IHS loses rescheduled showdown 52-0
Bookending their final chapter of a taxing 2026 grind with clock-killing 11-play drives, but unable to generate points with either, Ignacio closed out its varsity football season Friday night, November 6, with a 52-0 loss at Bayfield.
Sliced through defensively during a game-breaking second quarter, the Bobcats had done well to limit the pass-happy Wolverines to eight points in the first. IHS’ opening drive, which started at their own 2-yard line after kickoff returner Isias Cuthair lost his footing and slipped, consumed exactly six minutes – or half the quarter – and even included a fumble recovery by senior Dillon Witt after BHS senior Tanner Vyborny muffed a Zackariah Loudenburg punt which should have relinquished possession.
But after Ignacio’s revived drive – Witt’s recovery actually earned the ’Cats 20 yards of field position – ended with another Loudenburg punt four plays and zero additional yards later, Vyborny’s lengthy return set Bayfield up at Ignacio’s 49 (meaning Loudenburg’s kick netted just nine yards) with 6:00 left.
Six plays and 2:53 worth of clock later, the Wolverines were on the scoreboard after senior quarterback Cole McWhirter lobbed a 20-yard touchdown to the vertically-oriented Vyborny in the end zone’s deep corner. Senior running back Elijah Huerta then somersaulted over IHS sophomore Keyon Alston at the goal line to complete the two-point conversion carry and put the home team up 8-0.
BHS then added five unanswered TDs during the second quarter, and bolted into halftime after senior running back Kole Domingos turned a McWhirter screen pass into a 28-yard score with 0:41 remaining, and Vyborny – who then intercepted Loudenburg three Bobcat snaps later and returned it to IHS’ 38 with 0:10 to go – out-jumped Alston to snare a TD with no time left. Huerta then ran the two-pointer in, increasing the Wolverines’ lead to 46-0 at the break.
Recipient of the second-half kickoff, Bayfield then drove 55 yards in six plays with McWhirter flinging a 28-yard TD to junior Harrison Williams through the middle of the field. With 5:58 left in the third quarter, BHS’ two-point try failed, but with running-clock rules engaged it really didn’t matter with victory long since assured the Wolverines (3-6 overall, 2-4 1A Southern).
Still, the Bobcats (0-9, 0-6) never quit and attempted to spoil the shutout with their last remaining energy. Set up at their own 5 after forcing a turnover-on-downs with eight minutes remaining in regulation, head coach Jake Nossaman gave Cuthair a chance under center – and Loudenburg a needed breather – and Ignacio would reach BHS’ 35 in seven plays. The last of which was a 27-yard Cuthair keeper, Ignacio’s longest play in the contest originally scheduled to have been played Thursday night, October 22, but twice postponed by rampant rains and flooding throughout La Plata County.
Loudenburg then gained five more yards but then threw incomplete on three end-zone attempts before time expired – leaving the ’Cats with a valiant 11-play, 65-yard surge officially devouring the season’s last 7:46.
Cuthair ended up as Ignacio’s leading rusher in the game, gaining 43 yards on three carries. Junior Jayden Scott gained a hard 38 yards on his 12 totes, and Loudenburg (3 comp., 25 yards passing) ended up with 18 on nine. He unfortunately lost 13 on one bizarre play when, after the referee blew his whistle permitting play to re-commence with 36 ticks left in the second quarter, the ball was snapped suddenly and shot right past the unprepared Loudenburg – who then had no choice but smother the ball back at IHS’ 21 and prevent a first-down turnover.