Turnovers torpedo ’Cats in Halloween loss
Rumors reaching some Ignacio players’ ears, after the Bobcats had lost at Monte Vista on Friday, Oct. 24, had it that upcoming opponent Del Norte might forfeit the slated regular-season finale.
Not necessarily because of player shortage or even track record (the troubled Tiger program had forfeited eight games in 2024 and had done so in ’25 on 10/17 when victory was conceded to 1A South Central powerhouse Centauri); the temptation to instead participate in Halloween hijinks was the reason.
Had DNHS lost on the 25th to Center, the rumblings regarding discontent and lack of motivation would certainly have been louder and perhaps even carried weight. But after the Tigers trampled the visiting Vikings 40-8, there was no doubting that Del Norte would, on the 31st, field a team to face IHS.
And, unfortunately, one which would stun the ’Cats.
Neither side managed to score during the opening 12-minute quarter, but freshman Brendan Hemmerling’s seven-yard touchdown carry put DNHS up 6-0 with 11:57 left in the second and put the Tigers on track to a 20-6 victory.
Set up by junior quarterback Morgan Howell’s deceptive 23-yard bootleg keeper around left end, freshman Liam Kreutzer then scored – from out of the same multi-back look which produced Hemmerling’s TD – from a yard out with 3:23 to go. And on a third-down play mere moments from halftime, Howell rolled to his right, evaded Ignacio senior Sonny Flores and flung a 13-yard TD, paralleling the far sideline, into high-rising senior Paul Neal’s hands with only 8.7 seconds remaining.
Senior Trenton Woolf added the night’s first two-point conversion, and the Tigers entered intermission leading 20-0.
Having informally expressed worry that his fourth-quarter TD run against MVHS might have been his last, senior Lincoln deKay at last got the Bobcats on the scoreboard at DNHS with a scoring run roughly midway through the third quarter, but Ignacio failed to generate any more points the rest of the way.
Repeatedly pressured by Neal, senior Wyatt Vanzalinge and others, senior quarterback Zane Pontine was intercepted three times (twice by Howell, once by freshman Jaiden Garcia) and held to under 100 yards passing in the loss – dropping IHS to 2-3 in SCC action and to 2-7 overall.
deKay reportedly finished with 123 yards rushing on just 14 carries and joined senior Aven Bourriague and junior Shaun Sanderson in snaring two receptions apiece.
Playing a reduced schedule this fall in the wake of a tumultuous, winless ’24, Del Norte improved to 2-3 in conference play and to 2-4 overall with the program’s first win over Ignacio since 2012 (current head coach Austin McDonald’s senior season). DNHS lost horribly to IHS in ’13, and then dropped into CHSAA’s 8-man football realm from 2014-19.
ADDITIONALLY
Also playing in the San Luis Valley, Oct. 31, Centauri hosted Monte Vista with the conference title at stake and edged the Pirates – last season’s champ – by a 20-18 margin. Bound once again for the Class 1A Playoffs, the Falcons improved at the time to 8-1 overall (5-0 SCC) while postseason-ready MVHS slipped to 6-3 (4-1).
Seeded fourth in the 16-team bracket, CHS hosted Hotchkiss North Fork on Saturday, Nov. 8, and eliminated the No. 13 Miners 35-21. Monte Vista, meanwhile, was seeded tenth and, on the 7th, ousted No. 7 Colorado Springs Christian 21-0 inside University of Colorado at Colorado Springs’ Mountain Lion Stadium.
The Pirates will next welcome perennial State contender Limon on Saturday, Nov. 15, and battle the second-seeded Badgers (9-1 overall) upon Harvey Sullivan Field at 1 p.m. The Falcons, meanwhile, will haul north to Ault and face No. 12 Highland (7-3) on the 15th at 1 p.m. The State Championship is presently scheduled to be played on the 29th inside CSU-Pueblo’s ThunderBowl, with kickoff set for 1:30 p.m.