The excitement of the first Durango High School home playoff game in 15 years was evident Saturday. The seats were packed early, the crowd was fired up and the defense played like it was do-or-die.
Led by four interceptions, two by senior James Brennan, the fifth-ranked Demons overcame three turnovers of their own and far too many penalties to win the opening game of the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 4A State Football Playoffs 21-6 against No. 12 Aurora Central.
“That was so much fun,” Durango head coach David Vogt said. “We were out of control excited at the start, and I like the enthusiasm, but we had a couple of bad penalties and got out of position a few times. When we calmed down, we got back to playing Durango football.”
Durango (10-1) will travel next Saturday to play No. 13 Loveland (6-5) at 1 p.m., as Loveland upset No. 4 Vista Ridge 30-14 on Friday night.
It was an ominous start for DHS on Saturday, as the Trojans (8-3) received the opening kickoff and marched down the field in methodical fashion, eating up more than 6 minutes of game clock.
After four first downs, three costly Durango offsides penalties and half the first quarter in the books on the opening drive, Aurora Central had first down in the Demons’ red zone looking to silence the hometown crowd early.
As it has all season, Durango’s defense came up big at the right time, as Brennan’s first interception ended the opening drive and took the wind out of the sails of the visitors.
“Our kids like to get up early, so I think if that first drive is different it changes things a bit,” said Aurora Central first-year head coach Travis Peeples. “We had our chance, but they beat us, and hats off to Durango.”
The first quarter expired with no score, but the Demons didn’t take long to grab the lead in the second.
A six play, 40-yard drive was capped off by a 2-yard dive by senior quarterback Terrence Trujillo to give the Demons a 7-0 lead.
The senior quarterback finished with two touchdowns, one rushing and one passing. He was 8-of-14 passing for 129 yards, and he added 79 yards on the ground.
“It’s great to see all of our hard work paying off,” said Trujillo, son of Geno and Nicole Trujillo. “Everyone was fired up, and the crowd was into it from the start. It was fun out there.”
Down 7-0, the Trojans were a bit too anxious in trying to even the score.
On the first play of the next drive, an attempt at trickery with an end-around pass play ended up in the hands of Demons’ defensive back Gavin Mestas. The Trojans appeared to have an open receiver, but the left-handed pass of the Trojans passer, Dominick Jackson, came up well short.
Mestas had a great first half on offense, defense and special teams. To go along with his interception, his 21-yard catch set up the first score and a beautiful grab on the sidelines late in the half set up Lawrence Mayberry’s 1-yard touchdown run to give the Demons a 14-0 lead.
With just over a minute to go in the half, a squib kick gave Aurora Central the ball at midfield, and a 27-yard pass play got the visitors down to the Durango 9-yard line.
Brennan came up with another big play with 8 seconds remaining in the half and the Trojans inside the 10, as he knocked a pass out of the hands of Aurora Central wide receiver Tarrell Gissendanner Jr., to keep the Trojans off the scoreboard.
With 3 seconds left and one final shot at scoring before halftime, an all out blitz led to a Mayberry sack of Aurora Central quarterback Jalil Grimes, and the Demons went to the locker room up 14-0.
It was also an ominous start to the second half for Durango. Upon receiving the ball to start the third quarter, Mayberry fumbled on the first play. The turnover didn’t cost the Demons after another defensive stand, but the next one did.
Trujillo coughed up another fumble the next possession, and the Trojans went down the field and converted on a fourth-and-goal run from 1 yard out. Fransisco Aranda’s second effort cut the deficit to 14-6, but Durango blocked the extra point try.
On the ensuing drive, more penalties doomed the Demons, and Trujillo’s third-and-long pass attempt to Mayberry was intercepted by Gissendanner Jr.
The play came immediately after Trujillo and star receiver Lucas Baken nearly linked up for a deep touchdown pass, but the ball went off Baken’s fingertips and fell incomplete. Baken, the team’s leading receiver, was held to zero catches in the game.
The Durango defense held again, and, after another solid punt return for Mestas, the Demons were set up at midfield. On third-and-10 from their own 44, Trujillo found receiver Kyle Duran on a 56-yard touchdown pass. The Aurora Central defensive back gambled for an interception but came up empty, and Duran snatched the pass out of the air with nobody behind him to give the Demons a 21-6 advantage.
“I saw that the ball was up, so I jumped and thought I was going to get smoked,” said Duran, son of Adrian and BJ Duran. “Instead of hitting me, he tried to make a play on the ball, and I just grabbed it and took off.”
Duran led the Demons with 64 receiving yards on two catches. Mayberry was held to 46 rushing yards and one touchdown on 12 carries. It was only the second time this season he has been limited to less than 100 rushing yards, with the other coming against No. 1 Pine Creek.
Duran’s score would be the last of the game. Aurora Central looked to have scored on a 35-yard pass from Grimes to Gissendanner, but the play was called back on a holding penalty.
On the next play, Grimes went back to Gissendanner, but Brennan was up to the task and broke up the play with his second interception of the game.
“We wanted to create big plays (Saturday),” said Brennan, son of Charlie and Christy Brennan. “We expected a lot of runs, but when they started throwing the ball, coach told me to stay with (Gissendanner). He’s a good player, but I was able to make some plays, too.”
Gissendanner led the Trojans with 70 receiving yards and an interception on defense in the school’s first playoff game in 24 years. Grimes was limited to 8-of-14 passing for 129 yards and two interceptions. Aranda finished with 20 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown.
The Demons will move on to Loveland where they’ll play in a rematch of a memorable 1988 playoff game the Demons won 24-21.
“It was awesome being out there in this atmosphere,” Vogt said. “I was talking to someone on the sidelines, I had my back to the field and I heard a roar louder than I’ve heard since I’ve been here. The school spirit and the support of the fans have been huge for us.”
jfries@durangoherald.com
