{"id":32311,"date":"2023-08-15T15:31:51","date_gmt":"2023-08-15T21:31:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dove-creek-prepares-to-defend-colorado-football-title\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T01:55:51","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T07:55:51","slug":"dove-creek-prepares-to-defend-colorado-football-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dove-creek-prepares-to-defend-colorado-football-title\/","title":{"rendered":"Dove Creek prepares to defend Colorado football title"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Gage
Gage Buffington leaps over a tackler on the way to a big gain for Dove Creek.(Sam Green\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

As the echoes of last year\u2019s state title celebration on the field of the CSU-Pueblo Thunderbowl begin to fade, the excitement for a fresh season of Dove Creek football begins to rebuild anew.<\/p>\n

A quest for back-to-back titles commences later this month, with plenty of faces, both old and new, setting their sights on hoisting the trophy again this November.<\/p>\n

New head coach Jason Fury is primed to take on the task of leading the Bulldogs into the 2023 season, having served as a longtime offensive coordinator under former head coach Shane Baughman, who stepped down from his football coaching duties after the triumphant campaign last fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoach Baughman created a legacy that was based on developing positive relationships with the kids,\u201d said Fury of his predecessor, \u201cand that\u2019s something that we\u2019re wanting to continue moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fury\u2019s offense diced up opponents with a combination of speed and power, and while Dove Creek will be looking to find plenty of players to step into the roles vacated by a large graduating class, the Bulldogs have visions of generating high-octane performances again this season.<\/p>\n

The Bulldogs return the state championship game\u2019s Most Outstanding Performer, Gage Buffington, whose big scores in Pueblo lifted the \u2018Dogs over Simla in November.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone looks up to Gage,\u201d said Fury of his 1,100-yard rusher from a season ago. \u201cHe just plays the game with an intensity that brings out the best in his teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buffington joins a bundle of seniors ready to take on their final season for the \u2018Dogs, including Taber Dejane, Mike Coffey, Colten Fury, Tyson Beanland and Aiden Chadd.<\/p>\n

Colten Fury steps into the quarterback shoes vacated by 2022 eight-man Player of the Year Kade Hankins, as the senior rebounds from an injury that kept him out for most of last fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe (Colten) really focused on regaining his balance and explosiveness,\u201d said Fury, \u201cand he\u2019s spent time focusing proper technique through film study and lots of extra work he\u2019s put in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the weapons on offense at Fury\u2019s disposal make a dangerous Dove Creek team a handful for opposing defenses.<\/p>\n

\"Gage
Gage Buffington gives Dove Creek its first score against Mancos in October. (Sam Green\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cWe\u2019re always looking to improve,\u201d said Fury, \u201cand we have some really good skill position players that we\u2019ll able to run a lot of the same offense that we had success with last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the defensive side of the ball, the Bulldogs will look to shift some of the roles, led by Coffey in the middle of the defensive line and Dejane moving to linebacker.<\/p>\n

Dove Creek will undoubtedly receive every opponent\u2019s full attention as defending state champions, and will be well-traveled by the time they play their first home game at the Soper Sports Complex. Three straight weekends on the road open the campaign, as the Bulldogs face Plateau Valley to open the season on Saturday, Aug. 26, in Colbran.<\/p>\n

From there, trips to Rangely and Albuquerque to face Melrose (New Mexico) means plenty of time on the bus before the home opener on Sept. 15 against Hayden. The Bulldogs host Monticello in the Border War on the following Friday night \u2013 homecoming weekend for Dove Creek \u2013 before league play begins the following Friday with a trip to Sanford.<\/p>\n

All eyes will be on an Oct. 6 battle against Mancos, before a trip to Dolores and Senior Night meeting with Sargent winds down the regular season.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone\u2019s excited to get back going again,\u201d said Fury, \u201cbut the team has the goal of making sure that they don\u2019t take any game, practice, or repetition for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

the reins as Bulldogs return talented core<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32312,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-32311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32311","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=32311"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81750,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32311\/revisions\/81750"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32311"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=32311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}