three scores.
“He’s nails,” Vogt said of his quarterback. “He’s got ice water through his veins. Nothing gets to him, and it’s nice to have that with your quarterback.”
Hise has been Woolverton’s top receiver, though he has hit seven receivers for completions this year. Hise has 214 yards and a touchdown on 11 receptions. Gage Mestas has another 123 yards and two touchdowns on 10 receptions, and Breyton Jackson has found the end zone once in four receptions for 120 yards. Marcum is likely to become the team’s fourth receiver with more than 100 yards this season on Friday night, as he has 71 receiving yards.
Defensively, Marcum has led the team with 53 tackles, while Everett Howland has 39 and Gus Kidd another 38. The defense will have to take away the running of Farmington senior Johnny Shuttleworth. The team will also have to be careful of Juan Medrano, who returned a kickoff 90 yards for the game-winning score against Aztec last week.
After an emotional win against Bayfield last week and homecoming against Pueblo Centennial set for next week, the Demons must avoid looking past the Scorpions.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
If you go
Who:
Farmington at No. 9 Durango
What:
Interstate high school football
When:
7 p.m. Friday
Where:
Durango High School stadium
Listen Live:
KKDG 99.7 FM
Twitter:
@jlivi2
