After they were given a forfeit win over Shiprock Northwest last week, the Mancos Blue Jays (4-2) jump back into Mountain conference play against Sierra Grande (1-5) on Saturday.
Although Mancos would have rather played last week, the extra week off was beneficial.
“We’re better,” co-head coach Bill Parsons said on Monday. “Some guys that were hurt are getting well. And also, it’s allowing us to refine some of the things we knew we needed to work on and maybe put in a couple new things.”
On Oct. 2 against Sargent, the Blue Jays gave up 341 rushing yards. But in preparing for Sierra Grande, they’re more concerned with the Panthers passing game.
“They’ve got a good quarterback that can throw and they’ve got two ends that can really catch it,” Parsons said. “What we’ve seen from them, they throw the majority of the time. So we’ve got to be ready for them.”
Much of the responsibility will fall on defensive backs Adrian Hernandez and Kaleb Hargraves, who each have two interceptions on the season.
Offensively, the Blue Jays will look to rediscover their rhythm.
After racking up 444 rushing yards against Sanford, they were held to just 160 total yards in the 68-12 loss to Sargent.
Look for Mancos to lean on running backs Axel Bonde and Everett Strazza-Whalen, and for quarterback Drew Morgan to make plays with his legs as well.
But don’t be surprised if they open it up and allow Morgan to throw to Bowen Strazza-Whalen or Andrew Plunkett, as Plunkett had 56-yards receiving and a touchdown in the Blue Jays’ last contest.
Mancos is third in the Mountain league with a 2-1 conference record and three league games remaining against Sierra Grande, Sangre de Cristo and Dove Creek.
“We’ve got three tough games left, and we want to win all three of them,” Parsons said. “Of course, so does everybody else we’re playing. But it’s tight this year, this is a good league.”