<\/p>\n
Over the course of the past decade, few football teams in Southwest Colorado have delivered the bone-crushing hits that Mancos High School delivered throughout a 38-20 victory over Sargent on Sept. 14.<\/p>\n
Time and time again, Bluejays linebackers attacked Sargent ball carriers with reckless abandon, and over and over, Mancos linemen drove their opponents into the ground.<\/p>\n
Junior quarterback Breccen Morelli played with poise and demonstrated leadership abilities throughout the contest, while sophomore receiver Christian Cova showcased the big-play ability that has been lacking from local teams.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis group has been together since we were in third, fourth, fifth grade,\u201d said Morelli, when asked what spurred his team to victory. \u201cWe\u2019ve played a lot of football together. I\u2019ll fight with these guys any day of the week in a game like this, and I\u2019d rather lose with (my teammates) than win for anybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Mancos\u2019 ability to put points on the board played a significant role in the team\u2019s victory, it was the Bluejays defense that set the tone by recovering two fumbles in the first quarter and forcing six Sargent turnovers in the game.<\/p>\n
On nearly every Sargent run, Bluejays defenders made efforts to strip the ball, and on every Sargent pass, players in the Mancos secondary read the eyes of the quarterback and made a break on the ball.<\/p>\n
Hard hits were commonplace throughout the intensely physical contest, and more often than not, plays ended with Sargent players groaning on the ground or wincing in pain.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe figure if we hit somebody and knock them down and down and down again, they\u2019re not going to get back up,\u201d senior captain Chance Garcia said. \u201cThey\u2019re not going to want to play football.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bluejays opened the game\u2019s scoring halfway through the first quarter when Morelli faked a hand-off and raced around the left side for a 2-yard score to put his team ahead 6-0. Mancos increased its lead to 12-0 on a 39-yard touchdown pass from Morelli to Cova with 4:45 left in the first quarter.<\/p>\n
After Sargent cut to the Bluejays\u2019 lead to 12-6 on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Frank Torrez to Jacob Deacon with 4:45 left in the first quarter, both defenses stepped up, and Mancos entered halftime with a six-point lead.<\/p>\n
Opening what turned out to be an intense third quarter, Morelli scored on a 7-yard touchdown run around the left side to put his team ahead 18-6. A Torrez rushing touchdown and subsequent two-point conversion made the score 18-14 with 2:55 left in the third quarter.<\/p>\n
A 66-yard touchdown pass from Morelli to Cova after a beautiful play-action fake put Mancos ahead 24-14 with 58 seconds left in the third quarter. After Sargent cut the Mancos lead to 24-20 early in the fourth quarter, Morelli found Cova with a 16-yard touchdown pass that made the score 30-20.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur running backs and our line open up holes in the defense,\u201d said Cova, when asked about the keys to his three-touchdown performance. \u201c(Morelli) does a great job of getting me the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bluejays\u2019 final touchdown of the contest came on a 1-yard run by Garcia with 1:49 left in the contest, and a sack by junior defensive end Hunter Goodwin on the final play of the game put an exclamation point on the Bluejays\u2019 big victory.<\/p>\n
Although Sargent entered the contest as the state\u2019s third-ranked eight-man team according to the Colorado High School Activities Association poll, the 10th-ranked Bluejays proved to be the better team throughout the hard-fought contest.<\/p>\n
Now 3-0 on the season, Mancos will return to the practice field to prepare for a road match-up against Del Norte on Sept. 21. Although Morelli emphasized that his team still has room to improve, Medina did not hold back when asked about his team\u2019s goals for the remainder of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to knock out some playoff teams and make it to the playoffs,\u201d the junior said. \u201cThen, we\u2019re going to win a few (playoff) games, and we\u2019re going to win state.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the ultimate result of Mancos\u2019 exciting season remains to be seen, the Bluejays\u2019 hot start has notified eight-man teams around the state that something special is going on in Southwest Colorado.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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