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Wolverines pilfer win from Pirates
Herald Sports Writer
Photo by STEVE LEWIS/Herald
Aaron Velasquez of the Wolverines hauls in a catch against Pagosa Springs on Friday night in Bayfield. Bayfield High School won 21-20.
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Photo by STEVE LEWIS/Herald
Bayfield senior quarterback Ryan Terry leans for yardage as he is tackled by Wes Royston of Pagosa Springs during Friday night’s game at Wolverine Country Stadium. Terry rushed for 68 yards on 12 carries in Bayfield’s 21-20 win.
The Wolverines, with their playoff hopes hanging in the cool air on a classic Indian summer night, upset Mountain League-leader Pagosa Springs 21-20 on Friday before a traffic-jam crowd at Wolverine Country Stadium.
The victory keeps Bayfield in the playoff race as a possible Class 2A wild-card team. With their 7-3 overall record and 3-2 conference mark, the Wolverines will await the statewide wild-card point calculations Sunday.
"It's a wild-card situation for us now," Bayfield High School head coach Marshall Hahn said.
"We'll be a third-place team (in our league), and hopefully we'll get a lot of wild-card points for this," Hahn said. The top two teams from each 2A league advance to the playoffs along with four wild-card teams.
"We did our part," Hahn said. "We controlled what we could control; now we wait." The Wolverines took control of their regular-season finale with a revitalized rushing attack and a plucky, new-look defense against the Pirates, ranked No. 6 in the state.
Senior Brenden Harrison, moved into the fullback position with the injury last week to Seth Posey, responded with the biggest rushing game of his career. He finished with 174 yards on 30 carries and two touchdowns.
"My line did a tremendous job," Harrison said. "That always helps. They were great." He said he was comfortable moving to fullback because he had played there early in his junior year.
"So this week they put me back in there, and it was fun," he said.
Harrison scored on a 9-yard run to culminate Bayfield's opening drive of the game. He bolted across standing up as the Wolverines wrapped up an 11-play, 40-yard drive.
Quarterback Ryan Terry ran a keeper behind left tackle for a two-point conversion, and Bayfield led 8-0 early in the first.
The Wolverines' defense then took the cue, stopping the Pirates three times on downs and forcing a fumble (recovered by Bayfield's Jordan Fields).
But Pagosa Springs managed a quick scoring drive near the end of the first half, keyed by quarterback Taylor Shafer's 35-yard completion to Jordan Caler.
Shafer, an all-state candidate, scored on a 1-yard run. His pass for a two-point conversion, however, was tipped away by the Wolverines, who led 8-6 at the half.
The Wolverines went up 14-6 after driving 75 yards in 14 plays in the third quarter. The score came on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Terry to Aaron Velasquez. The conversion pass failed.
Harrison's second TD, an 18-yard run up the middle on the first play of the fourth quarter, extended the Bayfield lead to 21-6.
The momentum quickly swung to Pagosa Springs after Andrew Rice picked up a Bayfield fumble and ran 35 yards for a touchdown with 8:41 to play in the game.
Shafer ran across for a two-point conversion, and the Pirates trailed 21-14.
The Pagosa Springs senior led the Pirates on a potential game-tying drive late in the fourth quarter. He hit Tyson Ross for a 10-yard gain before connecting with Zach Lucero on a 15-yard pickup. Shafer concluded the drive with a 13-yard run, cutting Bayfield's lead to 21-20 with 3:25 on the clock.
The Pirates elected to go for a two-point conversion and a possible victory. But Shafer's pass in the end zone bounced off a Pirate receiver, leaving the Wolverines with the task of running out the clock.
They did, boosted by a 21-yard run from Harrison on the first play of the next series.
"Our defense ... we were trying to get pressure on their quarterback," Harrison said, echoing the comments of his head coach.
"The Pagosa offense is so powerful," Hahn said. "We moved our outside linebackers way out wide. We moved some people ... we tried to increase our speed on defense. And we got some pressure," he said, looking back on an alignment that, at times, had linebacker Velasquez lining up at defensive tackle.
The Wolverines stifled the Pagosa Springs rushing attack. Shafer managed 186 passing yards on 15 of 27 attempts with one interception (by Bayfield's Colt Walker).
Pagosa Springs dropped to 7-3 overall, 4-1 in league.
"The last four weeks haven't been fun for anybody," Hahn said after the Wolverines halted their three-game losing streak. "In football, when you struggle, it's tough. And it's been tough ... this is a good win." dstrode@durangoherald.com
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