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  Home Page » Sports » High School » BHS Draws No 1 Faith

BHS draws No. 1 Faith

Wolverines back in playoff action against Class 2A best

by Dale Strode
Herald Sports Writer Welcome to the state playoffs, Wolverines.

The Bayfield High School football team, after a one-year hiatus, is back in the Class 2A playoffs, playing football in mid-November.

As a welcoming gift, the No. 16-seed Wolverines (7-3) were presented a first-round playoff game against the No. 1-ranked team in 2A - the Faith Christian Eagles (10-0).

Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at Faith Christian High School in Arvada.

"I told the kids that getting in as a wild card, we would get a low seed, and we'd play a top seed. And they (Eagles) are a real good football team," BHS head coach Marshall Hahn said.

"But I'm kind of happy we drew Faith Christian," Hahn said. "They have shown, in the last few years, that the road to the state championship goes through Faith Christian. They're always right in there."

He said the playoff test is an opportunity for the Wolverines to go up against one of the best programs in 2A football.

"It'll be a great playoff atmosphere," Hahn said, adding that the Wolverines may pick up some extra fans because the BHS volleyball team will be competing at the state tournament in Denver over the weekend.

"We're lucky it's the same weekend as state volleyball," he said. "That should help our fans."

Hahn said Bayfield will have to follow its successful formula of limiting turnovers, playing consistent, disciplined defense and taking advantage of any opportunities.

"We've got to take care of the ball," Hahn said, a sentiment echoed by Blair Hubbard, the head coach and athletic director at Faith Christian.

"With the nature of Bayfield's offense, we can't look at this as a 1 vs. 16 matchup," Hubbard said. "That triple option offense means our defense has to be disciplined. If we're not, we could be in trouble."

Thus far, the Eagles have been plenty disciplined on defense. They've outscored opponents 389-50, and they've had six shutouts along the way.

The Eagles shut out Eagle Valley, Colorado Springs Christian, Middle Park, Bishop Machebeuf, Jefferson, and The Pinnacle High School.

Only three teams reached double figures against Faith Christian, which gave up a season-high 16 points last weekend in a 20-16 win over playoff-qualifier Erie.

"We feel like we've got a good solid group of guys up front," said Hubbard, who is in his 11th season as the Faith head coach.

"Then we have some good athletes behind them to scrape to the football," he said, pointing to leading tacklers Richard Rush and Andy Anderson, the Eagles' inside linebackers. "They run to the ball well."

Still, he said, the Eagles will have to do a good job of open-field tackling against the option-minded Wolverines.

Last weekend, Bayfield's Brenden Harrison rushed for 170 yards in the Wolverines' crucial 21-20 victory over Intermountain League champion Pagosa Springs. Harrison, a senior, took over at fullback after an injury to sophomore starter Seth Posey.

Harrison, halfback Aaron Velasquez and quarterback Ryan Terry lead Bayfield's no-huddle, triple option.

Jordan Fields, Alex Araujo, Taylor Swanemyr, Colt Walker, Tanner McGhehey and Velasquez lead the BHS defense.

They'll be tested by Faith Christian senior quarterback Micah Twedell, a two-year starter.

"This year, we've thrown the ball a little more with Micah in his second year," Hubbard said. "We have a little more speed at receiver than we have had."

He said Twedell has done a good job of decision-making; he's thrown 18 touchdown passes and only six interceptions in leading the Eagles' no-huddle attack.

Twedell completed a 70-yard touchdown pass to Evan Marshall in last week's win over Erie.

Hubbard, who took over as head coach at Faith Christian in 1999, has a 108-18 career record with a bundle of playoff games.

He's also married to Faith Christian head volleyball coach C.L. Hubbard. Her volleyball Eagles will take on the volleyball Wolverines in the first match at the CHSAA Class 3A State Volleyball Championships on Friday at the Denver Coliseum.

The winner of the Bayfield-Faith Christian football game will play the winner of No. 9 Aspen (8-2) at No. 8 Pagosa Springs (7-3) in the second round of the playoffs. The Aspen-Pagosa game is set for 1 p.m. Saturday in Pagosa Springs.

Salida, the No. 15 seed from the Mountain League, will play at No. 2 Olathe (10-0) on Saturday. Olathe is the defending 2A state champion.

Other first-round playoff matchups include No. 13 Classical Academy (8-2) at No. 4 Platte Valley (9-1), No. 12 Brush (6-4) at No. 5 Florence (9-1), No. 14 Weld County (7-3) at No. 3 Platte Canyon (10-0), No. 11 Lamar (8-1) at No. 6 Holy Family (8-2) and No. 10 Erie (8-2) at No. 7 Kent Denver (8-2).

 "When I first came back here (Bayfield) two years ago, we talked about playing football games that count in October and November. And we've started doing that," Hahn said.

"Now, we can talk about playing football games that count in December."

dstrode@durangoherald.com