<\/p>\n
One day after a lighting malfunction at Panther Stadium delayed its game against Bayfield High School by 16 hours, the Montezuma-Cortez High School football team took its home field Saturday, Oct. 19, and suffered a tough 43-8 loss.<\/p>\n
Among the contributing factors to the final score was a standout performance by Bayfield\u2019s sophomore quarterback, Isaac Ross, who displayed poise and mobility in the pocket and tossed four touchdown passes.<\/p>\n
Of Ross\u2019 four touchdowns, three went to senior wide receiver Crosby Edwards, who faced one-on-one coverage throughout the game after the M-CHS defense packed the box in an effort to stop the run.<\/p>\n
In spite of the lopsided final score, however, M-CHS players and coaches were pleased with aspects of their team\u2019s performance against a Bayfield program that has ranked as one of the state\u2019s best in recent seasons and will likely compete for an Intermountain League title this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best thing about my team is that they don\u2019t give up,\u201d Panthers head coach Jarrett Watkins said. \u201cWe\u2019re a young team, and to see these our kids come out and play these (Bayfield) kids tough was awesome. We showed a lot of heart, and I\u2019m so proud of our guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leading the way offensively for the Panthers throughout much of the day was sophomore quarterback Ty Blackmer, who completed a handful of passes despite pressure from Bayfield\u2019s defensive line.<\/p>\n
Blackmer\u2019s most impressive pass came early in the fourth quarter when he lofted a 38-yard touchdown pass to senior Vallentino Rodriguez, who had broken free of two Bayfield defenders 10 yards from the end zone.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a last-second check, and (Rodriguez) ran a post-go route,\u201d Blackmer said. \u201cI was looking in the middle of the field, and (Bayfield\u2019s) safeties opened up, and (Rodriguez) was right there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew I was free once I came out of my first break and I saw the defender\u2019s hips turned,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cThat\u2019s when I flashed my hands, and (Blackmer) put the ball right where it needed to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although the Panthers\u2019 scoring play provided a reason for fans to cheer and gave rise to optimism on the M-CHS sideline, the moment of brilliance did not erase a pattern of Bayfield dominance.<\/p>\n
Bayfield\u2019s first points came with 4:58 left in the first quarter when sophomore Cael Schaefer blocked an M-CHS punt and the ball traveled through the Panthers end zone for a safety.<\/p>\n
A 2-yard touchdown run by junior Cade Carlson on Bayfield\u2019s ensuing offensive possession put the Wolverines ahead 8-0, and touchdown receptions of 58-yards, 48-yards and 23 yards by Edwards during the second quarter put Bayfield ahead 31-0 with 7:21 second left before halftime.<\/p>\n
Ross subsequently tossed a 45-yard touchdown pass to Dillon Vroman just before halftime, and Vroman capped off Bayfield\u2019s scoring with a 5-yard touchdown run that put his team ahead 43-0 with 7:19 left in the third quarter.<\/p>\n
Among the difference-makers on Bayfield\u2019s defense was senior Ethan Morris, who overpowered M-CHS\u2019 line throughout the game and sacked Blackmer several times.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Bayfield\u2019s) pressure affected our passing game a lot today,\u201d Blackmer said. \u201cThey were mixing up blitzes, and our inability to read them and pick them up rushed me in the pocket a few times.\u201d<\/p>\n
With its win over M-CHS, Bayfield improved its record to 3-4 overall and 2-0 in the Intermountain League. The Panthers\u2019 record dropped to 1-6 overall and 0-3 in the Intermountain League with the loss.<\/p>\n
Next up for M-CHs will be a road matchup against Salida High School on Oct. 25.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Touchdown pass from Blackmer to Rodriguez ignites crowd, but Panthers lose 43-8<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":92098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5882,5799,5958,5835,5770,5884,5774,5773],"tags":[4845,1871,21,28,36,29,346],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-92097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-football","category-bayfield-high-school","category-cortez-high-school-sports","category-headlines-high-school-sports","category-high-school-sports","category-montezuma-cortez-high-school","category-newsletter-high-school-sports","category-sports-high-school-sports","tag-american-football","tag-bayfield-high-school","tag-cortez","tag-headlines","tag-montezuma-cortez-high-school","tag-newsletter","tag-sports"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92097","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=92097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92097\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92097"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=92097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}