The fall sports season continues through November and many teams from the San Juan region are taking part in the chase for state championships. Part of the Colorado Preps Weekly series, the San Juan report recaps teams from the region.
Football
The Durango Demons won their sixth straight game over the weekend to take the 3A Southern league title, dominating Sand Creek 62-0 on the road. The Demons held the Scorpions to just four first downs during the game, and had the running clock going by halftime, leading 48-0, adding two more scores in the second half.
This week, the schedule gets a bit tougher for the Demons, as they enter the 3A postseason as the four seed and will host 8-2 Evergreen, who made the field as the 13. Durango goes into the game with a high powered offense which has outscored opponents 258-7 in the last six weeks. The Evergreen Cougars have been challenged more, but are also riding a three game win streak into the postseason. Kickoff is at 1 PM in Durango on Saturday.
Bayfield dropped their opening game of the 2021 postseason for 2A football as the host team for their eight vs nine matchup against the Elizabeth Cardinals. The Wolverines normally strong run game was silenced, with Cael Schaefer only managing 36 of the teams 46 yards. The passing attack did gain 170 yards, but it wouldn’t be able to change the shutout minded Cardinals as they ended the Bayfield season in the first round.
Mancos entered the 8-man postseason field as the second seed, and didn’t disappoint the home crowd in a 59-12 romp over the Fowler Grizzlies on Saturday. A 213 yard performance from Chase Moore led the Bluejays to 393 total yards of rushing offense, and Moore’s six touchdowns set the tone for what the senior is hoping to accomplish this postseason. Freshman quarterback Brandon Vannest also threw for over 100 yards.
Mancos now moves on to take on Dayspring Christian Academy, after the Eagles took down Merino 58-30 in their opening round game.
Dove Creek finished off a clean sweep of the opening round for the 8-man Mountain Division as they took down Crowley County 50-0. The fourth seeded Bulldogs went up 44-0 at halftime, balancing the attack with 333 rushing yards spread between six players. Four different Dove Creek rushers scored, showing off the depth in the backfield they bring.
This week, they head to their second round game with the Holly Wildcats, who are coming off of a 37-20 win over Swink.
Volleyball
The Durango Demons would make things VERY interesting at their regional, taking down The Classical Academy in four sets to open the day. That gave them the chance to take the regional crown with a win over Berthoud, but they couldn’t manage more than another four set match, this one going the way of the Spartans. When TCA defeated Berthoud in their match, it set up another chance for the Demons, who drew TCA in the opening one set playoff tie-breaker. The Demons would just be edged 25-22 and saw their season come to a close just shy of making the state championships.
Being a host team at regionals in volleyball this year was a big deal, with only a handful of non-host teams able to earn a trip to Colorado Springs. Bayfield was one of the hosts who handled the duties well, and with clean sweeps of Colorado Academy and Valley, the Wolverines earned a trip to the Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs. They will open their quest for a state title by taking on 20-4 Liberty Common in the opening round at 9:30 AM.
Montezuma Cortez was last year’s representative for the Intermountain League at the state championships, but the Panthers will not be making the repeat trip. After taking down Peak to Peak in their regional tournament, it would be the host Eaton Reds handling business quickly, sweeping the Panthers in the regional championship.
Pagosa Springs was on the road at Faith Christian, where they matched up with the Eagles in the first of their two matches, falling in five sets to the regional host. The season would be capped off when the Delta Panthers swept the Pirates to close out the regional experience for them and end their season.
The Ignacio Bobcats swept Plateau Valley in the opening match of their regional, setting up a championship dual with Union Colony Prep, and the Bobcats would just survive the five setter, coming back from two sets down to take the final three and give themselves a berth to the state championships. Senior Alexis Pontine was good for 21 kills in the deciding match, as the 19-6 Bobcats will take on the 16-9 Wiggins Tigers in the opening round of the tournament, with the first serve scheduled for 11 AM.
The Telluride Miners were swept out of their regional action, with a straight set loss to regional host Denver Christian, before Byers finished off the weekend and the season for Telluride with a sweep of their own.
Mancos had a tough draw of their own in regionals, heading north to Meeker for a battle with the second ranked Cowboys and the Sanford Indians. The Bluejays would drop their match with Meeker to open the day 3-0, before seeing their match with Sanford go by the same score.
Dolores was unfortunately forced to forfeit their regional chance, giving Soroco the ticket to the state tournament from 2A’s region 5.
The Dove Creek Bulldogs went 1-1 in their regional tournament at Cheraw, but were still able to grab one of the at-large bids to make the 1A volleyball state championship field starting on Thursday in Colorado Springs.
The Bulldogs took down Simla in four sets before the Cheraw Wolverines swept them in the championship. It won’t be long for a rematch though, as the Dove Creek drew Cheraw in their opening round at the state championships, scheduled for 8 AM on Thursday morning.
Soccer
The Durango Demons soccer was able to punch their ticket to the quarterfinals on Wednesday last week with a 2-0 win over D’Evelyn, as junior Cedar Newman drove home both goals in the victory for the Demons.
But the hopes of a deep postseason run would eventually be silenced by the Denver North defense, which held Durango off of the scoreboard in their 3-0 quarterfinal victory over the weekend. The Vikings put up a pair of goals in the first half, then were able to salt away the win, while adding one more in the second half. The Demons season ends with a final record of 14-2-2.
The Ridgway Demons looked like they may be able to pull off the shocking upset of the year in their semifinal match with Crested Butte, but the Titans overcame a 1-0 deficit at halftime to take down Ridgway 2-1 on Saturday, punching their ticket to the state championship. The win pushes Crested Butte into a battle for the title with Lotus School For Excellence this weekend in Colorado Springs.
