A bye week gave the Bayfield Wolverines time to move past a tough road loss at rival Durango and move onto the start of the league season.
After a pair of shaky performances against Aspen and Durango, the defending Class 2A state champion Bayfield High School football team had two weeks to prepare for the Alamosa Mean Moose in a clash of Intermountain League foes with matching 3-1 records. Alamosa will meet the Wolverines in Bayfield at 7 p.m. Friday inside Wolverine Country Stadium, where BHS has a won a school record 21 consecutive games. It will be homecoming night in Bayfield.
“We got over the loss pretty quickly as soon as we got on the practice field,” BHS head coach Gary Heide said. “We put our sights on the league season. With homecoming and Alamosa, it’s easy to forget quickly because there are a lot of things before us to still accomplish.”
A year ago, BHS beat Alamosa 38-0. In the last three meetings, the Wolverines have beat the Mean Moose by a combined 123-7. But the Mean Moose are an improved team under head coach Dillon McNamee. A year after the team posted a 5-4 overall record and 2-3 mark in the IML, the Mean Moose are out to a 3-1 start with the lone 34-0 loss at home to No. 1 La Junta (4-0).
The Mean Moose have won with a mean running attack and a defense that has allowed only 21 points in the three wins this year.
“They’ve got a lot of good athletes, as usual,” Heide said. “They are physical this year and run the ball very well. They’re always coached real well by coach McNamee.”
The Mean moose have averaged 276 rushing yards per game with more than 1,100 yards already this season. Junior quarterback Brendon Madril has led the way with 376 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 48 carries. he also has thrown for 182 yards but has completed only 27.9 percent of his passes. He has one passing touchdown and two interceptions this year.
Behind Madril is junior running back Ian Jackson, who has 285 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries. Senior Chad Jackson has another 213 yards and a touchdown, and Ben Wuckert has three touchdowns and 168 yards on 35 carries.
Davis Gonzales has led the Mean Moose defense with 33 tackles, and Kody Brubacher has a team-high three sacks. The team has taken five fumbles from opposing offenses.
Two weeks after the BHS defense surrendered a rare 100-yard rushing game to Durango’s Dawson Marcum, the team’s usually stout defense will look to get back on track. But it is the Bayfield offense, which has suffered from pre-snap confusion and turnovers, that had the most to work on the last two weeks.
“We’re working on mental focus,” Heide said. “We’re going over things and getting more repetition. We’re working the mental game and making everything become second nature. Hopefully that will show Friday night.”
Getting the ball into the hands of senior running back David Hawkins will be a good way for BHS to get on track. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound bruising runner has 497 yards and four touchdowns this year on 75 carries, good for an average of 6.6 yards per carry. Dylan Hilliker, a speedy junior, has 213 rushing yards and three touchdowns, and Keyon Prior has added 185 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries.
“Establishing a run and being confident in our run, that’s key,” Heide said. “For the passing game, getting synced, you might say, and getting some early play-action type passes always helps us. It seems to me that we should be able to strike quickly and get the run game established if we have no penalties.”
BHS senior quarterback Hayden Farmer has averaged 127 yards passing this year. He has 511 yards, five touchdowns but six interceptions and has completed only 39 percent of his passes as the offense has struggled with timing and some drops.
Creating extra chances for the BHS offense with forced turnovers on defense could help the Wolverines find footing. BHS has seven interceptions and five fumble recoveries already this year.
Farmer and Prior each have two interceptions. Nose tackle Isaac Lorenzen leads the team with seven of the Wolverines’ 16 sacks. Hawkins has led the team with 46 total tackles.
In front of a homecoming crowd, the defense in purple will look to shine again Friday and prove to the rest of Class 2A that the Wolverines are still contenders.
“It’s a tough matchup for us, but we’re glad to be home,” Heide said. “We are very motivated because it is our first league game. Everyone is 0-0 going into league. Everyone knows how important it is to win league and get an automatic home game in the playoffs. It’s full steam ahead now. We’re halfway into the second, and all excuses are gone in my book. Either we’re ready or we’re not, but I’m optimistic about how we’re gonna do here (Friday) night.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
If you go
Who:
No. 12 Alamosa (3-1) at No. 3 Bayfield (3-1)
What:
CHSAA Class 2A Intermountain League football
When:
7 p.m. Friday
Where:
Wolverine Country Stadium, Bayfield
Listen Live:
KPTE 92.9 FM, KLJH 107.1 FM
Twitter:
@jlivi2
