The stakes couldn’t be much higher for the Bayfield High School football team.
BHS (4-4, 2-2 Western Slope South League) will host Pagosa Springs at 7 p.m. Friday at Wolverine Country Stadium with a chance to solidify its playoff positioning.
Gunnison and Montezuma-Cortez already have clinched the top two spots in the WSL, ensuring themselves playoff spots, but the Wolverines look healthy in the playoff picture.
BHS ranks 12th in the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 2A wild-card points, which help determine which teams make it “into the dance,” as the Wolverines like to say.
Of the 11 teams ranked in front of BHS, eight are in the top-two of their league with room to fall or rise one game.
There are a total of five wild-card slots available, which puts the Wolverines on the right side of the bubble at the moment.
A win would further help their chances; a loss would end their season.
“There’s a lot at stake,” BHS head coach Gary Heide said Thursday. “If we want to play beyond the 24th of October, we’ve got to really look at this game.”
The Wolverines have adopted a playoff mindset over the course of the last few weeks when they had chances to assure a playoff spot. They’ll be facing a Pirates team that has lost two out of its last three games this season and hasn’t beaten BHS since 2006.
Pagosa Springs (3-5, 2-2 WSL) is out of playoff contention but boasts a team that concerns Heide.
“I’ve seen that they’ve played a lot of teams tough. They were with Gunnison the whole first half,” he said. “They have good size, terrific linemen and a real fast quarterback that can make big plays.”
Marcos Quezada is that quarterback for the Pirates. He ranks second on the team with 378 yards rushing but leads them with five touchdowns on the ground. Quezada also has thrown for 850 yards this season with five touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Running back JC Parsons has 459 yards on the ground to lead the Pirates.
The game will be decided on the lines, however, by an imposition of will.
“We’re in the same boat. I think we’re pretty equal, talent-wise,” Heide said. “I think it’s who can keep onto that ball. That’s who’s gonna win the game.”
BHS found itself in a similar position last season, needing a win against Pagosa Springs on senior night to put itself into a solid playoff position. The Wolverines won 15-13 last year but were left out in the cold based on the wild-card points.
Heide prefers to look at each season on its own, though.
“I think of every game and every particular season specifically,” he said. “This year, 5-4 gives us a better chance to make the playoffs.”
kgrabowski@ durangoherald.com
