The teams are ready, the stage is set.
The No. 2 Bayfield Wolverines and the No. 9 Gunnison Cowboys will meet in what could be a good old fashioned barn-burner in a Class 2A Western Slope (South) battle for first place at Cowboy Memorial Stadium at Gunnison High School.
Bayfield (4-0, 1-0) will take its highly-touted ground game to meet Gunnison (3-2, 1-0), the defending two-time league champion that is looking for the upset.
As both teams are gunning for the top spot in league, momentum will be key for Bayfield’s continued success. Bayfield head coach Gary Heide said his team is looking to keep the confidence going. The Wolverines have been on a roll as of late, and with the type of offense that makes minimal mistakes, Bayfield’s play has been tough on foes.
The Wolverines will look to add to their undefeated record by notching Gunnison up as another victory.
However, it won’t be easy as recent battles when Bayfield pushed around its opponent with steady doses of defense. That’s because Gunnison is a defensive-minded team that can push Bayfield right back.
“They have defensive speed and power; they have some athletic guys up front,” Heide said Thursday in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “We’ll have to execute well and get off the blocks. They have a good football team. They have a rich tradition. I see a real passionate fired up football team.”
Heide added he is excited for this game because of the implications that it has. Both teams are undefeated in league play and both teams are ranked in the top 10 in the Colorado High School Activities Association poll.
The similarities end there, however. Bayfield fronts 34.5 points per game while Gunnison is averaging 23 points. Bayfield’s defense has only allowed 27 points total this year while its offense has averaged 419 yards per game – 322 of that come from the ground game.
“All that matters is that we’re both 1-0 in league and one team will be 2-0,” Heide said. “The winner will try and keep it going every step along the way to ensure state playoffs. The higher the seed, the better.”
The Cowboys’ last win was on the road against Montezuma-Cortez, 28-6, which came last Friday. Gunnison’s losses came against Kent Denver (41-13) on Sept. 4 and Monte Vista (10-9) on Sept. 11.
As good as the Bayfield offense has been, the Wolverines pretty much telegraph what their going to do with the ball. Senior Zane Phelps has been a machine all year (566 yards rushing, nine rushing touchdowns), so the Cowboys should know whose hands the ball will be in the majority of the time. But, according to Heide, the Wolverines are not going to switch up their gameplan.
“We just try to power it,” Heide said. “We’ll kind of wait to see how the game develops and go in the direction the game gives us. We’ll feel where we can be the most successful and go for it. We have a lot of weapons and we have to utilize them.”
Heide added that if his team is to be successful, the Wolverines must take what they learned in this week’s practice and apply it to the field with mental and physical preparation.
jmentzer@durangoherald.com
If you go
Who: No. 2 Bayfield at No. 9 Gunnison
What: High School Football
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: Cowboy Memorial Stadium, Gunnison
Listen Live: KLJH 107.1 FM
