Pine Creek had the winning score just 10 seconds into the game Friday night.
The Class 4A defending state champions and the top-ranked team in the classification rolled into Durango with a perfect 7-0 record. That record would not be blemished at Durango High School, as the Eagles scored on their first play from scrimmage before going on to blast the DHS Demons 56-0.
“They are on a different level than anybody we’ve faced this year, and that showed,” said DHS head coach David Vogt, whose team also played No. 2 Montrose in a 44-27 loss Sept. 26. “At least Montrose, we were able to keep up with them. Pine Creek’s on a different level.”
The game began with a jolt from the Eagles (8-0, 3-0 Pikes Leak League), as junior wide receiver JoJo Domann took a pitch play 79 yards for a touchdown on the first offensive play of the game. After a Durango three-and-out and a partially blocked punt set the Eagles up on the Demons’ 39-yard line, Domann found the endzone again on a 35-yard pass from senior quarterback Tommy Lazzaro on a fourth-down and 16 yards to go situation.
Then, Pine Creek senior running back Josh Odom got to churning his legs to the tune of 102 yards and three touchdowns in the first half alone, giving the Eagles a 25-0 halftime lead. That advantage led to a running clock the entire second half.
“We can go toe-to-toe with any team in Colorado, especially if we execute how we’re supposed to like we did (Friday night),” Odom said.
Odom scored on runs of 9 yards, 10 yards and 3 yards in the first half, and he finished with 137 yards and four touchdowns after he added a 35-yard touchdown run on the Eagles’ first drive of the second half.
“We always go out there trying to be the dominant force on the field, and if not then I think we lose a little bit of our swagger,” Odom said. “But that’s not what we do here at Pine Creek. We always play with a little bit of swagger, respect and come out here and do what we’re supposed to do.”
DHS (3-5, 1-2 PPL) struggled to do much of anything offensively, as the Demons had just 23 yards of total offense on 25 plays in the first half, including negative rushing yards. DHS finished with just 4 rushing yards in the game.
“Their defense definitely was strong,” said DHS junior running back Lawrence Mayberry, son of George and Tonya Mayberry. “They had a good front line, and they controlled it. They got off the ball pretty fast. It felt like right when the snap went off they were almost right there.”
Pine Creek didn’t need to sustain many drives, as the Eagles’ average starting field position averaged the Durango 42-yard line. That starting field position was greatly helped by three stellar punt returns by Eagles senior Avery Anderson. 10-of-12 Pine Creek drives started on Durango’s side of the field.
“It was pretty demotivating, but we kept our heads up,” DHS senior defensive back Matthew Lavengood, son of Steve and Tamra Lavengood, said of defending a short field. “We kept ourselves going and stopped them a couple of times.”
The lone bright spot of the opening 24 minutes was a Lavengood interception and a Patrick Cunnion sack for the Demons, but the offense couldn’t get anything out of the turnover or two Pine Creek turnovers on downs.
DHS committed four turnovers in the game, including three on fumbles. DHS junior quarterback Terrence Trujillo finished the game 15-of-27 passing for 100 yards and one interception. Lazzaro was 6-of-12 for 83 yards, one touchdown and one interception for the Eagles.
Pine Creek went on to score on a Brock Domann 28-yard touchdown run and a Bo Epperson 5-yard touchdown run later in the second half to make it 56-0.
“Their running backs are pretty slippery. It was mainly missed tackles we had that hurt us,” Lavengood said. “I feel like we could’ve stopped them every play, but we were going for big hits instead of breaking down and getting simple tackles, and that hurt us a lot.”
Mayberry said the team won’t soon forget the loss, even with it coming against the best team in the state.
“This one is going to be tough to get over, but eventually we will, and we will succeed in our next two games,” Mayberry said. “This game was big for us, and it hurt us big.”
DHS will host Air Academy (2-6, 0-3 PPL) in its home finale at 6 p.m. Friday. The Demons will close the season a week later on the road at Rampart (6-2, 3-0 PPL).
“We want the boys to put this one behind them and stay focused on our task,” Vogt said. “We tell the boys every day the only thing they can control is their own attitude and effort. If we do that, then the scoreboard doesn’t matter, and I’ll be proud of them.”
jlivingston@ durangoherald.com
