Two programs rich with tradition will square off Friday night in Bayfield. It’s the season opener for the home Wolverines, while San Juan High School of Blanding, Utah, already has one game under its belt.
Bayfield High School, ranked No. 2 in the Class 2A preseason poll on CHSAANow.com, is set to the kick off the 2017 season. If this year is to be a revenge tour of sorts for the Wolverines, it will start against a Broncos team that shutout Bayfield 19-0 in the Wolverines’ season opener a year ago in Utah. Kick off is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at Wolverine Country Stadium.
“Any time you lose to a team, that comes into play a bit,” BHS head coach Gary Heide said when asked if the team has a bad taste in its mouth after last year’s defeat. “It’s a second chance to see if you can do better. Plus, it’s home this time for us. It’s a joy to be in front of the home crowd.”
The Broncos (0-1) lost many key players from last year’s team, including quarterback Jordan Blake who threw for 164 yards and two touchdowns. The loss of key seniors from a year ago was evident in the team’s opener, a 51-8 loss to South Summit of Kamas, Utah. Last year, the Broncos lost to South Summit twice, once in the season opener, 35-26, and again in the state semifinals, 38-21.
“San Juan has a lot of tradition and pride,” Heide said. “We expect them to come in here and play a lot better than last weekend. They had a lot of chances to score touchdowns in that game, and they have some great defensive players. It’s real tough to beat them twice.”
Bayfield has plenty of pride of its own. The Wolverines also reached the state semifinals last year, one season after claiming the state championships. With a loaded roster with 33 upperclassmen, Bayfield is eager to start the season on strong footing behind junior quarterback Hayden Farmer, a stable of weapons and one of the state’s most feared defenses.
Heide doesn’t expect first-game jitters to affect his team this year as much as last season’s matchup with San Juan.
“As a whole, (San Juan) looked really good last year, and we had a few glitches here and there that cost our performance,” he said. “I don’t know for sure what it will look like this week. It feels like we’re ready to go. We had the CSU-Pueblo camp, two weeks of practice, and the focus is on executing in this first game. We have a lot of kids playing their second year of varsity ball, and that’s going to be a big factor in our success.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
If you go
Who: San Juan (Utah) at Bayfield
What: High school football
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: Wolverine Country Stadium, Bayfield
Listen Live: KLJH 107.1 FM
Twitter: @jlivi2
