If Basalt's main objective last Saturday was to keep Bayfield's offense off the field, they more or less achieved it - running 63 total plays to their potent opponent's 39.
Setting a positive pace for themselves with their very first drive following a 28-yard Ryan Phelps punt, the visiting Longhorns drained 6:34 off the Wolverine Country Stadium scoreboard clock while hoofing it from their own 23-yard line to Bayfield's 35 in 11 plays.
But after kicking off the clash on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month - exactly 99 years after Armistice Day ended 'the war to end all wars' - the outsiders' hopes were all but crushed when Bayfield senior Hunter Killough, wearing No. 11 on his jersey, clutched an ill-advised Trevor Reuss pass on the series' 12th snap.
And though the home team wasn't yet in sync offensively, there was a sense time was already running out for the Western Slope Conference champions. Basalt managed to force a Bayfield three-and-out, but Phelps' punt died at the Longhorns' 1-yard line, with senior Dax Snooks sliding in to officially down the football.
Thus a pro-defensive tone was set. The 3-seed Wolverines were all too happy to ring the proverbial bell as many times as possible, during the remaining 38 minutes, 13 seconds en route to a quick-strike, 41-0 triumph in the Class 2A State Playoffs' quarterfinal phase.
"All thanks to Coach 'Ski," said junior Keyon Prior, referring to defensive coordinator Mike Wnorowski. "He gives us a scouting report, gets us ready for every game-it's just awesome to have the greatest defensive coach. He puts us in the place to execute, relies on us to execute, and we did today."
"It feels amazing," senior Wyatt Killinen said, acknowledging Bayfield's fourth consecutive shutout. "To get a shutout and know you made Coach 'Ski happy-for the most part; he doesn't like first downs-just feels great. Shows the power of our defense."
Which, in turn, allows the power of the Wolverine offense to show.
Incredibly, while 6-seed Basalt began the game with a 12-play possession, Bayfield (11-0 overall) needed just 19 plays to find the Longhorns' end zone six times while gaining 286 yards. After forcing a Raul Torres punt, the Wolverines went 54 yards in seven plays, with junior Hayden Farmer finding a wide-open Snooks in the corner from seven yards out with 9:51 left in the second quarter.
Senior Chris Mooney's point-after kick was good, and the locals gained a vital 7-0 lead.
Basalt (9-2 overall) countered well, but after Bayfield junior David Hawkins hammered Reuss on an incomplete third-down pass from the Bayfield 22, Prior blocked Torres' 39-yard field goal and senior Carl Heide recovered-advancing it to the Basalt 48 with 6:23 left in the half.
Five plays later, Farmer zinged an in route to Prior, who sped 16 yards to score with 5:18 still remaining. Celebrating his 18th birthday in style, Phelps stopped Basalt's next drive with a sack. And after Torres' punt netted just 19 yards to the Longhorn 39, Hawkins took a first-down give from Farmer and trucked in Bayfield's third score with 2:18 to go.
Mooney's third PAT was again accurate, and the Wolverines would take a 21-0 lead into the locker room-but before Basalt made one last bid to build momentum. Reuss hit senior Griffen Jenkins for 12 yards on first down, junior Jake Reardon then carried for four and number-one threat Noah Williams then gained seven more to the Bayfield 32.
But Williams then lost two on first down, Jenkins' option pass on second was incomplete, and after Reuss misfired on third, his 12-yard completion to Jenkins on fourth fell inches short of another first down with only 46 ticks left before intermission.
"We feed off a big hit: Big hits, big momentum," Phelps said of the key stop. "Everything we can do to get momentum.. A big hit is one of our favorite things; we love defense!"
And on the third quarter's first play, the Wolverines showed nothing was going to change, as senior Mike Kirk blasted Williams and stopped the star senior for no gain. Reuss' second-down pass was incomplete, and after a false-start penalty backed the 'Horns up to their 35, Prior nearly picked off Reuss on third down and Torres netted just 25 yards with his punt.
