The Mancos Bluejays football team won its first game in the Colorado 8-man football playoffs on Saturday, beating Rocky Mountain Lutheran of Denver, 64-28, at Adams 12 Five Star Stadium in Thornton.
The No. 11-seeded Bluejays struck first, to lead the No. 6 Eagles 8-0 in the first quarter, and then added 22 points in the second to go into halftime at 30-14. The Bluejays added 22 points in the third quarter to the Eagles’ six, and entered the fourth quarter with a 52-20 lead.
Mancos’ scoring eased off in the fourth quarter with 12 points to the Eagles’ eight, giving the Bluejays a 64-28 win.
Mancos held Rocky Mountain Lutheran to 12 first downs and benefited from five penalties, resulting in 30 yards. Lutheran passed for 163 yards and ran for 207, according to team statistics provided by Rocky Mountain Lutheran.
Mancos High School provided no stats for the game, and its coach, Adam Priestley, has not responded to The Journal’s efforts to reach him.
The Bluejays now host the quarterfinals against the No. 14 Soroco Rams on Saturday at 1 p.m. If the Bluejays beat Soroco, they would face the winner of the quarterfinal game between No. 2 West Grand and No. 7 Sargent, which beat Mancos 54-14 in the last game of the regular season.
On Saturday, Soroco defeated No. 3 seed Merino, 42-32. The Soroco Rams were led by junior Jace Logan, who carried the ball 36 times for 298 yards – an average of 8.3 yards per run – and five touchdowns. Logan also ran back a kick for 30 yards, giving him 328 yards for the game. He led the team in tackles, with 10 solo takedowns and four assists of the team’s 61 total tackles.
Rams quarterback Truman Anarella rushed for 52 yards and passed for five. He completed one of four attempts, according to statistics provided by Soroco.