It was another strong week for Durango’s Young America Football League teams, as four of the five teams earned wins on Saturday.
The sixth-grade Demons earned an upset win against Bayfield with a 22-0 victory in the first round of the playoffs.
Durango’s Brett Hamer piled up 116 rushing yards and a touchdown behind a dominant performance from Thaden Paul and the offensive line.
Quarterback Tyler Harms threw a 29-yard touchdown to Ian Szura in the first quarter to start the scoring for Durango.
In the third quarter, the Demons scored on a 46-yard punt return by Jaxon Fancher, the first of two big special teams plays for Durango. Luke Meier blocked a punt that set up Hamer’s 5-yard rushing TD. Szura led the Demons’ defense with a 15-tackle performance.
The Demons will have another tough test this week and will take on top-seeded Cortez at 1 p.m. Saturday at Doc Jones Field in Farmington.
Durango’s third-grade team picked up a 21-6 win against the Aztec Tigers to advance to the second round of the playoffs.
The Demons’ offensive line opened up big holes in the middle of the field for the punishing running of Keenan Aragon.
With the Tigers’ defense focused on Aragon and the inside run game, quarterback Grady Feeney broke free on a bootleg and went untouched for a touchdown.
Feeney added another rushing touchdown on a quarterback sneak behind center Colton Zellitti.
Blaze Aguilar scored Durango’s other TD on the ground after a key block from KJ Reynold sprung Aguilar for the score.
The Demons will face the Farmington Herd at 11 a.m. Saturday in Aztec. A win against the Herd would send the Demons to the Super Bowl.
The fifth-grade Demons kept their perfect season intact with a 27-0 win against the Farmington Lobos during the first round of the playoffs.
Quarterback Linkin Griego threw touchdown passes to Malakai Baier and Noah Miles.
The Demons had another strong rushing performance from Ryan Dugan, Cully Feeney and Cole Pontine.
Special teams played a key role in the win. On a Durango punt, Bryson Quimby flew down the field and put pressure on the Lobos’ returner, who muffed the punt. The Demons recovered the ball on the Lobos’ 1-yard line and scored shortly after.
The Demons will take on Bloomfield at 11 a.m. Saturday at Doc Jones Field in Farmington.
Durango’s second-grade team closed out its season with a 6-0 win against Aztec.
Jerad Lopez scored the game’s lone touchdown on the ground while the defense stuffed the Aztec attack. Darion Allen disrupted the Aztec backfield constantly, and Stetson Coulier, Brayan Hernandez-Martinez, Isaiah McCrady and Oliver Nez made big tackles to keep Aztec’s offense out of the end zone.
The Demons finished the season unbeaten with a 6-0-1 record.
The fourth-grade Demons’ season came to an end after a 7-0 loss to the Farmington Vikings.
The Demons put together some good drives on offense, but some botched snaps and dropped passes kept them from finding the end zone.
Durango’s defense was great in the loss.
Lane Lyda led the defensive attack and wracked up 3.5 sacks and forced a fumble that Tatum Rose recovered.
Steven Gallego finished the game with six tackles and Cooper Mitchell had five tackles and combined with Lyda for a sack.
kschneider@durangoherald.com
