The horn sounded and the fog settled, the Bayfield High School football team can now focus on the playoffs, as the Wolverines stuffed the Pagosa Springs Pirates in a 54-8 win to close out the regular season.
“I have to congratulate the Pagosa Pirates, they played tougher than nails,” BHS head coach Gary Heide said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “We couldn’t sack the quarterback, he was eluding us. Defensively, they were doing a lot of stunts and blitzes.”
Heide was happy with the way his team responded, though.
“They were kicking our butts, quite frankly, but I am proud of our kids,” he said. “They played from start to finish. They did really well, they responded. They were frustrated a few times, but I’m really happy with where our kids are at.”
With Pagosa playing with so much heart, Bayfield was in for more of a match than it bargained for. Pagosa’s defense surrounded the outside and forced Bayfield to play in the middle, and the Pirates forced BHS senior running back Zane Phelps to beat them.
The No. 1 Bayfield Wolverines (8-0, 5-0 2A Western Slope South League) were appropriately led by Phelps, who finished the night with 115 yards on 17 carries and four touchdowns.
“It took us a while that when they took away the outside, they did it,” Heide said. “That’s why Zane had a good second half, because we were going right up the middle.”
Phelps finished his senior season by eclipsing the 1,000-yard rushing mark by reaching 1,087 yards on 163 carries for the season. Phelps notched 20 touchdowns on the year – 19 rushing, 1 receiving – and averaged 6.6 yards per carry. Phelps’ finest performance of the year came in last week’s win over Alamosa in which Phelps had 171 yards and three touchdowns.
The game’s conditions were tough and muddy, which was perfect for fall football and a good warmup for Bayfield’s postseason glance.
“They got some momentum and they made some nice drives,” Heide said. “You fumble a couple times, they score, and it feels like it’s sloppy. I’m happy with how they responded. It was a sloppy and wet field. It was good how we realize how we need to concentrate and play with sloppy fields. It’s November football. This was a pounding game.”
The Wolverines started the night slow but picked away at the Pirates. Sophomore Hunter Killough scored the game’s first touchdown.
To start the second quarter, senior quarterback Kelton McCoy scored on a 2-yard quarterback sneak. The Wolverine defense was able to get the ball back, and a few plays later McCoy connected on a 45-yard pass to senior Taed Heydinger for a big first down. On the next play, Phelps scored from 2 yards out.
Senior Cash Snooks played well and returned an interception 26-yards for a touchdown.
Phelps scored two consecutive times to open the second half. However, the third quarter was tough on Bayfield, as it turned the ball over twice and punted three times.
Phelps scored once more in the fourth quarter before being taken out along with all of the other starters for Bayfield. Backup quarterback Josh Westbrook came in on relief duty for McCoy and scored on a quarterback sneak to extend the Wolverines’ lead.
“We’ve put a lot of great effort, the season takes a toll on a player, this was a long, tough battle. The score doesn’t show it, but (Pagosa) hit hard,” Heide said. “We’ll have an extra day of game film and get them rested.”
jmentzer@durangoherald.com
