Durango football is on a roll. After dropping its first two games, the Demons won their next four games by multiple scores to cement themselves as a top 10 team in 4A.
The fourth straight win came at Rampart on Friday. Durango’s defense was dominant and the Demons cruised to a 21-6 win.
“Once again, it was a big defensive effort,” Durango football interim head coach Ryan Woolverton said. “They've led the team all year, and they kept us in this game in the first half. While the offense sputtered and had a couple of turnovers, defensively, they got five turnovers … that front seven just controlled that line of scrimmage.”
Durango improved to 4-2 overall and 1-0 in the 4A Soco 2 League. Rampart fell to 4-2 overall and 0-1 in the 4A Soco 2 League.
Demons senior quarterback Cully Feeney had another efficient game through the air, finishing 11/16 passing for 198 yards and two touchdowns. He also led the Demons with 55 yards rushing and a rushing touchdown.
Junior wide receiver Seb Tripp finished with four catches for 98 yards and a touchdown. Junior wide receiver Will Zahradnik had three catches for 57 yards and sophomore wide receiver Mason Miller had one catch for 48 yards and a touchdown.
On defense, junior Dawson McInnis had an interception and a fumble recovery. Junior Kaedon Martinez had an interception along with senior Wyatt Bartel. Senior Gage Voiles had a fumble recovery.
Bartel had 11 tackles and two tackles for loss. Senior Cole Pontine and McInnis each head nine tackles. Senior Braxton Waddell had eight tackles.
Rampart’s junior quarterback Daimion Dietsch finished 20-33 for 169 yards passing and three interceptions. Senior Camden Bruns had 75 yards on the ground and senior James Royer had 70 yards receiving.
The Rams got a 6-0 lead in the first quarter. The Demons responded with a Feeney deep shot to Miller on a post route for the score for a 7-6 lead at halftime.
“The last few weeks, we've been fortunate to be up at halftime,” Woolverton said. “We tell the defense, ‘Hey, you don't let them score, we win.’ They held up their end of the bargain for sure.”
In the second half, Feeney found Tripp on a bubble screen, which Tripp took 50 yards to the house for a 14-6 lead in the third quarter. Then, to seal the game, the Demons had a long drive that ended with an option play at the goal line that Feeney kept and rushed in for the score for a 21-6 lead.
The Demons are at home on Friday against Palmer Ridge at 6 p.m. Palmer Ridge is ranked sixth in 4A at 5-1 overall and the Demons are seventh.
Durango volleyball splits road trip against Grand Junction Central, Palisade
It’s been an up-and-down season for Durango volleyball. After starting 3-0, the Demons hadn’t won two games in a row until their win against Grand Junction Central on Friday night 3-0. Then, on Saturday, the brief win streak ended with a 3-0 loss at Palisade.
The Demons moved to 7-6 overall after the weekend and 3-4 in the 4A/5A Southwestern League after the 25-13, 25-13, 25-13 win against Grand Junction Central and the loss against Palisade.
Senior outside hitter Avery Rike and freshman outside hitter Devyn Edwards each had 10 kills to lead the Demons against Grand Junction Central. Senior setter Eva Stewart had 22 assists and led the team with five aces.
Durango took a tough loss at home to Grand Junction Central 3-1 earlier this season. Durango volleyball head coach Kelley Rifilato said the difference between the two games was hitting errors. The Demons had over 30 hitting errors in the first matchup.
Rike led Durango with 11 kills against Palisade. junior Hadyn Neiman had nine kills against the Bulldogs. Stewart had 25 assists in the loss.
“In the Palisade game, in the third set, we were tied, 17-17 so we were right in there,” Rifilato said. “Then there were a couple of errors in a certain rotation and that was the difference in the whole game. We were right in there the whole time. Our kids really believed they were going to win that match. They blocked fantastic. Maybe the stats don't show up but Palisades is a team that loves to hit line and we block them so much. They were scrambling all over the place to try and pick the ball up. We just took away what they liked the most and forced them to do other things. It was a couple of kills on their end at the end of the game that was the difference in the game.”
Junior outside hitter Aysia Mathews missed both games with a lower-body injury she suffered against Montrose on Sept. 27.
Durango plays against Pagosa Springs at home on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Softball goes 1-3 against Fruita Monument, Delta
Hitting has been a strength for the Durango softball team all this year. Unfortunately for the Demons, the hits didn’t translate into runs against Fruita or in the first game against Delta.
On Saturday at Durango High School, Durango lost 12-0 in its first game against Fruita Monument and 5-0 in the second game. Then the Demons lost 11-1 at Delta on Monday. Durango bounced back and won the second game against Delta 13-7.
Durango moved to 9-12 overall and 1-7 in the 5A/4A Southwestern League after the games on Friday and Monday.
“Consistently, if you look at every doubleheader, our first game, we always are flat,” Durango softball head coach Sara Clair said. “We don't hit the ball as well as we do and then we come back in that second game. Even yesterday, we still had two to three crucial errors a game. Especially with a team like Fruita, when you open those floodgates, they're hard to shut again.”
In the first Fruita Monument game, the Wildcats took a 2-0 lead after four innings. Then Fruita scored five runs in the fifth and sixth innings to end the game.
Clair complimented freshman pitcher Abigail Gordon for her performance in the second Fruita Monument game, allowing six hits and five runs. Gordon had two strikeouts.
The Demons got their bats going in the second game against Delta.
Durango had a 3-0 lead after the first inning and was up 7-5 after four innings. The Demons scored three runs in the sixth and two in the seventh to seal the victory.
Senior Ellie Casias and sophomore Avery Clair each had home runs in that second Delta game. Gordon and senior Megan Downey each went 2-3 at bat and senior Molly Best went 3-5.
Durango plays at home against Grand Junction Central on Saturday at 10 a.m. and noon.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