Wasting no time whatsoever, Farmer hit Prior on first down, and after coming to the near side, Prior reversed direction behind a Killinen block and cruised the rest of the way-completing a 60-yard TD connection with 10:35 left.
Basalt's next drive netted only 15 yards after beginning at their own 20, and after Torres boomed a 42-yard punt, pinning Bayfield at their 23 with 7:33 left, the Wolverines struck again when Farmer found Snooks deep along the Longhorns' sideline for a 73-yard strike only four plays and 63 seconds later.
Mooney again did his duty, upping the Wolverines' advantage to 35-0, but had little time to rest as Prior intercepted Reuss on Basalt's next play and returned it to the guests' 8-yard line with 6:08 left. Cutting the Longhorns' collective jugular, Farmer and Snooks linked up for a third score-giving Snooks the new school-record for touchdown grabs in a season-with 6:02 remaining.
"We've been running a lot of Cover-1 on defense-Coach trusts my abilities-and I was just there, the ball was thrown there," Prior said. "I'm glad I jumped up and caught it! That just really helped our.flow to end this game.finish it out."
"We're a 50-50 team," said Killinen, explaining Bayfield's well-balanced offense. "We can pass the ball when we need to, we can run when we have the opportunities-we've got a lot of weapons on this team, and can utilize them as we need."
Mooney's final PAT, attempted despite a bad snap and bad hold, was easily blocked, but with the mercy-rule running clock engaged, it was see-ya-wouldn't-wanna-be-ya time for the 'Horns-particularly when Phelps flattened Reuss for a nine-yard loss on the third quarter's last play.
"Coming out of Elizabeth we were really excited; we just had a great win," said Phelps, alluding to Bayfield's 51-0 first-round trouncing of the Cardinals inside WCS a week earlier. "We knew (Basalt) had a great running game, had a great quarterback, a great offensive and defensive line-we knew we had to come out and show up. We showed up.did everything we could and shut them down!"
Farmer finished with 227 yards passing and five TDs on 11-of-14 accuracy with no picks. Snooks caught five passes for 105 yards and Prior three for 92, while Carl Heide caught two for 18 and Dawson Heide one for 12.
Taking a rare back seat to the air raid, the Wolverines' ground game still enjoyed some success with Hawkins gaining 53 yards on just four carries, Carl Heide 23 on four and Killough 13 on three.
"Our running backs take a beating, and Basalt.was probably expecting us to pound the ball because that's our bread-and-butter," grinned Prior. "And that opened up our passing game a lot.helped our offense flow."
Having rushed for more than 1,300 yards coming in, Williams was held to fewer than 40 yards on nearly 20 carries while Reuss (six for minus-23 yards rushing) finished just 10-of-21 passing for 88 yards.
"We want to stop the run; if they get the run it opens up the pass game, since we're biting on the run," Killinen said. "We all have our responsibilities; it's up to each individual to come together as a unit."
"We have so many athletes on this field, and we can attack from everywhere-it's great to have that ability to go wherever we want, whenever we want," stated Prior.
Up next, the Wolverines will travel north to face upset-minded 15-seed Loveland Resurrection Christian in one Nov. 18 semifinal, with kickoff inside Greeley-based Northridge High's District 6 Stadium at 1:00 p.m.
Despite owning a more pedestrian 7-4 record, the Patriot Conference's West Division runners-up had already done the unthinkable in ousting #1-ranked, second-seeded Englewood Kent Denver (9-1 overall) 29-21, then followed that with a second-half comeback last Saturday to shock 7-seed Arvada Faith Christian (9-2) 28-25. The Eagles, ironically, had blanked the Cougars 9-0 in their season-opening meeting, but couldn't hold a 17-0 lead gained in the rematch's opening 12 minutes.
"We know we're traveling this week, but we love the white uniforms-look clean in those-and we're ready to go, do something different," Phelps declared. "And as long as we can keep showing up in the first quarter and all the way through like we have been, we'll do great."
