Before kicking off their homecoming contest against Alamosa High School on Oct. 11, members of the Montezuma-Cortez High School football team were energized and focused on the task at hand.
The team’s energy and focus were not enough to close what turned out to be a wide talent gap, however, as the Panthers struggled on both sides of the ball throughout what ended up being a lopsided 56-0 defeat.
Among the few bright spots for Montezuma-Cortez in the one-sided contest, which was played in chilly fall weather, was the performance of senior receiver Kaleb Gropp, who reeled in two catches for 70 yards.
Junior quarterback Ty Blackmer was on the throwing end of both Gropp receptions but struggled to limit his turnovers while passing 4-for-12 for 76 yards and throwing four interceptions.
Montezuma-Cortez’s running game struggled as the Panthers lost 32 yards on 14 total rushes.
Junior Cole Grobb led the Panthers in tackles with nine, and senior Logan Birch and junior Kyler Krob each had six tackles for M-CHS.
Alamosa was led statistically by senior quarterback Brendon Madril, who completed 10 of 13 passes for 158 yards and three touchdowns.
Senior receiver Ian Jackson caught two of Madril’s scoring strikes while amassing 126 total receiving yards on six catches.
Senior running back Luke Smith paced Alamosa’s running game with 54 yards on eight carries as Mean Moose players combined to run for 112 total yards and two rushing scores.
With its record now at 1-5 overall and 0-2 in the Intermountain League, M-CHS will look to regroup in advance of its next tough matchup, which will come at home against Bayfield High School on Oct. 18.