It isn’t quite a true “homecoming” for the Durango Demons. After a week off, the Durango High School football team is well rested to cap off a five-game home stand to open Class 3A South Central League play Friday night.
Two weeks to prepare for the Pueblo Centennial Bulldogs was welcome time for DHS head coach David Vogt, who both enjoys and loathes homecoming week as a coach of a team with big playoff aspirations. A week full of distractions will culminate when the Demons (3-2) and Bulldogs (3-2) kick off at 6 p.m. Friday at DHS.
“The guys are a little too excited. I hate homecoming week,” Vogt said. “But it’s fun for the kids. They get to do all the activities, coach the powder puff girls for football, all of that. It’s fun for them and gets their minds in a fun place, which is good and bad for us. Some practices are lackadaisical if they are focused on the distractions of homecoming.”
The Class 3A ninth-ranked Demons welcomed a week off after a gauntlet of games to open the season, including a road loss to No. 4 Palisade, a team that earned a first-place vote in the most recent Colorado High School Activities Association poll, a narrow home loss to Class 4A’s third-ranked Montrose, another team with a first-place vote, as well as a home win against Class 2A’s fourth-ranked and defending state champion Bayfield Wolverines.
When fans last saw the Demons, the team had piled up 44 points in a shutout win against Farmington, a top-10 team in New Mexico’s Class 5A.
During Durango’s non-league schedule, senior Dawson Marcum has starred. He has already rushed for 712 yards and seven touchdowns on 72 carries and has run for more than 100 yards in four games. He’s also a threat in the passing game, with 11 receptions, and he as completed 3-of-3 halfback pass attempts for 68 yards and a touchdown. He also has led the defense with 53 tackles, including 35 solo, as well as two interceptions with one returned for another touchdown.
“The team has improved a lot, I feel, in this first half of the season,” Marcum said. “We need to continue that trend to achieve one of our goals, being able to win league, and this will get us one step closer to our main goal – win a state championship.”
DHS will try to score points early against a Pueblo Centennial team that relies on running the ball and has proved to be susceptable to interceptions when trying to pass. Quarterback Jordan Woolverton hasn’t amassed all-state statistics but has shown all-state poise for DHS, and he has made first-down completions look routine on third-and-long situations to keep drives alive.
This year, Woolverton has thrown for 720 yards and four touchdowns, while he has completed 62 percent of his passes. He has thrown two interceptions. Woolverton also has rushed for four touchdowns.
“It’s always our game plan against running teams – get up early and get them into something they don’t want to do,” Vogt said. “Their passing game is not that complicated. They have some bootlegs. As long as we don’t bite on the run fake so much, we should be in good position to make some plays.”
The DHS defense has forced nine turnovers in its last two games. Quarterback Devin Blue, a junior, has thrown five interceptions to four touchdowns for the Bulldogs, while he has completed only 29 percent of his passes for 288 yards on 58 attempts. Blue has run for 194 yards and three touchdowns.
Pueblo Centennial is also fresh off a 44-0 win at Sierra last week in Colorado Springs. The team fell to Class 2A power Kent Denver 34-28 in overtime on the road a week earlier and lost 21-0 to Class 3A No. 5 Harrison (5-0). The Bulldogs started 2-0 with a 57-7 win at Sand Creek and a 34-0 home win against Liberty.
DHS will focus on trying to slow down Bubba Rivera, who has led the team with 391 yards and four touchdowns on 59 carries. Halfback Brandon Roberts has added 271 yards and another four touchdowns on 44 carries, fullback Buddie Niccoli has 221 yards and three touchdowns on 41 carries, and Demerico Gonzales has added 212 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries in the well-rounded rushing attack.
“The fullback takes the ball a lot of the time,” Vogt said. “Our linebackers have to key on him, and we’ll have some specific blitzes. (Rivera) is a pretty good athlete. Hopefully, we can hit him hard and get in his head early.
“Our kids have seen their plays for two weeks. We should be playing super fast on defense, and our offense should know where everyone is gonna be. This should be a clean game that the kids have gone over and over for the last two weeks.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
If you go
Who:
Pueblo Centennial at No. 9 Durango
What:
CHSAA Class 3A South Central League football
When:
6 p.m. Friday
Where:
Durango High School stadium
Listen Live:
KKDG 99.7 FM
Twitter:
@jlivi2
