The Mancos football team made a home in the end zone in its homecoming win over Dove Creek last Friday.
Richard Martinez, Axel Bonde and Bowen Strazza-Whalen each scored rushing touchdowns for the Blue Jays, and Bonde and Kaleb Hargraves each took interceptions to the house for pick-six scores to give Mancos a commanding 40-0 lead over the visiting Bulldogs after just one quarter to start a running clock.
In the second quarter, freshman quarterback Breccen Morelli broke off an 87-yard TD run and Hargraves came down with his second interception of the contest to send the Jays to the break with a 48-0 advantage.
Dove Creek sophomore Ryan Martinez sacked Morelli and forced a fumble to start the third quarter. And although the Bulldogs began the ensuing possession inside the Mancos 10-yard line, they were unable to punch it in.
Later, Richard Martinez scored on a 68-yard end around and then senior QB Riley Burton connected with junior Nic Huver for a 34-yard score to complete the scoring for the evening as Mancos cruised to a 63-0 win.
Mancos co-head coach Adam Priestley explained what the homecoming win meant to his team and how the Jays are familiar with the Bulldogs’ current struggles, and then he thanked the Blue Jays’ homecoming sponsors.
“Mancos, Dove Creek is a pretty big rival,” he said. “Being the homecoming game the kids were really excited about the win. We do know and understand the misfortune Dove Creek has been going through, because a few years ago we were in the same boat of not having a lot of kids out and struggling, so we just tried to take care of business to stay in the hunt for the playoffs but not rub it in.”
Mancos is currently No. 18 in CHSAA’s RPI standings. And with eight league champions automatically qualifying for the 8-man state playoffs and the remaining eight teams slotted based on RPI, the Blue Jays’ final regular season contest against No. 2 ranked Sargent (CHSAA poll) will have a major impact on their postseason fate.
“We’re sitting at 18,” said Priestley. “A win for sure gets us into the playoffs. But if we don’t have a win, we’re hoping that even with the record of Sargent it still gets us into that top 16.”
Mancos hosts Sargent on Saturday at 1 p.m., while Dove Creek wraps up its regular season on Friday at home against Norwood at 7 p.m.