After not scoring against Dolores in two previous games, the Ignacio Bobcats put that streak to an end in a big way Friday night.
The Ignacio High School football team pummeled the Dolores Bears 49-6 with stellar play all over the field on homecoming night in Ignacio. What a homecoming it was, as the win was Ignacio’s first at home since 2013.
“We wanted to create a rivalry. All week, that was my feel for the boys,” IHS second-year head coach Alfonso “Ponch” Garcia said. “I told them to remember what happened last year.
“Before the game, Dolores was trying to be very aggressive verbally trying to intimidate the kids, yelling, ‘this is our house.’ That boosted our boys even more.”
Senior quarterback Zach Weinreich passed for two touchdowns and ran for two more as the defense set up the offense with great field position all night. The Bobcats also converted a pair of onside kicks, with one leading to a touchdown.
Timmy Plehinger opened the scoring when he returned an interception 15 yards for an Ignacio touchdown. Lorenzo Peña added the extra point, and he was 7-of-7 on PATs in the game. “That was exciting to see,” Garcia said. “Of all the kids, he’s one of the kids you have to adore. He’s a senior working his butt off. That interception let us know we were in the game, and the kids went crazy.”
Dolores (3-3, 0-2 1A Southern Peaks League) answered with a 9-yard touchdown run by quarterback Justin Purkat, but the extra point failed.
IHS (3-3, 1-1 SPL) added to its lead on the ensuing drive, as Isaiah Jacket scored on a 1-yard run to make it 14-6.
An Ethan Appenzeller interception ended the next Dolores drive, and the Bobcats went 37 yards in six plays to score on a 14-yard TD pass from Weinreich to Marcus Chapman, who also made the game’s final play – an interception as the buzzer sounded.
Ignacio then attempted an onside kick, and Dalton Mickey recovered it at the Dolores 46. Six plays later, IHS was in the end zone again on a 1-yard run by Weinreich with 3:38 to play in the first half.
That gave IHS a 28-6 halftime lead.
“Zach showed a lot of composure, self esteem and belief,” Garcia said. “The receivers were making the catches, and he ran the ball well with good fakes on defenders.”
IHS recovered another onside kick out of halftime, but it didn’t translate into points. But a big 74-yard TD pass from Weinreich to Kruz Pardo delivered the dagger to Dolores.
After another turnover on downs by the Bears, IHS scored again on a 3-yard run by Weinreich with 1:48 to play in the third quarter.
Stocker Robbins then recovered a fumble for IHS, and the Bobcats finished the game with a 2-yard TD run by Lawrence Valdez.
Next up for the Bobcats is a 1 p.m. kickoff Saturday, Oct. 15 against Centauri.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
