For Montezuma-Cortez, playing Aztec to begin each of the past three seasons might have felt like looking in the mirror.
Both mid-size schools made noise in last year’s postseason, each coach enjoys moving the ball in a spread offense, and both teams have an aggressive, ball-hawking defense.
For stretches of their third consecutive season-opening meeting, the two teams looked like heavyweights sparring, waiting for an opening to pounce. The moment came in the second quarter for the host Aztec Tigers, who capitalized on a pair of Panthers turnovers in quick succession to turn a scoreless game into a 14-0 advantage.
From there, Aztec kept the Panthers (0-1) at bay, pulling away for a 28-6 victory to spoil the start to the season for fourth-year head coach Ivan Mack’s program.
Aztec senior Baylor Seabolt scored three rushing touchdowns and ran for 142 yards, upping his total to eight scores on the young season for the Tigers (2-0), and senior quarterback Landan Frost added a 34-yard strike to Kale Watson early in the fourth quarter.
M-CHS got on the board in the final two minutes of the game, with junior Colby McMillian firing his first career passing TD to junior Tay Wheat from 14 yards out.
The Panthers enjoyed the better start to the contest, dominating the Tigers offensive line with a tandem attack of junior Aden Ray and senior Marcus Harris storming in to pressure Frost the entire first quarter, with each collecting multiple sacks in the game. Both teams exchanged punts to begin the contest, and the Panthers caught the first break of the evening when Aztec muffed a punt return, setting up M-CHS in the red zone.
After driving to the goal line, the Panthers fumbled at the Aztec 1-yard line. Then after forcing another Tiger punt, it was the Panthers who coughed up the ball, flipping the field and allowing Aztec’s offense to start to gain traction.
Seabolt’s first score, a 12-yard burst, came three minutes into the second quarter. Then, on the subsequent Panther drive, another fumble gave the Tigers excellent field position, and they made M-CHS pay. Seabolt evaded the Panthers defense on another strong run, scoring from 20 yards out, just 30 seconds after breaking the deadlock.
Promising Panther drives in the second half, engineered partly by McMillian’s speed, put the Panthers into Aztec territory on several occasions, but they couldn’t produce points.
“Colby (McMillian) played hard and showed a lot of really good things,” said Mack of his junior quarterback’s first varsity start.
After a fourth-down stop, Aztec drove the field and punched in a third score – Seabolt from 10 yards out – to make the score 21-0 in the middle of the third quarter.
M-CHS believed they might have a spark to get back in the game on special teams, as Tay Wheat broke free on the ensuing kickoff for a 90-yard touchdown return, but a penalty nullified the effort. The flags proved to be an undoing for M-CHS all evening, and after Frost’s passing score in the fourth quarter, M-CHS put together their best drive of the night, with McMillian finding senior Hunter Royce for a nice grab, before his laser down the seam to Wheat for the lone score.
“I’m proud we fought until the end,” added Mack of the program’s desire to finish the game strong, “and there’s lots to be optimistic about moving forward.”
The Panthers defense, led by linebackers Dean York and Shyoki Knapp, adjusted to the Aztec game plan and started to stuff the running lanes.
“We saw a lot of good things from players that stepped up for the first time in their roles,” said Mack, “but we know that the turnovers and penalties really hurt us.”
M-CHS will have a week to prepare for a huge test in their home opener, as Rifle pays a visit to Panther Stadium on Friday, Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. The Panthers defeated the Bears last year in the 2A state quarterfinals, 14-0, after Rifle had beaten M-CHS in the regular season 33-26. Their meeting this weekend will be broadcast on local radio station 98.7 FM KRTZ and on krtzradio.com.
