The road has not been good to the Durango High School football team this season.
After winning their first three games of the season at home, the Demons have dropped three in a row, all on the road, after Friday night’s 38-16 loss to Pueblo East in Pueblo.
It wasn’t all bad for the Demons in Pueblo. They came up with a couple interceptions and took a 14-6 lead in the first quarter.
“We were executing,” DHS head coach David Vogt said of the early success. “We were clicking on all cylinders and it was fun to watch.”
The Demons (3-3, 0-1 South Central League) and Eagles (1-5, 1-0 SCL) traded a pair of quick touchdowns midway through the first quarter.
The Eagles struck first with a 4-yard run from Luis Martinez. The point after attempt was unsuccessful.
When the Demons got the ball after the Martinez TD, Max Hyson broke a 53-yard TD run, and the Demons took the lead after the Harrison Kairalla extra point hit off the upright and deflected through to make it 7-6.
The Demons intercepted Pueblo East quarterback Luc Andrada twice in the first quarter. Hyson picked off a pass when the Eagles went for it on fourth down on the opening drive of the game, and Dawson Marcum came away with a diving interception after an Eagles’ pass was tipped into the air.
On the first play after the Marcum interception, Hyson found a wide open Alex Hise for a 56-yard touchdown that gave the Demons a 14-6 lead.
Two of the Eagles’ first-half touchdowns came after special teams mistakes by Durango.
“The wind was kind of a factor and spooked us a little bit, but mostly it was just execution,” Vogt said.
Durango’s first series of the game ended with a punt, which was blocked. After the blocked punt, the Eagles started at the Demons’ 33-yard line and ended the drive with Martinez’s touchdown.
Midway through the second quarter, Pueblo East’s Kain Medrano returned a punt 60 yards for a TD, which tied the game at 14-14 after a successful 2-point conversion.
“That punt return hurt, but they just made plays when we didn’t,” Vogt said. “But the kids kept playing hard and we’re proud of them for that.”
Medrano added a receiving touchdown later in the second quarter, hauling in a 16-yard pass from Andrada to give the Eagles a 21-14 lead.
On Durango’s ensuing possession, the Eagles stripped the ball from Hyson and Octavio Garcia, who blocked the punt earlier in the half, returned the ball 45 yards for a score to make it 28-14 before halftime.
Coming out for the second half, Durango inserted freshman Jordan Woolverton at quarterback. The Demons marched down field, but the drive ended when they were called down inside the 1-yard line on fourth-and-goal.
On the next play, the Demons hit Pueblo East for a safety when Hyson and Manasseh Brockus converged on the Eagles’ running back in the end zone to make it 28-16.
Pueblo East kicked a 23-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter, then late in the fourth Andrada ran for a touchdown to stretch the lead to 38-16.
Durango will be back on the road next week. The Demons will play Sierra (1-5, 0-1 SCL) at 5 p.m. Friday at Harrison High School in Colorado Springs.
kschneider@durangoherald.com
