During the past four years, the senior members of this year\u2019s Montezuma-Cortez High School football team spent countless hours in the weight room and on the practice field and stuck together through thick and thin.<\/p>\n
Thus, emotions were running high when the Panthers raced onto their home field for the final time this season on Oct. 18 for a matchup against Salida High School, which has been one of the top teams in the Intermountain League this season.<\/p>\n
Although M-CHS\u2019s defense played well for much of the contest and players left everything they had on the field, the home team\u2019s effort was not enough, as Salida bludgeoned its way to a 35-0 victory.<\/p>\n
Salida senior Vince Deleo ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns for Salida, while Swedish foreign exchange student Ludvig Myren ran for 122 yards and one score.<\/p>\n
\u201c(High school football) has just been one hell of a ride,\u201d M-CHS senior Swayde Noyes said. \u201cYou just have to go out there and play and leave it all out on the field. If I\u2019m not stumbling off this field, I didn\u2019t play.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among the bright spots for M-CHS during the lopsided loss was the play of the team\u2019s defense, which recovered two fumbles and came through with two interceptions against one of the top offenses in the Intermountain League.<\/p>\n
The first of the turnovers forced by the Panthers came on Salida\u2019s second offensive possession of the game when several players ripped the ball out of the hands of a Salida ball carrier and junior Jacob Schuster picked up the loose ball and sped down the field.<\/p>\n
Sophomore defensive back Jayden Karo forced Salida\u2019s second turnover of the game midway through the second quarter when he stepped in front of a pass by David Zwingers, and Panthers\u2019 senior Zeke Vargas also made an interception when he leapt up from his defensive end position and picked off an attempted screen pass.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody sold out and we came together,\u201d said Vargas, as he fought back tears after the game. \u201cWe had each other\u2019s backs through all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
As hard as M-CHS played, however, Salida\u2019s hard-hitting style and disciplined running game proved to be too much to overcome as the Spartans jumped out to a 14-0 1st quarter lead after a 10-yard touchdown reception by Chad Kroschel and a 73-yard touchdown run by Myren.<\/p>\n
Salida scored its third touchdown of the game with 4:47 left in the 3rd quarter when Zwingers raced into the end zone from 12 yards out. The Spartans then scored two touchdowns in the 4th quarter to put the game away.<\/p>\n
Although M-CHS struggled to protect senior quarterback Ike Dennison throughout its loss and yielded sacks on four consecutive pass attempts midway through the second quarter, the senior quarterback still managed to complete 9 of 17 passes for 39 yards.<\/p>\n
Senior receiver Vinny Conklin closed out his high school career with six catches for 28 yards, and stalwart senior linebacker Matthew Broughton led the Panthers\u2019 defense with 14 total tackles in his final high school game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll always remember the brotherhood that we have,\u201d senior Kale Hall said. \u201cA lot of our team, we\u2019ve been playing together for more than four years. In life, a football game won\u2019t matter. What matters is the brotherhood that comes out of playing and knowing that we will be there for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
With its final loss, M-CHS finishes its season with a 3-5 record overall and a 1-3 record in the Intermountain League. Among the high points of the Panthers\u2019 season were a road victory over Alamosa and a come-from-behind road victory against Kirtland Central.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe kept together and we kept on grinding no matter what,\u201d senior Kerwin Tom said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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