{"id":24839,"date":"2024-11-15T10:09:10","date_gmt":"2024-11-15T17:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wyatt-leads-another-memorable-mancos-run\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T05:02:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T05:02:35","slug":"wyatt-leads-another-memorable-mancos-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wyatt-leads-another-memorable-mancos-run\/","title":{"rendered":"Wyatt leads another memorable Mancos run"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kaiden
Kaiden Wyatt (42) of Mancos High School is pumped up after a touchdown while playing Haxtun High School last year in the Colorado High School Athletics and Activities Association 8-man State Finals at the Thunderbowl on the campus of CSU Pueblo. Laura Domingue\/Special to The Journal<\/span>Laura Domingue<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

MANCOS \u2013 A cheer erupts from Ms. Epps Mancos Elementary School third grade class every time Kaiden Wyatt enters the room.<\/p>\n

Seventh-year head coach Josh Gardner can hear the praise for his senior standout all the way on the other side of the MHS campus. \u201cThe third graders are always raving about how they got to talk with Kaiden,\u201d said Gardner, \u201cand that\u2019s because he\u2019s so friendly and kind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amid his own studies, Wyatt finds time to visit the elementary school as a student aide, something that both he and the younger students relish.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ll come to talk to me about the game, I\u2019ll show them some of our highlights on Hudl \u2013 they love it,\u201d said Wyatt with a smile. \u201cIt gets them wanting to play, wanting to be a part of this system \u2013 and helping them believe that they can do it, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the field, Wyatt is all business. Right as opposing quarterbacks are barking out their cadence, Wyatt is doing the same on the other side of the line from his middle linebacker spot. He\u2019s letting his seven teammates on the field know what to watch for, which gaps to hold, and where the defensive pressure can break through.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a chess match, and more often than not, the Bluejay defensive adjustments put their opposition in checkmate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that the rest of my guys on the field do their job well,\u201d said Wyatt, \u201cso that makes me want to make sure I do my job to the best of my abilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those abilities are extensive \u2013 on offense, Wyatt\u2019s bruising running style and good hands as a receiver make him a matchup nightmare for defenses to handle.<\/p>\n

\"Kaiden
Kaiden Wyatt plows across the goal line to score Friday night. Mancos beat Dove Creek, 48-0. (Sam Green\/Special to The Journal)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Adding to that, as the weather gets colder, Wyatt and Bluejay ground-and-pound offense only gets stronger. \u201cThis is our type of football \u2013 when its freezing, our opposition doesn\u2019t want to get pounded in the face, especially by a 230-pound running back,\u201d said Wyatt.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on his growth in passion for the game, just like the third graders that he mentors, Wyatt recognizes all the positive influences that guided him along the way. \u201cI grew up around the game \u2013 my grandma (Stacey Mascarenas Hall) was AD at Cortez, my uncle (Mike Hall) coaches basketball, so it helped me understand \u2018that\u2019s what I want to do\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Add to that mix his biggest influence, Wyatt plays for his father, Jarrod, who serves as the defensive coordinator for the stingy Bluejays.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe (Jarrod) gives me a lot of control to make calls on the field,\u201d said Kaiden of his father, \u201cso I\u2019m able to call lot of the different stunts and twists, especially when we see our schemes getting to our opponents.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Piper
Piper Franks and Kaiden Wyatt pose after being crowned Homecoming queen and king Friday night. The Mancos football team beat Dove Creek, 48-0. (Sam Green\/Special to The Journal)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Wyatt made a lot of his early impact with the varsity program on the defensive side of the ball, but has taken on the role as the featured fullback, with over 1,000 yards from scrimmage this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe started building as a leader even as a younger kid,\u201d said Gardner, \u201cshowing his teammates how important it is to be in the weight room \u2013 and now he\u2019s still leading his team with his words and actions every day \u2013 it\u2019s like having a coach on the field, he\u2019s the whole package.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wyatt\u2019s also shown his touch around the rim for the Bluejay basketball program, averaging double figure scoring for the \u201923 SJBL champs. However, his first passion is the gridiron, something that he\u2019s hoping to continue long after he received his MHS diploma this upcoming spring.<\/p>\n

\"Mancos
Mancos junior Kaiden Wyatt pulls up for a contested jump shot in a contest against Nucla in the 2023-24 SJBL title season for the Bluejays. Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

In the meantime, however, he and his teammates want to ride this journey as far as it will take them. With Kaiden, there\u2019s no telling just how high these Bluejays can soar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

embodies the Bluejay mindset on and off the field<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[38,39,28,37,36],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-24839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dolores-high-school","tag-dove-creek-high-school","tag-headlines","tag-mancos-high-school","tag-montezuma-cortez-high-school"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24839"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78697,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24839\/revisions\/78697"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24839"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=24839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}