\u201cI love throwing touchdowns,\u201d Woolverton said. \u201cI felt good. It\u2019s so great to get the first game under the belt and go big. Our line put on a show tonight and made time for me, and our receivers were awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finneseth added TD runs of eight and six yards, the second coming early in the third quarter when he lined up as the third-string QB. He ran for 48 yards on three carries.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no better feeling than catching the ball and seeing an open field and all your guys blocking and going as far as you can take it,\u201d Finneseth said. \u201cIt was a good opening game for us to see what we\u2019re capable of this season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Montezuma-Cortez struck twice in the game, both times to end the half. The first came on a 53-yard TD pass from Ty Blackmer to Aca Dennison. A 2-point conversion was no good. The Panthers also used two timeouts in the final 30 seconds of the game and scored on a touchdown pass from Dennison to Kyler Krobb when the clock hit zero.<\/p>\n
Also for Durango, Nate Messier, a sophomore, rushed for two TDs, one from a yard out and another from 44 yards away on his first touch of the game.<\/p>\n \u201cWe made some adjustments on a couple of those scoring drives. The urgency helps when you start running the hurry-up and you don\u2019t have a lot of time to think about it,\u201d Panthers head coach Jarrett Watkins said. \u201cThe main thing for us tonight was the playing time and getting experience because the fact we\u2019re so young right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Durango\u2019s defense was led by some sacks from Ford Pitts and Taylen Yazzie. Chase Robertson had an interception to open the third quarter that set up the team\u2019s seventh touchdown.<\/p>\n The only DHS drive that didn\u2019t end with a TD in the first half was a missed 35-yard field goal from Caleb McGrath. The kick would have been good from 60 yards if on target. McGrath was perfect on his extra-point tries. Also making PATs were Woolverton and Niko Martinez.<\/p>\n Montezuma-Cortez will open the regular season at 7 p.m. Friday at home against New Mexico\u2019s Kirtland Central.<\/p>\n Durango will also open at home at 7 p.m. Friday against Pagosa Springs.<\/p>\n