Ignacio football wins unique home opener

Ignacio’s Lawrence Toledo (2) protects the ball from Lake Count’’s Matt Wadsworth (77) during Saturday’s season-opener at IHS Field. The Bobcats defeated the visiting Panthers 41-0.

Joel Priest/Pine River Times

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Ignacio’s Lawrence Toledo (2) protects the ball from Lake Count’’s Matt Wadsworth (77) during Saturday’s season-opener at IHS Field. The Bobcats defeated the visiting Panthers 41-0.

Joel Priest/Pine River Times

Ignacio head coach Alfonso “Ponch” Garcia negotiates a 10-versus-10 style of play with Lake County coaches prior to the second half of Saturday’s season-opener at IHS Field. Injury depleted the visiting Panthers’ roster down to 10 men, and the third quarter was played with 10 on the field per side until one LCHS player managed to return for the fourth quarter. IHS prevailed 41-0.

Joel Priest/Pine River Times

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Ignacio head coach Alfonso “Ponch” Garcia negotiates a 10-versus-10 style of play with Lake County coaches prior to the second half of Saturday’s season-opener at IHS Field. Injury depleted the visiting Panthers’ roster down to 10 men, and the third quarter was played with 10 on the field per side until one LCHS player managed to return for the fourth quarter. IHS prevailed 41-0.

Joel Priest/Pine River Times

Saturday’s season-opening game for the Ignacio High School football team was unique.

The Bobcats rolled to a 41-0 home win against Lake County, a school out of Leadville. The Panthers brought only 12 players to compete in the game. After a couple of injuries, Lake County was down to 10 players in the third quarter, and the teams played 10-on-10 instead of the usual 11-on-11 for the third quarter. A Lake County player was able to come back out to play the majority of the fourth quarter before sustaining another injury on the penultimate play of the game.

The Bobcats completely controlled play with dominant defense. Colten Jackson scored the first touchdown of the season for Ignacio, as he returned a fumble 26 yards for a touchdown with 2 minutes, 26 seconds to play in the first quarter. Mike Archuleta made the extra point to give the Bobcats a 7-0 lead.

Well clear of Lake County’s Jovani Avelar (12), Ignacio’s Colten Jackson (22) latches on to a reception during Saturday’s season-opening 41-0 win at IHS Field. Jackson caught two touchdowns and also returned a fumble for a score.

Joel Priest/Pine River Times

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Well clear of Lake County’s Jovani Avelar (12), Ignacio’s Colten Jackson (22) latches on to a reception during Saturday’s season-opening 41-0 win at IHS Field. Jackson caught two touchdowns and also returned a fumble for a score.

Joel Priest/Pine River Times

Ignacio got its offense going in the second quarter. Quarterback Ian Weinreich hit Jackson on a 32-yard touchdown pass with 6:36 to play in the half, and the Bobcats led 13-0. It was the first of two scoring connections between Weinreich and Jackson. The next was an 8-yard scoring play with 1:04 left in the first half, as the Bobcats took a 20-0 lead.

Weinreich finished 5-of-10 passing for 112 yards and three touchdowns. Jackson had three catches for 66 yards and two scores.

In the third quarter, Dustin Sanchez broke a 15-yard touchdown run that gave Ignacio a 27-0 lead with 9:45 to play in the quarter. Five minutes later, Weinreich hit Lawrence Toledo with a 32-yard touchdown pass that pushed the Bobcats lead to 34-0.

With 3:05 to go in the third quarter, Ignacio’s Jeremy Roderick recovered a fumble on a bad long snap on a Lake County punt attempt. Roderick fell on the loose ball in the end zone for another Bobcats touchdown, the last of the game.

Ignacio’s defense claimed four turnovers. Sanchez had a recovered fumble on the opening series of the game. Clay Campbell also had a fumble recovery.

Ignacio will hit the road to New Mexico for each of its next two games. The Bobcats play 7 p.m. Friday at Crownpoint and 7 p.m. Sept. 7 at Newcomb. The next home game is at 7 p.m. Sept. 14 against John Mall High of Walsenburg.

jlivingston@durangoherald.com