The Montezuma-Cortez Panthers and Kirtland Central Broncos played hot potato for the first five minutes of their game in Kirtland on Friday.
But after M-CHS sophomore quarterback Ike Dennison tossed two interceptions, KCHS quarterback Bryson Dowdy tossed one of his own and the Broncos lost a fumble – the Panthers offense settled down and put together a solid drive.
“He’s good,” head coach Scott Conklin said of Dennison after two early interceptions. “We just needed to run the ball a little bit. Just kind of even out what we were doing.”
Going to the ground, Elisha Vaquera picked up yardage on a couple shifty runs. And then Coby Baer rumbled his way for a 12-yard pickup and a first down.
Later in the drive, facing a fourth and nine, Dennison pump faked a screen and then went deep to Cordell Baer for a 46-yard touchdown. The extra point was no good, but the Panthers led 6-0.
The two teams traded possessions and turnovers again before the Broncos responded.
But in the waning moments of the second quarter, Dowdy got the edge and snuck in from four yards out and KCHS tacked on the extra point to go up 7-6 at the break.
The Broncos started the third quarter with two straight first downs, but then a sack by Micah Silversmith pushed them to fourth and long in Panthers territory and forced them to punt.
Unable to get anything going on the ensuing possession, M-CHS punted it back, and KCHS marched down the field.
After setting up a first and goal at the 5-yard line, the Panthers defense held its ground. And on third and goal from the six, Cole Herrmann broke up a would-be touchdown pass and the Broncos settled for a field goal to go up 10-6.
The Panthers next drive started smoothly, but fizzled out.
Cordell Baer picked up 28 yards after jumping and snatching a tipped pass from Dennison out of the air and dragging defenders for extra yards. And then Dennison connected with Zeke Vargas for another first down, moving the Panthers to the KCHS 20.
Penalties then bogged down the drive, pushing M-CHS back to a fourth-and-21 situation that ended in a turnover.
“Mistakes,” Conklin said after the game. “I think we had probably had 100 yards of penalties against us. It just stopped our drives, and instead of second and short we’re looking at second and 15 and sometimes second and 20. It just changes the flow of the game.”
Later, after taking over with 5:37 left to play and a 10-6 lead, the Broncos methodically marched down the field. Then with 4:06 remaining, officials congregated after a group tackle and handed Coby Baer a personal foul, ejecting the senior.
It was difficult to see what happened in the swarming pile, and Conklin said he was unsure of the play and call.
“I can’t even tell you,” he said. “He got ejected, so I’ve got to watch film to see what’s going on.”
Silversmith also exited the contest in the fourth with leg cramps, and without two of the Panthers linebackers the Broncos hummed along into the red zone.
The Broncos continued to run the ball to burn clock. But on third and goal from the 7-yard line and 57.6 seconds remaining, they surprised the Panthers defense and went to the air. Dowdy connected with a wide-open Zach Vanduren for a touchdown, and after the extra point KCHS was up 17-6.
A good kick return by Juan Arballo set the Panthers up from their own 37 with 45 seconds to go. But under pressure, a deep heave by Dennison was intercepted by Brock Beckstead and Kirtland kneeled out the clock to secure a 17-6 win.
“The defense played great,” Conklin said following the loss. “They did everything they had to do, just penalties and mistakes set us back on a lot of drives.”
“It’s frustrating because we’re better than that,” he continued. “We really played hard that first half, just mistakes and a momentum shift in the second half. And we had some key injuries in the fourth quarter and lost two of our starting linebackers. It’s disappointing.”
Jesse Lopez came down with two interceptions and a fumble recovery for the Panthers, Herrmann added another interception, and Arballo recovered a fumble for the team's five takeaways.
But Dennison was picked four times in the contest.
The sophomore quarterback took it stride, though, recovering after his first two picks to orchestrate a touchdown drive. And he’s already gearing up for the Panthers’ (1-2) homecoming game next week against Ignacio (1-1).
“I couldn’t get ahold of the ball and get a grip of it and stay calm and smooth with my passes,” he explained. “But we’re going to come back and work hard this next week in practice. We’ve just got to clean some of our mistakes up and stay focused and not make the mistakes that we did tonight.”