Glenn Wallace almost couldn’t believe what he’d done.
He’d certainly had reason to call a sudden timeout, fearing his Bayfield Wolverines were about to be called for a delay-of-game penalty, but he wasn’t expecting to receive his wish almost simultaneously as his team set in motion junior Ayden Casillas’ apparent go-ahead field goal late in a historic showdown Friday night versus Ignacio.
Two plays earlier, a holding penalty had wiped out senior Lincoln Williams’ apparent 1-yard touchdown carry. Despite Williams regaining four of those yards on the subsequent snap, BHS had little choice but summon Casillas …. Who was then virtually ‘iced’ by his own head coach in front of a shocked Wolverine Country Stadium crowd.
But having made the kick, and Wallace nevertheless preventing Bayfield from losing five more yards of field position, Casillas went back out to retry the 25-yarder after the dramatic pause and was again accurate – giving the home team a 38-35 advantage with just 2:21 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Pinned at their own 20-yard line, Ignacio junior quarterback Zane Pontine quickly went to work, finding sophomore Cayson Burcham in the right flat for a 2-yard gain, and head coach Alfonso ‘Ponch’ Garcia elected to burn a timeout stopping the clock with 1:35 left. The Wolverines alertly sensed something tricky was in the works … and guessed correctly.
After all, a fake-punt carry by Hendren had prolonged the preceding series, capped by a 66-yard Pontine to Burcham connection effectively retying the battle at 35 with 7:15 to go.
Again looking to the right flat, Pontine threw a pass behind the line of scrimmage to Archuleta, who then tried throwing downfield along IHS’ sideline to Burcham. BHS sophomore James Sandoval anticipated perfectly and stepped in front of Burcham as the ball arrived, intercepting it and securing the Wolverines a wild 38-35 victory.
Bayfield improved to 3-0 overall for the first time since 2018 with the win. Ignacio fell to 1-3 overall with the loss.
“Penalties killed us,” senior Austin Wilmer said. “If we were playing our game it would have been the way we’d wanted it to go, but those close games are what you live for. So I’m glad it came down to that and that we came out on the upside.”
Both sides then settled in and neither broke through until Wilmer, a lineman utilized in a ‘Refrigerator’ Perry-type role, crashed over the goal line from two yards out, giving Bayfield a 6-0 lead with 6:35 remaining. Casillas, however, pushed his PAT try wide left and Ignacio capitalized, completing a 71-yard drive with a 1-yard Pontine plunge and 2:28 to go to give the Bobcats a 7-6 lead.
Next, the Wolverines covered the 62 yards in four plays and 2:35, with Williams carving through IHS’ defense for a 57-yard touchdown. He then snared sophomore QB Cole McWhirter’s two-point conversion toss, increasing BHS’ lead to 14-7.
Later the Wolverines again struck pay dirt with the deadly Williams carrying in a 33-yard score on fourth down, no less and Casillas cashing the PAT.
Two pass-interference calls against Bayfield helped IHS respond, as the guests drove 80 yards in 2:10 and Pontine polished off the push by breaking multiple tackles on an 18-yard TD run. Sandoval deflected Pontine’s conversion pass, preserving Bayfield’s 21-13 advantage with 2:58 still remaining in the second quarter.
But the ’Cats regained possession after forcing a turnover-on-downs at their own 44 with 0:13 left.
Garcia immediately used a timeout with 0:01 left on the clock and Ignacio sent the contest into intermission deadlocked at 21. Archuleta caught a Pontine lob about two yards short of the goal line, then fell backward over it at the front pylon after resisting Sandoval’s tackle. Hendren then grabbed a short Pontine pass left and forced his way through two BHS defenders to book the two-point bonus.
“It was a fun game to coach, first of all,” declared Garcia. “Our coaches did a fantastic job preparing for what we did, and (Bayfield) just had one extra play than we did. They have a fantastic kicker. And that Number 12 (Williams), that kid is amazing; we couldn’t stop him.”
In the second half; junior Lincoln deKay blasted through the line, then angled left to parallel IHS’ sideline for an imposing 60-yard touchdown. Ignacio suddenly had regained a 28-21 lead with 6:33 remaining in the third quarter.
But after Williams’ exciting pick of an airmailed Pontine throw was negated by an illegal block during the return, Bayfield still benefited – driving 33 yards in 2:07 and Wilmer again bulling his way in from two yards out. Casillas’ PAT retied the game at 28-28 with 2:27 left.
“All week we were kind of working on it; we were thinking we’d have chances where we’d get real close,” explained Wilmer. “I used to be a wide receiver, then kind of converted to left tackle … so they were like, ‘You know what? We can get you in there – just run through some people … get in there!’ On the O-line we’re making holes and whatnot, but once you finally see people make holes for YOU …. It was really cool.”
After Hendren shanked a 17-yard punt out of bounds – caught, coincidentally, by McWhirter – at the Bobcat 48, the Wolverines surged ahead after finishing a 7-play drive with a 22-yard McWhirter to Witte TD over Ignacio junior cornerback Aven Bourriague.
“We were just saying we have to come out like it’s , a brand-new game,” Witte said. “He was all over me, but … I just saw the ball go up and knew I had to make a play on it for us.”
Casillas kicked the extra point and BHS owned a 35-28 lead with 9:13 remaining in the game.
“Overall, our 14 kids who got in there did what they were supposed to do … but it is what it is,” said Garcia. “And whatever the rivalry has been, hopefully it stays clean like this,” Garcia said. “That’s the idea of it: It’s a fun game, so have fun with it! Coaching against those guys was fun; they just had a little better day today.”
Bayfield will next travel on Friday to La Jara for a test against Centauri while Ignacio will make the same trip on Oct. 4 to begin conference work against the Falcons.
