Punishing defense and a relentless offensive line pushed Bayfield to another league win.
After torching Gunnison 34-3 in the Class 2A Intermountain League opener last week, the Bayfield High School football team celebrated homecoming with an emphatic 47-0 victory against Montezuma-Cortez Friday night at Wolverine Country Stadium.
Montezuma-Cortez had only three first downs in the first half, and two were by way of penalties against Bayfield. The Wolverines didn’t give an inch, pushing the Panthers backward for a total of negative 7 yards of offense in the first half.
BHS had three first-half interceptions, and the offense was stopped only twice en route to a 32-0 halftime lead.
“It was a pretty fiery homecoming week, and I wanted to see us really go out and execute offensively,” BHS head coach Gary Heide said. “I knew our defense was going to dominate. They’ve done it all year and dominated for two years now. The challenge was on offense, but for the most part, we executed every play.”
BHS (4-2, 2-0 IML) racked up more than 200 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns, while the passing game accounted for a little more than 100 yards and two more touchdowns.
Sophomore running back David Hawkins wouldn’t be stopped on the opening drive as he ran five times for 49 yards and a 10-yard touchdown. He matched that touchdown run on the second drive of the game, and he collected one of the BHS interceptions on defense in the first half.
“It starts with our offensive line manhandling them right off the bat,” Hawkins, son of Cindy and offensive line coach Frank Hawkins, said of the team’s rushing attack. “When you can do that, you control the game.”
With a big lead early, the Wolverines played two quarterbacks. Senior starter Josh Westbrook hit Hunter Killough for a 27-yard touchdown pass, and Killough also scored on a 5-yard run in the second quarter.
“It wasn’t so much me as our line,” said Killough, son of Kevin and Lana Killough. “The holes were there all night, and it’s not hard to run through a hole you can drive a semi-truck through.”
Sophomore quarterback Hayden Farmer delivered a 20-yard touchdown pass to fellow sophomore Keyon Prior.
Joining Hawkins with interceptions in the first half were Brian Mashak and Jesse Westbrook.
Wyatt Killinen, Ryan Phelps and homecoming king Sam Westbrook gave the Cortez offense fits all night from their defensive line positions. Kirk Malone also had an impressive night at middle linebacker. The entire defensive line, especially the right side, couldn’t be contained all night.
“We definitely have the best D-line in the state coached by the best coach (Mike Wnorowski) in the state,” Killough said. “When they get that kind of pressure, it helps the (defensive backs) on pass coverage.”
The second half started as ugly for Cortez (1-5, 0-2 IML) as the first half ended. After going backwards 10 yards, the Panthers’ punt was blocked by Jesse Westbrook and went out the back of the end zone for a safety.
After the safety, BHS moved right down the field and scored on a 10-yard option pitch from Josh Westbrook to Killough, who got into the end zone for a third time in the game.
The starting defense largely took the rest of the night off after pushing the Panthers back for negative 17 yards of offense for the night. The backup defense kept it going, as Ryan Nava picked up a fumble.
One play later, Carl Heide ran into the end zone from 42 yards out for Bayfield’s final score of the game.
Next up is a 7 p.m. game Friday at Pagosa Springs before a trip to face Delta. BHS will close out the regular season at home against Alamosa. Those final two games will decide the league champion.
“Pagosa wants redemption from last year, and we’re going to their place two years in a row, so that’s kind of different,” coach Heide said. “Delta is rightfully a highly-ranked 2A team this year, and Alamosa has shown really improved play and is ready to go. Coming down to the wire with a lot on the line, and it’s anybody’s ball game.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
