A 53-yard Dillon Granzella touchdown run, and a 5-yard TD toss from Alec Coscarella to Jared McDonald is all Salida needed to knock off visiting shorthanded Montezuma-Cortez High School, 14-0 Friday night.
M-CHS (1-4, 0-1 2A Mountain League) was without the services of injured senior linemen Stephen Candelaria and Eric Lopez (out for the season), and starting quarterback Tallon Ralstin. Some starters were out due to academic ineligibility. Salida (1-4, 1-0 2A ML) earned its first win of the season.
We knew we were young going in, Panthers coach Casey Coulter said. We knew what we could run and couldnt run.
The Panthers at times moved the ball against the Spartans, but just couldnt find the end zone.
At halftime, we made some adjustments, Coulter said. We came out and could move the ball a little bit here and there. But not everybody is on the same page. Thats what you get. Youre not going to score like that.
The M-CHS defense forced two fumble recoveries in the second half. The Tam Phan led wildcat offense was within striking distance, but the Panthers didnt strike.
Tam was a workhorse all night long. Im surprised that he didnt keel over. He ran like a wild man, Coulter said about Phan.
The Panthers will stay on the road and face league foe Centauri (2-2, 0-1 2A ML) on Saturday at 7 p.m.