{"id":32354,"date":"2023-08-11T21:40:50","date_gmt":"2023-08-12T03:40:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/montezuma-cortez-football-seeks-encore-season\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T01:56:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T07:56:41","slug":"montezuma-cortez-football-seeks-encore-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/montezuma-cortez-football-seeks-encore-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Montezuma-Cortez football seeks encore season"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Montezuma-Cortez
Montezuma-Cortez High School sophomore Tay Wheat fends off a defender as he breaks free for a long run against Kirtland Central on Friday night. (Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Few could have predicted just how special the 2022 Montezuma-Cortez football season would be.<\/p>\n

Now, after making one of the loudest statements in program history, the Panthers have the attention of every team across the 2A landscape.<\/p>\n

With the days ticking down to opening night, fourth-year head coach Ivan Mack brings back a significant core group of players from last year\u2019s 8-4 state semifinal campaign, mixing in plenty of young talent who were waiting their turn to take center stage.<\/p>\n

\"Tay
Tay Wheat takes the opening kickoff 75 yards for a Panthers touchdown in 2022. (Sam Green\/Special to The Journal)<\/span>Sam Green\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cThe kids are excited to be back at it,\u201d said Mack of his team\u2019s preparation for the new season, \u201cbut we know that one of the big challenges is making sure that we don\u2019t get lackadaisical \u2013 because we know that having another successful season isn\u2019t going to come easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a true rarity at the high school level, the Panthers bring back almost their entire starting offensive and defensive lines \u2013 as several Panthers lineman enter their third year in the regular rotation up front.<\/p>\n

Seniors Marcus Harris, Kaden Nielson, Hunter Goodall and Ian Todacheeny anchor a stout front five that gelled well as a unit, both in pass protection as well as run blocking.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe seniors helped show their leadership through the summer workouts,\u201d said Mack, \u201cand they\u2019re ready to help bring that intensity to the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

With that continuity, M-CHS hopes to continue to set up their skill position players with ample holes for big plays. At the top of every opponent\u2019s scouting report, junior Tay Wheat looks to continue his torrid career in orange and black, returning after a 1,000-yard rushing season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that we\u2019re going to rely on Tay again this year, but we\u2019re also excited with some of our other guys stepping up into new roles and seeing more touches either on the ground or as receivers,\u201d said Mack.<\/p>\n

\"Tay
Tay Wheat races down the sideline for a Panthers first down in 2022. (Sam Green\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

At signal caller, the Panthers turn to junior Colby McMillian to guide the offense \u2013 and Mack looks forward to the dynamic that McMillian brings to the offense.<\/p>\n

\u201cColby\u2019s shown a lot of leadership, and he\u2019s athletic and quick,\u201d said Mack, \u201cand we believe that he\u2019ll be able to make the adjustment to the varsity level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several linebackers and defensive backs, led by junior Dalton Muzzy, return from a vaunted defensive unit that held opposition to less than 18 points per game and forced nearly 40 takeaways.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re adapting with the new group of players, setting up the way that we\u2019re wanting to utilize these players\u2019 skills to put them in the best places to be successful,\u201d added Mack.<\/p>\n

A full coaching staff, headlined by Jarrett Watkins as defensive coordinator and Tyler Worley as special teams coordinator, look to have the Panthers prepped for week one.<\/p>\n

With an identical list of opponents to their 2022 season, the Panthers will once again play two of their first three games against New Mexico schools, kicking off the campaign with a trip to Aztec on Friday, Aug. 25 for a 7 p.m. kickoff.<\/p>\n

The Panthers then face an anticipated rematch of last year\u2019s thrilling quarterfinal victory over Rifle, when M-CHS forced six turnovers in a 14-0 blanking of the Bears. M-CHS\u2019 home opener on Friday, Sept. 1 against Rifle kicks off a span of three straight home games, with Kirtland Central (Sept. 8, 7 p.m.) and North Fork (Sept. 16, noon) visiting Panther Stadium.<\/p>\n

After traveling to Ignacio on Friday, Sept. 22, the Panthers open league play with a trip to Salida on Friday, Sept. 29, to be followed by a home contest against Bayfield on Oct. 6. Pagosa Springs on the road and defending league champion Delta round out the regular season schedule for the Panthers. Coverage of Panther football can be found on local radio station KRTZ 98.7 FM, including the season opening trip to Aztec, as the Panthers aim for a second straight postseason appearance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Panthers hope to build momentum after strong run<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25983,"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-32354","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\/32354","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=32354"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81764,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32354\/revisions\/81764"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32354"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=32354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}