A shot at a league championship and a home playoff game have the Durango High School Demons eager for a shot at Pueblo East in the final game of the regular season.
No. 10 Durango will meet No. 4 Pueblo East at 7 p.m. Friday at Dutch Clark Stadium in Pueblo. Pueblo East (7-2, 4-0 3A South Central League) can wrap up the league title with a victory. If the Demons (6-3, 3-1 SCL) can pull off an upset and win by more than 11 points, Durango could win a three-way tiebreaker that includes Pueblo East for the league championship.
“We just want a victory, especially against these guys,” DHS head coach David Vogt said after last week’s 54-7 home win against Pueblo County. “We’ve been so close the last two years. It’s about payback and getting them at their place. We have to focus, no messing around. It comes down to five big plays or so, and we have to be on the positive side of those plays.”
Durango has yet to beat the Eagles in league play, as Pueblo East won 24-20 in 2016 in Durango and 38-16 at Dutch Clark Stadium a year ago.
The Demons will be focused on slowing down Eagles quarterback Luc Andrada, a senior who has thrown for 2,069 yards, 22 touchdowns and only three interceptions in 216 passing attempts. He has completed more than 61 percent of his passes this year.
Andrada is a force in the running game, too. He has led the team with 517 yards and eight touchdowns on 79 carries, while senior Patrick Gonzales has totaled 460 yards and eight touchdowns on 80 carries.
While Andrada has been a force this year, the Demons got the better of him a year ago. In that game, Andrada was only 3-of-12 passing for 34 yards and one touchdown. He threw three interceptions, and Durango hopes to force more turnovers from Andrada on Friday night.
“He’s got a great group of receivers, and that always helps out,” Vogt said. “I think he’s also a top-five guy in the 100-meter dash in track. He’s just a phenomenal athlete, and we have to keep him contained.”
In last year’s game, DHS quarterback Jordan Woolverton, who was only a freshman, threw for 262 yards on 22-of-28 passing. Now a sophomore, Woolverton will enter the game fresh off his best performance of the year in last week’s win, as he had six total touchdowns in the romp of the Hornets. This year, Woolverton has 1,460 passing yards and 13 touchdowns with three interceptions. He has completed an astounding 69 percent of his passes.
“He’s going to see plenty of zone defense,” Vogt said. “If we find holes in the zone, he’ll have a successful night. The key is keeping him up and keeping his jersey clean.”
Dawson Marcum also had success running the ball in limited chances a year ago against Pueblo East, as he had 58 yards on only seven carries. Marcum has put Durango on his back at times this year, but he was able to rest a bit last week in a blowout win.
Even with limited carries last week, Marcum already has 1,047 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns in nine games. Last week, he had a big night as a pass catcher with two long touchdowns. He now has 261 receiving yards and another two touchdowns on 19 catches.
“We’ve kept him fresh in practice this week,” Vogt said. “He’s a great player, and great players show up in big games. We’re excited to let him loose this week.”
Marcum is also first on the team with 79 tackles, while junior linebacker Everett Howland has 77 and senior linebacker Gus Kidd has 73. DHS junior Colby Basye has two sacks to tie for the team lead with freshman safety Jordan Stanley.
Durango will hope for turnovers Friday, and it has done a good job in that department with nine interceptions, led by Alex Hise’s three, and 10 fumble recoveries. It will take everything the Demons have to slow a team that has averaged nearly 37 points per game this year.
“We have to get it going early,” Vogt said. “That’s always our goal. We want to establish our pass game, and then our run game will open up as well. If we can spread them out and get them out of the box, we’ll score some points.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
If you go
Who:
Durango (6-3) at Pueblo East (7-2)
What:
CHSAA Class 3A South Central League football
When:
7 p.m. Friday
Where:
Dutch Clark Stadium, Pueblo
Listen Live:
KKDG 99.7 FM
Twitter:
@jlivi2
