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Bobcats kiss the 2014 season hello

The ‘playoffs-or-bust’ mantra continues Week 1 at Hotchkiss

Last season, the Ignacio High School football team had a “playoffs or bust” mentality.

The Bobcats busted, finishing 6-3 and missing the postseason.

It was, however, Ignacio’s best year since going 7-3 in 2009.

“That was our goal from the get-go. We thought we were going to do everything that we could to get there,” IHS head coach Lupe Huerta said Thursday night. “What held us back was our strength of schedule. We toughened up that schedule quite a bit, but the goal is still the same.”

That starts with Week 1.

After opening the last two seasons against Class 2A Aspen, IHS is picking on a team its own size to open the 2014 season. The Bobcats will face 2013 Class 1A playoff-qualifier Hotchkiss at 7 p.m. Friday in Hotchkiss.

“When we had the opportunity to play them, I went for it, because they’re a playoff team, and if we want to be there, those are the teams they have to face,” Huerta said. “We don’t know a lot about them. What we’re looking for right now is their new coach is from Aspen, and talking to the Aspen coach from last year, he brought his whole offense and defense (scheme) over. We’ve already seen this offense and defense, just have to adjust to different personnel.”

Hotchkiss went 7-3 last year, led by running back Alex Smith’s 914 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns. Smith will be a senior this season along with quarterback Devan Rupe, who threw for 681 yards and eight touchdowns.

The Bulldogs return four total running backs who had more than 275 yards rushing last season.

Leading tackler Duncan Turnbull also returns with leading sacker River Parish and both of the team’s interception leaders, Jacob Schreiner and Jaden Simpson.

In order to match up with them, IHS will have to cover for the loss of seven seniors from last year’s team, chief among them leading receiver Clayton Jefferson.

Jefferson had 740 of Ignacio’s 2,226 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns.

The Bobcats also will need to replace dual threat running back Adam Herrera, who had a team-high 17 total touchdowns, nine on the ground. He also rushed for a team-leading 434 rushing yards to go along with 452 receiving yards.

The cupboard isn’t completely bare, though.

Junior receiver Wyatt Hayes and junior tight end Nick Herrera are the team’s leading returning receivers. Hayes caught 37 passes for 586 yards and four touchdowns last year, and Herrera had 28 catches for 308 yards and five scores.

“He’s more than filled those shoes. We do have some young receivers that are stepping up,” Huerta said. “One freshman in particular, Nathan Herrrera, really impressed us since we started two-a-days.”

The Bobcats will lean on seniors Blaine Mickey and Miguel Perez in the running game.

“(Perez) has the same speed that Adam (Herrera) did. He’s a little more of a bruiser,” Huerta said.

But the man who runs the offensive show will continue to be senior quarterback Adison Jones, who made the Colorado High School Activities Association all-state team last year. Jones threw for 1,997 yards and 28 touchdowns against just seven interceptions, while adding another score on the ground.

“It’s big. He threw for a lot of yards last year, and with the receivers improving this year, we have high hopes for him,” Huerta said of Jones returning. “Obviously, he’s very comfortable in the offense. He’s very in tune with the offense we run and knows where these guys are supposed to be.”

As for the defensive side of the ball, Huerta is looking at a collection of seniors to lead the charge.

Josh Gallegos and Alex Lopez will man the line with Mickey at linebacker and Nick Herrera and Jones at safety.

Senior linebacker Blaine Mickey leads the returning Bobcats in tackles, while Lopez had two sacks to lead the team.

“It’s kind of a wait-and-see what they’re gonna do to help us this year,” Huerta said. “We have to improve on our run defense, and that’s hopefully where we’ve shored up.”

kgrabowski@durangoherald.com

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