{"id":25050,"date":"2024-11-02T17:05:17","date_gmt":"2024-11-02T23:05:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/panthers-roar-into-postseason-with-league-crown\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T23:09:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T05:09:07","slug":"panthers-roar-into-postseason-with-league-crown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/panthers-roar-into-postseason-with-league-crown\/","title":{"rendered":"Panthers roar into postseason with league crown"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The
The Montezuma-Cortez Panthers football team celebrates after their 2024 Intermountain League title clinching victory over Bayfield, 43-0, on Senior Night at Panther Stadium. (Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

The Montezuma-Cortez High School yearbook, endearingly named the Sleeping Ute, remains as one of the lasting reminders of the Panthers\u2019 dominance over the early decades on the Western Slope.<\/p>\n

Included in those glory years, back-to-back undefeated football seasons in 1939 and 1940, dominance in the post-World War II era against rival Durango, and an impressive span in the San Luis Valley Conference in the 1950s. League titles in 1952 and again in 1957 solidified the Panthers as one of the major gridiron forces in Colorado, regularly topping the likes of Montrose and Farmington. Cortez added a Southwestern League title in the early \u201970s to their haul of championships.<\/p>\n

However, the league title well ran dry \u2013 until now, as the Panthers knocked off rival Bayfield 43-0 on Friday to win the Intermountain League title.<\/p>\n

\"Montezuma-Cortez
Montezuma-Cortez defeats Bayfield 43-0 on Friday. (Aaron Lewis\/Special to The Journal)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

It was Montezuma-Cortez\u2019s first IML crown since joining the league a decade ago. The Panthers also punched their ticket to the postseason for the second time in the last three years.<\/p>\n

The Panthers will find out on Sunday who they\u2019ll face to open the 3A state playoffs.<\/p>\n

Senior tailback Tay Wheat helped spark the big night, surpassing 6,000 career yards from scrimmage on a night where he and a dozen of his senior teammates made their final regular season appearance at Panther Stadium.<\/p>\n

Classmate Colby McMillian broke the ice in the first quarter, taking a fourth-and-1 run around the right end for a 64-yard sprint and an 8-0 advantage four minutes into the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe play was supposed to go to Tay, but I saw that the hole opened up for me, so I just decided to take it on my own,\u201d McMillian said.<\/p>\n

From there, the defense dominated, holding the Wolverines to less than 10 first downs all game while forcing five turnovers.<\/p>\n

\"Montezuma-Cortez
Montezuma-Cortez kicks a field goal against Bayfield on Friday in Cortez. The Panthers won 43-0. (Aaron Lewis\/Special to The Journal)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Wheat enjoyed his moment in the chilly November air, punching home the third of his four touchdowns from six yards out midway through the third quarter. In doing so, he surpassed the 6,000-yard mark for total yards from scrimmage. Wheat finished with 212 yards on the ground while posting a pair of interceptions.<\/p>\n

Senior tackle Aden Ray and the Panthers defensive front enjoyed a field day, carving up Bayfield\u2019s offensive line to harass freshman quarterback Harrison Williams.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a great achievement, especially on our Senior Night,\u201d Ray said of the team\u2019s league title. \u201cI\u2019m just so proud of this team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Montezuma-Cortez\u2019s
Montezuma-Cortez\u2019s Rusty Snyder makes interception against Bayfield\u2019s Ryeker Lee on Friday, November 01, 2024, at Panther Stadium.
\nAaron Lewis\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Ray, who battled his way back from injury to play a prominent role in the home stretch for the Panthers, reflected on his journey back as part of the linemen who play both directions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve tried my hardest to make sure that I\u2019m out here trying my hardest, injury or not, and I\u2019ve just had to push through,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe win and lose based on the performances of our front line, and they came to eat tonight. They did what was within themselves \u2013 didn\u2019t try to do too much, and they played within their abilities,\u201d said first-year Panthers coach Tyler Worley.<\/p>\n

Junior Parker Conrad added a score in the second quarter to help the Panthers build a 22-0 halftime lead.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been playing with this group since as long as I can remember, and so to win the league championship means a lot to us,\u201d McMillian said.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Montezuma-Cortez Panthers enter the field to face the Bayfield Wolverines on Friday at Panther Stadium. Aaron Lewis\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Montezuma-Cortez\u2019s
Montezuma-Cortez\u2019s Marching band preforming during half time on Friday, November 01, 2024, at Panther Stadium.
\nAaron Lewis\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Montezuma-Cortez downs Bayfield for first title as Intermountain League member<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1871,28,1870,642,36,346],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-25050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-bayfield-high-school","tag-headlines","tag-high-school-football","tag-high-school-sports","tag-montezuma-cortez-high-school","tag-sports"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25050","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=25050"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78783,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25050\/revisions\/78783"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25050"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=25050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}