MONTROSE COUNTY – Beginning a brutal stretch of four consecutive out-of-town games, the Ignacio Bobcats went ballistic Friday night and destroyed Olathe 34-7 at welcoming Wilson Field.
“It actually kind of surprised me a little bit because we’d been struggling in practice with passes,” said senior running back D.J. Hendren, who recovered senior Charley Pargin’s onside kick after IHS went up 7-0 with 7:30 left in the first quarter. “Everyone showed out this game – and that’s what we all needed.”
Ignacio improved to 1-2 overall with the win while Olathe fell to 2-1 with the loss.
All the damage was done before halftime; Pontine polished off five drives with touchdown throws, three going to Archuleta – including a 66-yard dagger through the heart of OHS’ defense, increasing the visitors’ lead to 21-7 as the first quarter expired.
Ignacio started the second quarter by going 45 yards in seven plays and 3:34, with sophomore Cayson Burcham legging out a 15-yard score off a short toss to the left flat. Pontine then tried to throw a two-point conversion, but Pirate junior Angel Suarez broke up the throw near the goal line – leaving IHS with a 27-7 advantage and 8:26 still left until intermission.
The ’Cats then forced a three-and-out ending with a Colton Snell punt, bobbled out of bounds at the Bobcat 47-yard line by Hendren, and Ignacio capitalized by covering the 53 yards in 10 plays, with Pontine lobbing a 17-yard TD to Archuleta. Pargin tacked on the PAT, and with 1:46 remaining the ’Cats were well on their way to booking their first win after two near-misses.
“The past two games…didn’t go how we wanted them to,” said junior Aven Bourriague, who hauled in a 20-yard TD pass with 3:38 left in the first quarter, then later intercepted Pirate sophomore QB Garrett Keith at IHS’ 10 with 0:13 left in the second. “We had a chip on our shoulder. We felt like we had something to prove.”
Top priority defensively for Ignacio, Suarez scored OHS’ only touchdown by carrying a 17-yarder around left end, immediately after Bobcat sophomore William Mendoza-Lechuga muffed a Snell punt and Pirate senior Jeyden Estrada recovered. Snell then booted the PAT, bringing Olathe back to 14-7 with 1:04 remaining in the first quarter.
“They were a really tough running team, honestly,” Bourriague said, alluding to not only Suarez’s score but the Pirates’ productive misdirection runs featuring Keith early in the second half. “When they started bouncing outside, that’s when Number 24 (Suarez, 8-48 rushing) gets tricky. We just tried to contain him; that was the game plan.”
Suarez recovered a cramp-hampered Hendren fumble at IHS’ 31 only 25 ticks into the third quarter, but the Pirates failed to profit from the golden gift as their resulting series died on downs at the 25. Still electing to keep things moving on the grass rather than through the cloudless, moonlit sky, Ignacio then reached OHS’ 21 in eight plays but relinquished possession after Pontine was stopped for no gain on the ninth and Hendren caught a pass but lost two yards on the tenth.
Pontine (15-of-23 passing, 232 yards, 0 INT) struck back, intercepting Keith (2-of-14, 16 yards; 5-34 rushing) at IHS’ 25 with 16.5 ticks left, and the Pirates wouldn’t again touch the ball until just 2:41 remained in the fourth and final frame – having mercifully stopped a truly torturous Bobcat march.
Archuleta ended up with seven receptions for 136 yards and Bourriague four for 74. Junior Lincoln deKay rushed for 113 yards on 15 carries, most coming during the second half, and Hendren netted 59 on 10 carries.
Ignacio will next face a true test Friday night at 2A Bayfield – which followed up a season-opening 41-7 win at 4A Aztec, with a 67-0 (42 points came during the first quarter) win at 3A Gallup on Friday.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” Pontine said. “I want to win that game bad…been looking forward to it for a while.”
