BAYFIELD – Putting together one solid drive gave the Bayfield High School football team all the points it needed to defeat Basalt on Friday at Wolverine Country Stadium in Bayfield.
Unfortunately that was the Wolverines’ only one in an ugly 8-6 win.
Bayfield committed 10 penalties and turned the ball over three times.
Wolverines quarterback Kelton McCoy found success with play-action passing early, completing his first five passes for 77 yards. He missed his next six throws and tossed two interceptions during that stretch.
“The penalties were killing us offensively; I think we were a little sluggish. We started off with some nice pass completions; I think we got a little complacent because our forté is running the ball and instilling our will,” Bayfield head coach Gary Heide said. “It was good to go to the pass early, but we didn’t get our run game going.”
Basalt’s defense started to break down in the second half.
Bayfield fullback Zane Phelps broke his first carry of the third quarter for eight yards and gained 58 of his team-high 84 yards in the second half, including a two-yard touchdown with 1 minute, 4 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
“Fortunately we got a succession of some plays that finally worked. It was the same inside game and outside game that we had used the whole game; this time we didn’t get any negative plays,” Heide said.
The Longhorns nearly tied the game four minutes later when quarterback Matt Williams found Tucker Jenkins for a 29-yard touchdown pass.
Referees called an illegal block in the back after the play had finished and assessed the penalty on the extra point.
Basalt failed the conversion attempt.
The Longhorns had the ball on the Bayfield 47-yard line with 2:44 remaining and a chance to win the game.
They couldn’t complete a pass and never saw the ball again.
Williams terrorized the Wolverines’ defense all night with his arms and his legs, throwing for one touchdown and a key fourth down conversion while regularly escaping the pocket when it looked like he would be sacked for sure.
But Bayfield contained him when it mattered most, earning its second consecutive win.
“They hung in there, they always did believe they were going to win this game, and they made plays in the end to do it,” Heide said.
BSH (2-1) will play at Aspen next Friday.
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
