Last season, Heritage High School’s football team dominated Durango High School at home in the state playoffs, and the Demons are looking to flip the script this season.
No. 4 seed Durango hosts No. 5 seed Heritage in the quarterfinals of the 4A state playoffs on Saturday at noon.
“We've had a great week of practice,” Durango head coach Hunter Holmes said. “Today (Thursday) was obviously a little rainy, a little cold out there. But … we still have another day tomorrow (Friday). It's going to be a great matchup.”
Last season, No. 11 seed Heritage dominated No. 6 Durango in the second round of the state playoffs, 42-20. The Demons couldn’t stop the Eagles from making big plays. Durango struggled with turnovers in its own territory, helping Heritage to lead by as many as 35 points at the end of the third quarter.
Holmes remembers the turnovers from last year, but said no one on the Durango team is talking about last year. It’s a different Durango team with a different coaching staff.
Cully Feeney was at quarterback last season, and junior Grady Feeney is the quarterback this year. The Demons didn’t have senior running back Gus Halls, and Durango’s talented receiving core is also a year older and better. The offensive line is also better and more experienced.
This season, the Demons are 9-2 overall after their 35-21 win over No. 13 seed Ponderosa in the second round last Saturday. Penalties were a big issue for Durango, but the Demons hit enough big plays through the air to win comfortably.
Holmes said his team has been running because of the penalties, and they’ve been trying to clean it up through film and practice. Holmes and the team know they can’t have so many penalties and beat a good football team.
Feeney finished 10/17 passing for 161 yards and three touchdowns in the win over Ponderosa. The Demons did allow Ponderosa running back Troy WcWhorter to run for 174 yards on 15 carries. Ponderosa’s 21 points were the most Durango has given up in a win this season.
Heritage is 8-3 overall after its 42-13 win over No. 12 Grand Junction last Friday in the second round. Heritage dominated the first three quarters to take a 28-0 lead into the fourth before some garbage time touchdowns by Grand Junction.
The Eagles dominated Grand Junction on the ground with an incredible 517 yards and seven touchdowns. Senior running back Mo Thenell led the team with 23 carries for 225 yards and four touchdowns, and junior Cash Rubenzer (No. 25) finished with 10 carries for 178 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Jamison Seese only finished 3/6 passing for 41 yards against Grand Junction.
Holmes expects Heritage to continue to aggressively run the ball.
“The key against Heritage is going to be wrapping up,” Holmes said. “Thenell, without a doubt, is a stud. We're going to have to do a good job wrapping up and being physical with him. It's going to be a tough one. But again, when you get to the elite eight, they're all going to be tough, no matter how you draw them up.”
Heritage’s three losses in the regular season were at 5A Arapahoe, 35-14, at 5A Columbine, 14-13 and vs. No. 1 seed in 4A, Dakota Ridge, 49-21.
Durango and Heritage have had two common opponents in Ponderosa and Grand Junction. Durango beat Grand Junction, 31-0, and Heritage beat Ponderosa, 35-14.
Despite only throwing for 41 yards against Grand Junction, Seese (No. 10) can throw the ball and is fifth in 4A with 1,887 passing yards this season (171.5 per game). He’s had five games with at least 200 passing yards. He threw for 237 yards and two touchdowns against Durango last year.
Like Holmes said, Thenell (No. 46) is a stud. He is second in 4A with 1,692 yards rushing this season (153.8 per game) and is second in 4A with 22 rushing touchdowns. His season high is 295 yards rushing and five touchdowns against Golden. Thenell has had 100+ rushing yards in nine out of 11 games. He rushed for 91 yards on nine carries and a touchdown against Durango last season.
At 5-foot-10-inches and 215 pounds, Thenell has great balance, with great speed, size and toughness, according to Holmes.
Thenell is also Heritage’s top pass-catcher with 24 receptions for 399 yards and three touchdowns. Besides him, senior Hudson Cass (No. 4) is only one yard behind with 29 receptions for 398 yards and two touchdowns. The Eagles have five players with over 200 yards receiving this year.
“It's obviously easy to look back to last year, and they got after us pretty good, 42-20,” Holmes said. “But I would say it's two different teams. It's a year apart, and I'm confident in our guys. We're going to lay the cards down and see where they fall.”
The winner of the Durango vs. Heritage matchup will play the winner of No. 1 Dakota Ridge and No. 8 Pueblo West in the semifinals on Nov. 29.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
