For all the accolades and accomplishments, these fifth-grade Demons did something those fourth-grade Demons couldn’t quite do: win a championship.
Granted, those Durango Demons won 20 games in a row, including a 7-0 run to last year’s championship game (with five shutouts), but had to play the final without its starting quarterback.
There were no such injuries this year.
So, these Durango Demons started a new streak of accolades and accomplishments:
a 10-game winning streak.
25 points or better in every game.
40 points or better in five games.
four shutouts.
a season-high of six points allowed in a game.
and they outscored their opponents 367-24 this season.
The end result: Durango capped its perfect Youth American Football League season with a 46-6 victory over the previously undefeated Bloomfield Bobcats on Saturday in Farmington.
These Demons wasted little time in this year’s championship game.
Gage Mestas took the first handoff 45 yards for a touchdown, and Haezen Mestas added the extra point for a 7-0 lead.
After a back-and-forth first quarter, Jordan Woolverton, who missed last year’s championship game with a hand injury, threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Niko Mestas on fourth and goal on the first play of the second quarter. The extra point failed, so the Demons led 13-0.
Bloomfield had momentum on its next drive.
The Demons’ Derek Carman, however, snuffed it with a 40-yard interception to the Bobcats’ 5-yard line. Three plays later, Woolverton ran a 3-yard quarterback sneak into the end zone, and Haezen Mestas added the extra point for a 20-0 lead.
After the Demons held the Bobcats on the opening drive of the second half, Woolverton hit Carman for a 20-yard touchdown pass and a 26-0 lead (the extra point failed.)
Gage Mestas then scored on a 12-yard run. Weston Baken coverted the extra point for a 33-0 lead.
Bloomfield answered with its only points of the game – a special teams’ touchdown. The Bobcats’ kickoff return for a touchdown matched the Demons’ high for points allowed in a game this season.
Gage Mestas raised the Bobcats’ kickoff return with one of his own – 53 yards to push the Demons’ lead to 39-6 after three quarters.
Cal Walsh and Ty Martinez capped the scoring with a 37-yard fourth-quarter touchdown run and extra point, respectively, for the final 46-6 margin of victory.
Woolverton led the Demons’ defense with 11 tackles, and Alex Pavon and Kyle Reimers had nine each.
The victory capped the Demons’ undefeated season, their second championship in three years and extends their three-year record to 30-1.
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
Durango Demons
5th Grade
Coaches: Greg Carman, Billy Gwinn, Brian Mestas, Joey Mestas, Sam Quiring, Mike Sutter, Tom Walsh, Chris Woolverton, Ryan Woolverton.
Weston Baken
Thomas Barnes
Jake Carey
Derek Carman
Dalton Counts
Mathew Cuthbert
Matt Eckert
Killian Gwinn
Sam Johnson
Evan Krispin
Jeremiah Loyd
Niko Martinez
Ty Martinez
Gage Mestas
Haezen Mestas
Niko Mestas
Bryan Montgomery
Alex Pavon
Kyler Reimers
Ethan Ryan
Estevan Sanchez
Braedy Short
Demetrius Trujillo
Cal Walsh
Jordan Woolverton
Durango Herald
