{"id":25776,"date":"2024-09-08T00:07:52","date_gmt":"2024-09-08T00:07:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/montezuma-cortez-drops-home-opener-to-state-power-strasburg\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T05:27:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T05:27:09","slug":"montezuma-cortez-drops-home-opener-to-state-power-strasburg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/montezuma-cortez-drops-home-opener-to-state-power-strasburg\/","title":{"rendered":"Montezuma-Cortez drops home opener to state power Strasburg"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Tay
Tay Wheat takes the ball down the sideline for about an 80-yard touchdown for the Panthers.
\nSam Green\/Special to The Journal<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

With one of the last days of summer making their home opener feel more like a pressure cooker, Montezuma-Cortez head coach Tyler Worley knew that his team would have to overcome more than the elements in their rare Saturday morning home opener.<\/p>\n

Strasburg, who cemented themselves as one of the best 1A programs in the state over the past decade, made the jump up in classification this season to join the 2A ranks. The Indians paid a visit to Panther Stadium for the first ever meeting between the two programs, and took control early in their 47-13 victory over the Panthers.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Panthers defense tackles the Strasburg runner Saturday.
\nSam Green\/Special to The Journal<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The Panthers defense takes down running back Ayden Dodge Saturday in the Strasburg game.
\nSam Green\/Special to The Journal<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Leaning on third-string QB Marley Linch, the Panthers tried to lean on the formula that led them to a combined 107-0 scoring margin in their first two wins. However, Strasburg took advantage of M-CHS errors, so when senior Tay Wheat scored the M-CHS TDs, the game had unfortunately already been decided.<\/p>\n

Given the Panthers dealing with the injury bug, Worley recognized that his squad continued to learn their identity even in defeat.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur O-line and D-line \u2013 once we got the first couple quarters out of the way \u2013 were able to start to run the way we want them, opening up gaps on offense and making tackles on defense,\u201d said Worley.<\/p>\n

\"Quarterback
Quarterback Marley Linch scrambles for a Panthers first down Saturday in the Strasburg game.
\nSam Green\/Special to The Journal<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cWe also know that we\u2019ve still got some fundamental stuff we\u2019re needing to work on,\u201d added Worley, \u201cwhen we executed our plays, we were able to move the ball down the field \u2013 so we\u2019re needing to focus on execution over the next couple weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

M-CHS looks forward to the unique schedule that provides them back-to-back weeks without a contest, before Shiprock pays a visit to Panther Stadium on Friday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. Worley hopes that the extra time will allow his players to get healthy, \u201cget into a rhythm\u201d and shift their focus to the intense league schedule in October.<\/p>\n

Dove Creek 22, Rangely 20 (OT)<\/div>\n

The Bulldogs on Friday bumped their record to 2-0, thanks to a thrilling overtime victory over a much-improved Panther squad. The Bulldogs found the end zone in the extra session and tallied the all-important conversion that provided the difference in the win. Dove Creek will hit the road for the first time this season when they face Escalante (New Mexico) on Saturday, Sept. 14 in Tierra Amarilla.<\/p>\n

Monticello 44, Dolores 12<\/div>\n

The Bears fell for the first time this season, dropping to 1-1, after the Buckaroos jumped out in front early and kept the Dolores offense at bay for the majority of their encounter on Friday. Dolores looks forward to their home opener on Friday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. when they play host to Rangely.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Panthers band performs their routine Saturday they will be using for the state competition.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

Sam Green\/Special to The Journalcca<\/span>\n

\"The
The Panthers band performs their routine Saturday they will be using for the state competition.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

Sam Green\/Special to The Journalcca<\/span>\n

\"The
The Panthers band performs their routine Saturday they will be using for the state competition.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

Sam Green\/Special to The Journalcca<\/span>\n

\"The
The Panthers cheerleaders perform during halftime of the Strasburg game.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

Sam Green\/Special to The Journalcca<\/span>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

wins OT thriller; Dolores evens record at 1-1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24267,"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-25776","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\/25776","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=25776"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79093,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25776\/revisions\/79093"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25776"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=25776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}