The final week of the regular season of the Durango Young American Football League was a success, as the Demons went 3-1, and was highlighted by the third-grade team once again.
The third-graders finished their regular season undefeated at 7-0, as they defeated the Farmington Crush 18-0. Owen Erwin and Malique Rodriguez each ran for touchdowns, giving the Demons an early 12-0 lead. Quarterback Jerad Lopez topped off the scoring when he threw a 15-yard strike to Rylan Ernst, and Ernst made it 18-0.
The Demons forced three fumbles on the afternoon, as Jacob Engel, Ernst and Griffin McCroskey each came up with recoveries.
With the shutout performance, the Demons did not give up a single point all season and allowed just seven first downs.
Durango earned a first-round bye and are the No. 1 overall seed.
They will play the winner of No. 3 Aztec vs. No. 5 Kirtland during the second round of the playoffs.
The sixth-grade team dominated its final regular season game, defeating the Farmington Spartans 39-0. Running back Ryan Dugan ran for three touchdowns and led Durango in rushing yards.
The defense was led by Matthew Ensey, Dugan, Gage Voiles and Cully Feeney, as they gave up just one first down in the game.
Durango finished the season as the No. 2 seed and will take on the No. 7 seed Kirtland at 1 p.m. Saturday in Farmington.
The second-graders also earned a shutout during its final game of the season, as they defeated Bloomfield 6-0. The game’s lone score came on a pass play as quarterback Cole Perkins found MJ Keo, who ran it in for the score. On the defensive side of the ball, Keo, Perkins, Colten Winn and Caleb Duran were lights out in the shutout victory.
There are no playoffs for the second-graders, but the Demons finished the season 2-4.
The fourth-graders fell in heartbreaking fashion 14-12 to Aztec. Durango led for most of the way after getting rushing touchdowns from Keenan Aragon and Blaze Aguilar, and gave the Demons a 12-0 lead.
They would hold the lead until late in the game, when Aztec scored twice. The first came from a kickoff return for a touchdown, but the second was the score that did the Demons in. Aztec drove the length of the field to score the game-winning touchdown with just 34 seconds remaining.
Despite the narrow loss, the Demons earned the No. 5 seed and will host the same Aztec team at 3 p.m. Saturday at Miller Middle School for the first round of the playoffs.
The fifth-graders had a bye week, but they earned the No. 4 seed and will take on the No. 5 seed Cortez at 1 p.m. Saturday in Kirtland.
heraldsports@ durangoherald.com
