Always feared for a strong ground game, Bayfield’s air raid did even more damage last Friday night, as the Wolverines shelled Gunnison relentlessly in a 40-0 conquest.

And that was playing nice; the Wolverines went into halftime already up 34-nil, as junior Hayden Farmer fired four touchdowns, three (of more than 20 yards each) to senior Dax Snooks.

Senior Hunter Killough caught the other, a 16-yard strike, as the Cowboys could only hope to avoid a running-clock, mercy-rule fate. GHS quarterback Dante Marchitelli, by comparison, finished a reported 9-of-27 passing for a whopping 32 yards and was intercepted once-by BHS senior Dawson Heide. That set up senior Carl Heide’s 17-yard touchdown run, which put Bayfield up 40-nothing in the third quarter.

Defensively, the Wolverines limited Gunnison to 29 net rushing yards on 20 carries, with junior Chase Percival’s 14-34 figures the team’s best.

Helped by a non-scoring 50-yard completion, just before the aforementioned Carl Heide TD run, Snooks easily broke the 100-yard receiving barrier, though precise numbers had still not yet been reported by press time.

Sophomore Dylan Hilliker also penetrated the end zone for a rushing touchdown, and BHS’ defense logged a safety late in the second quarter after Killough was stopped a yard short of scoring on a fourth-down plunge.

With backfield regulars David Hawkins (knee) and Keyon Prior (foot) either out or slowed by injury, Hilliker’s efforts – along with those of fellow reserves Garrett Beebe, Max McGhehey and Jake Sandrey – were keys in supporting Killough and Farmer.

Ranked #2 in the CHSAANow.com Class 2A poll both before and after their Intermountain-opening road rout, the Wolverines (5-0, 1-0) will next visit Montezuma-Cortez Saturday afternoon for a 1 p.m. start. The Panthers (1-3, 0-1) took a 38-0 beating at Alamosa (4-1, 1-0) last Friday night.

Gunnison (0-5, 0-1) will travel to Pagosa Springs (3-2, 1-0) Friday for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

CHSAANOW.COM CLASS 2A FOOTBALL POLL (10/2): 1. Englewood Kent Denver, 2. BAYFIELD, 3. Kersey Platte Valley, 4. La Junta, 5. Colorado Springs The Classical Academy, 6. Sterling, 7. Arvada Faith Christian, 8. Salida, 9. Alamosa, 10. Aspen.