Post-Bayfield, IHS to visit Centauri
For as much which went right for the Bobcats in a historic outing Friday night, Sept. 20, even more could have.
“You know, I think we left half of it at home; it was supposed to be a little different,” head coach Alfonso ‘Ponch’ Garcia quipped while walking off the grass inside 2A Bayfield’s Wolverine Country Stadium. “But overall … I’m proud of all the kids; they practiced really hard, prepared well for the whole thing.”
“And my hat goes off to the coaching staff and kids from Bayfield; they just flat beat us.” But just barely.
BHS junior Ayden Casillas’ 25-yard field goal with just 2:21 left in the fourth quarter proved the difference in a 38-35 battle – the programs’ first varsity-level rumble since 2010 – but Ignacio still had time and hope to pull off something dramatic.
Having tied the non-conference game at 35 – via a 66-yard touchdown pass from junior Zane Pontine to sophomore Cayson Burcham (followed by senior Charley Pargin’s point-after kick) – with 7:15 remaining, IHS looked to go aerial again after Casillas’ kickoff went through the end zone for a touchback, setting the ’Cats up at their own 20.
Pontine connected with Burcham for two yards on first down, and Garcia used a timeout with 1:35 left. Bayfield, however, sensed something tricky was in the works and effectively ended the game on second down. Pontine threw a backwards pass – appearing visually similar to the short throw he’d just made to Burcham – to junior Gabe Archuleta, who then tried firing roughly 20 yards downfield along Ignacio’s sideline.
Hoping to hit Burcham for both a big gain plus quick, clock-stopping exit out of bounds, Archuleta’s pass instead was intercepted by Wolverine sophomore James Sandoval and returned a few short yards to IHS’ 38 with 1:26 to go – and Ignacio unable to then stop BHS quarterback Cole McWhirter from kneeling twice in ‘victory formation’ to kill off the remaining time.
“Nobody was expecting us to do what we did,” Garcia said. “It was a fun game to coach, first of all; our coaches did a fantastic job preparing for what we did, and (Bayfield) just had one extra play than we did.”
IHS actually had led 7-6 after one quarter and closed out the second with 14 unanswered points to go into halftime tied 21-all with the Wolverines. Junior Lincoln deKay then put the Bobcats up 28-21 with 6:33 left in the third quarter, his 60-yard TD carry along the guests’ sideline augmented by a Pargin PAT, but neither squad had the upper hand as the final frame commenced; BHS senior Austin Wilmer logged his second goal-line TD dive in the game with 2:27 to go in the third, and Casillas’ booming PAT evened the score at 28.
Pontine finished with (unofficially) 193 yards on 12 completions, with two touchdowns and one interception – which BHS senior Lincoln Williams brought back 48 yards for a score, negated by a penalty during the return.
Archuleta caught six passes for 93 yards, including a 26-yard TD from Pontine (who then found D.J. Hendren for the tying two-point conversion) with no time remaining in the second quarter, and Burcham snared five for 99. On the ground, deKay netted 85 yards on eight carries, and Pontine finished with 15 yards and two TDs on eight tries.
Defensively, Ignacio forced three turnovers-on-downs and Pargin recovered Wolverine junior Estevan Gonzales’ fumble on the very first play (after BHS smothered Pargin’s game-starting onside kick at the Bobcat 49) from scrimmage.
Williams was the Wolverines’ top weapon, rushing for 139 yards (including TDs of 57 and 33) on 11 carries, and senior Logan Valencia gained 81 yards on 18.
“It is what it is … and whatever the rivalry has been, hopefully it stays clean like this,” Garcia said. “That’s the idea of it: It’s a fun game, so have fun with it!”
And though now a decent while removed from one of the most exciting gridiron games seen in recent years, the Bobcats (1-3 overall) will be hoping the drive and enthusiasm seen will have weathered a ‘bye’ week and endure into their 1A Southern Peaks opener Friday, Oct. 4.
Unluckily, it will kick off at 7 p.m. not at IHS Field, but out in distant La Jara. And Centauri will still be flying high over ripping – by a fierce 41-0 margin – Bayfield (now 3-1 overall) on the 27th, and thus improving to 4-0 against enemies representing the 2A Intermountain, 1A Tri-Peaks and 1A Western Slope, with a combined record (as of Monday, September 30) of 10-6.
After facing the Falcons, Ignacio will wrap up a trying four-game road stretch Friday, Oct. 11, at Trinidad. And the Miners can’t be underestimated; after a competitive season-opening overtime loss at 1A Ellicott, followed up two weeks later with a 47-30 shootout loss to 2A Raton (N.M.) with the coveted Coal Bucket at stake, THS finally logged its first victory in five years by devastating Pueblo-based 1A Dolores Huerta Prep 50-6 – coincidentally while Ignacio was holding their own in Bayfield.
Trinidad’s rout of the Scorpions ended a 35-game losing streak plaguing the program since a 44-24 home win over EHS back on Oct. 18, 2019. Blowouts at Rocky Ford and Peyton then followed, starting the Miners’ once-perpetual plunge.
IHS’ next home game is presently set for the 18th against Center.