Montezuma-Cortez High School entered the final weekend of the regular season with plenty of uncertainty.
A league title and the program’s first playoff appearance in eight years hung in the balance as the Panthers traveled to Delta, the No. 2 team in the classification.
On the other hand, a loss would open up a 48-hour tension-filled waiting period, as M-CHS (6-3, 2-2 2A Southwest League) would spend the rest of the weekend scoreboard-watching, hoping that their resume would be sufficient to land one of 16 spots in the 2A playoff bracket.
But on Friday night, Delta (9-0, 4-0 2A Southwest League) helped to clear up the Panthers’ fate. Looking every bit a state-title contender, Delta swarmed M-CHS all night in their regular season-concluding showdown, building a five-touchdown lead at halftime and closing out a 42-0 win.
Head coach Ivan Mack and his coaching staff prepped his team to bring the aerial attack against a stout Delta defense. Senior quarterback Jake Blackmer showed flashes of brilliance against the Delta secondary, working the ball downfield, but a couple of costly first quarter turnovers snuffed out M-CHS drives.
Delta, meanwhile, needed little help to move the ball effectively down the field, using a steady mix of run and pass, as sophomore quarterback Ty Reed lacerated Montezuma-Cortez with incisive passing to a variety of passing options.
Delta moved the ball down its home field on their first drive with efficiency, capped off with Reed’s 1-yard run to put Delta in front 7-0. Then, a drive later, Delta would score again, this time with Reed going through the air to find senior Clay Sandridge to double the advantage.
M-CHS would cough the ball up on their ensuing possession, and Delta wasted no time in punishing the turnover with another short TD run.
Reed ran in his second score of the contest early in the second quarter, then added another passing strike just before halftime to build a 35-0 lead at the intermission.
A score on Delta’s first possession of the third quarter pushed the game to the mercy rule, and left M-CHS to play a waiting game to see if they might earn one of the final berths into the field of 16.
M-CHS now waits until the weekend’s action comes to a conclusion, and the final seeding is compiled by the CHSAA selection committee to determine if, in fact, their 6-3 season will merit a spot in the bracket.
Head coach Shane Baughman and the Bulldogs can officially call themselves league champs, capping their regular season 9-0, with a perfect 4-0 mark in league play, thanks to a 60-13 victory Friday night over Sargent.
In doing so, Dove Creek enters the postseason sitting No. 2 in the state, and prepped to face their opening round opponent at the Soper Sports Complex this upcoming weekend.
The perfect regular season marks the first time since 2008 that the Bulldogs ran the regular season table, and now the ‘Dogs set their sights on making a deep run in the eight-man postseason.
The eight-man field, with Mancos (7-2) also set to host an opening round game, will be announced this weekend, with the opening round of the postseason set to begin in the first weekend in November.
