Playing in a homecoming game for the final time in their high school careers, Montezuma-Cortez High School Ike Dennison and Vinny Conklin put on performances that will not soon be forgotten.
The seniors’ heroics were not enough to lift the Panthers, however, as the team surrendered too many big plays and made a handful of costly mental mistakes during a 41-28 loss on Sept. 28.
“We wanted to establish the run early, and we couldn’t quite get that going,” M-CHS head coach Scott Conklin said. “This offense is designed to throw the ball and we just decided to switch gears. Our receivers came up big, and Ike did a great job of reading the defense.”
Among the eye-popping statistics for Dennison were 244 passing yards that came on 24 completions. The senior signal caller also threw for four touchdowns and rushed seven times for 62 yards.
On the receiving end of 10 of Dennison’s completions was Conklin, who amassed 77 yards and scored four receiving touchdowns. The shifty senior caught several passes underneath and worked his way up field, and senior Cordell Baer stretched the defense and caught six passes for 97 yards.
(Vinny Conklin) grinds, and he just works hard,” Scott Conklin said. “A lot of his receptions are due to the other receivers that we have on the field at that time because they are all threats. The line also played great. They picked up the blitz, and they did a great job of giving Ike time to make those throws.”
Pagosa Springs led 27-14 at halftime thanks in large part to a handful of big plays that came as a result of what Scott Conklin described as mental mistakes. M-CHS was led defensively by Zeke Vargas, who had 12 tackles and recovered a fumble. Matthew Broughton made 11 tackles and was credited with one sack.
“We still have those mental errors where we give up a big play,” Scott Conklin said. “We had (Pagosa Springs) in third down and long situations several times and they were able to throw the ball for some long completions. We just need to continue to practice and believe in our game.”
Although the loss dropped the Panthers’ record to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in the West Slope League, players and coaches remain confident about their team’s chances over its remaining four games. M-CHS will have an opportunity to return to the win column this week when the team travels to play Alamosa on Oct. 5.
“(Alamosa) is a big strong team up front,” Scott Conklin said. “They like to grind and run the ball. We definitely have our work cut out for us stopping the run. We’re going to continue to throw the ball and spread and ball around.”
