Montezuma-Cortez scored on a seven-play, 62-yard drive that ended with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Ike Dennison to Cordell Baer with 1 minute, 56 seconds to go in the first quarter. The Panthers (4-6) added to that lead on the first drive of the third quarter behind three consecutive runs from Vallentino Rodrgiuez, who had returned the second half kickoff out to the Panthers\u2019 40-yard line. Rodriguez ran for gains of 25, four and 31 yards to get into the end zone and give the Panthers a stunning 14-0 lead with 10:26 to play in the third quarter.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe just gave us speed, vision,\u201d Conklin said. \u201cHe filled in good. (Jacob) Schuster was laid out and hurt. Tino, he showed great vision tonight. We just got him back, and he gave us a spark in the running game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rodriguez finished with 139 yards on only 15 carries. He tormented the Bayfield defense.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was amazing,\u201d Prior said. \u201cI was getting so angry that I wanted to play safety. We would blitz, and they would just run the opposite side, and he would bust out. It was so frustrating. Our defense, it\u2019s known the weakness is the pass game. For us to get pounded on the run game just hurts a little bit, but we\u2019re gonna work on that in practice this week and move on from it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Montezuma-Cortez had the 14-0 lead in the third quarter and got the ball back after a Bayfield punt to the Panthers\u2019 6-yard line But the Panthers would go three-and-out and punt it away. With good field position, it didn\u2019t take Bayfield long to strike and make it a one-score game. BHS senior quarterback Hayden Farmer rolled to his left and slung a sidearm pass down the field to a streaking Prior, who hauled in the pass and took it 57 yards for the Wolverines\u2019 first touchdown. Backup kicker Trenton Harrison, kicking in place of injured Max McGhehey, made the first extra point attempt of his varsity career, and Bayfield had cut the deficit to 14-7 with 6:15 to play.<\/p>\n
Instead of going back to Rodriguez, the Panthers ran three consecutive pass plays that went for incompletions. Only 14 seconds ran off the clock, and the Panthers punted.<\/p>\n
But it wouldn\u2019t cost Montezuma-Cortez, as Bayfield fumbled the ball for the fourth time in the game and lost the fumble for the second time on a botched pitch play, which has plagued the team all season. Chris Matimba recovered for the Panthers, and Montezuma-Cortez had it on the Bayfield 39-yard line. Rodriguez got the team rolling, but the drive stalled as the Panthers were trying to run clock and were caught with a delay of game. The team lined up for a 45-yard field goal try, but another delay of game forced the team into a punt.<\/p>\n
Bayfield would again punt on its next possession, but the game changed in a flash on the next Montezuma-Cortez series. Dennison tried a lateral pass out toward the Bayfield sideline. The pass was behind the receiver, and the ball rolled toward the Bayfield sideline. Prior was able to get to the loose ball and recover the fumble just before stepping out of bounds, and he gave the Wolverines life and the ball on the Montezuma-Cortez 32-yard line.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw the ball and didn\u2019t hear a whistle,\u201d Prior said. \u201cCoach was talking all game that they throw that swing pass and sometimes he throws it behind him, so I didn\u2019t hear a whistle, sprinted for it and got it. I was so sad I stepped out of bounds and didn\u2019t take it for a touchdown. I lost my balance and started to cramp up a little bit, but we just gotta make big plays like that.\u201d<\/p>\n A few plays later, Prior scored a touchdown on a 17-yard run. The Wolverines were unable to make the extra point, though, and Montezuma-Cortez still led 14-13 with 9:35 to play in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n \u201cI was so excited,\u201d Prior said. \u201cI sat on the bench like, \u2018We got this. Our defense is balling out. We just gotta execute one more drive on offense and we\u2019re good.\u2019 I knew we could.\u201d<\/p>\n Bayfield\u2019s defense forced another Montezuma-Cortez punt, and the Wolverines had the ball on their own 31 with 8:35 to play. It looked as though the team would punt again as the clock ticked closer to seven minutes to go. But, on fourth-and-4, Prior ran a fake punt. He danced around looking for a hole, found one up the middle and plowed through three Panthers on a second and third effort to gain five yards and extend the drive.<\/p>\n Junior slash player Dylan Hilliker ripped off runs of 14, 12 and 20 yards to get Bayfield inside the Panthers\u2019 5, and senior running back David Hawkins, who surpassed the 1,000-yard rushing barrier for the season earlier in the game, scored on a 5-yard run off the left tackle to give Bayfield a 19-14 lead. The team would miss a 2-point conversion, as Farmer was stopped short of the goal line on a run, but the 19-14 lead held until the final whistle.<\/p>\n \u201cMy line told me, \u2018Hey, just go off my butt,\u2019 and I followed them, listened to them and trusted the plays,\u201d Hilliker said of his big runs to set up the score. \u201cI felt like I was contributing, and it felt great. I was doing whatever I could to get us closer to score.\u201d<\/p>\n Montezuma-Cortez had one more chance, but the Wolverines came up with back-to-back sacks, as John Foutz, Rhett Hoover, Isaac Lorenzen and Daniel Westbrook blew past their blockers to bring down Dennison to secure a victory.<\/p>\n Bayfield got the ball back with 2:50 to play, and the Panthers still had two timeouts, but big runs from Hawkins iced the game.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were nervous for a second, but we pulled through,\u201d Hoover said. \u201cI\u2019m thankful to have my brothers that gave their hearts tonight and left it all on the field. Cortez came out hard and with heart. We barely managed to pull it off.\u201d<\/p>\n Dennison finished the game 7-of-16 passing for 52 yards, one touchdown and an interception by Bayfield\u2019s Alec Demko. He missed a few plays with a tight hamstring after helping lead the team down the field in the second quarter, and Ty Blackmer came in to replace him. He went 1-for-2 for four yards and an interception to Bayfield\u2019s Cael Schaefer.<\/p>\n Montezuma-Cortez limited Farmer to 7-of-18 passing for 130 yards and one touchdown. The Panthers\u2019 defense didn\u2019t allow a first down in the first quarter, as the one big play from the Wolverines, a long run from Prior, was called back for a hurdling violation.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was our goal,\u201d Conklin said. \u201cWe got here and almost pulled off something big. Coach (Gary) Heide and Bayfield, they\u2019re just tough.\u201d<\/p>\n Prior finished with nine carries for 57 yards and a touchdown, and he added four catches for 97 yards and a touchdown. Hawkins rushed for 87 yards on 19 carries after he was held to 16 yards on nine carries in the first half.<\/p>\n Now, Bayfield will prepare to face the winner of Saturday\u2019s game between No. 9 Faith Christian and No. 8 Kent Denver. If Kent Denver wins, Bayfield will host next Saturday. If Faith Christian wins, the Wolverines would go on the road.<\/p>\n No matter who the Wolverines play or where, they know they have to play much better football to get back to the semifinals for a fourth consecutive year. Hoover said the team would work on limiting turnovers and blocking better up front.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been inconsistent this year and haven\u2019t found a way to fix that in the first half,\u201d Prior said. \u201cIt\u2019s just about a sense of urgency. When we come out the beginning of the game, especially against a team we already killed, I think we\u2019re just not playing with a sense of urgency. We didn\u2019t realize this could really be our last game. As it gets closer to the end of the game, we play with urgency and fight through it.\u201d<\/p>\n