Just before the opening kickoff of the Montezuma-Cortez High School football team’s season-opening game against Grand County on Aug. 25, the scoreboard at Panther Stadium malfunctioned and went mostly dark.
Not being able to see the time or score turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the hometown players and fans as the Panthers were dominated in every facet of the game en route to a 57-0 loss.
“We just got outplayed and outworked,” said Panthers head coach Scott Conklin. “As coaches, we just have to come together and regroup and forget about this one. There’s not much to take from it.”
Among the highlights of the game for Grand County was the play of senior quarterback Josh Jones, who completed four of his six passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns. Jones also rushed five times for 50 yards and one touchdown even though he sat out most of the second half.
While Moab’s offense purred along under Jones’ direction, the M-CHS offense was completely ineffective, managing just one first down in the game. Panthers quarterback Ike Dennison was under constant pressure, and as a team, M-CHS managed just 23 yards of total offense.
The Panthers fell behind 21-0 during a first quarter that featured a 31-yard touchdown pass from Jones to Nick Downard, a 31-yard scoring run by Dakota Johnson and a 68-yard touchdown pass from Jones to Jarrett Reidhead.
Grand County extended its lead to 35-0 in the second quarter on a 7-yard touchdown run by Jones and a 1-yard touchdown run by Bryant Troutt. M-CHS senior Tyler Wilson provided a lone first-half highlight for the Panthers when he intercepted a Jones pass near the goal line on the final play of the first half.
As the M-CHS offense continued to struggle throughout the second half, the Grand County offense continued to put points on the board, thanks to several triple option plays that left Panthers linemen and linebackers confused.
“Our offense does a lot of misdirection,” Grand County coach Dennis Wells said. “(M-CHS) did a good job of shutting down our stud tailback, but our misdirection plays opened up the running game.”
With his team leading 44-0 midway through the third quarter, Wells removed many of Grand County’s starters, who celebrated together as a small throng of local fans cheered.
Grand County running back Trent Elmore scored on a 57-yard run late in the fourth quarter to make the score 57-0 before the game mercifully ended when M-CHS running back Jacob Schuster was thrown for a 4-yard loss on the game’s final play.
“At the end of the game, our leaders were still talking out there,” said Conklin. “Players were still trying to keep each other up, and that was positive.”
With their record now at 0-1 on the season, M-CHS looks to rebound this week with a road contest against Kirtland Central on Sept. 8. The game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
