DOLORES – The Homecoming pageantry that filtered through Dolores all week included the whole gamut of emotion, perhaps no better exemplified than through their senior quarterback Tray Traweek.
Traweek worked diligently to recover from an injury he suffered over the summer, with the hopes of potentially rejoining his teammates for the second half of the campaign. So when the lanky signal caller stepped under center for the first time all season, the buzz around the moment reached a fever pitch.
Riding the waves of the Homecoming energy, Traweek and the Bears settled their nerves, playing one of their strongest individual halves in recent years en route to a 48-16 win on Friday.
Traweek said “it was long-awaited news” to be cleared by medical staff and rejoin his teammates.
“I told myself if there was any doubt about coming back I wouldn’t risk it, but I’ve realized that I was ready,” he said.
Dolores (2-2) won its first Homecoming game since 2014, all while matching its 2023 win total.
Traweek has been Dolores’ starting quarterback since his first days of high school, and his presence brought an immediate lift to the Bears’ offense.
In front of a raucous crowd, Dolores struck first as Traweek connected with junior Michael Rantz from 21 yards out, jolting the Bears to a 6-0 lead in the first three minutes.
Midway through second quarter, Whitehorse (3-2) churned out a drive after a Dolores turnover, capping it off with a 27-yard connection between junior quarterback Tristan Black and senior receiver Adam Joe.
Then, after Dolores turned the ball over on downs near midfield, its defense responded with a bruising sack on fourth down by sophomore captain Darren Hicks. That ended the Raiders’ drive, and the Bears took over.
Late in the second quarter, junior running back Michael Rantz took over as the Bears looked to impose their strength up front – grinding into midfield, before head coach Travis Rantz turned to a well-timed reverse to freshman Branson Lee for a big pickup deep into Raider territory.
With just seconds remaining in the first half, Traweek capped the drive with a keeper to put Dolores on top, 12-8. However, Whitehorse regained momentum right before the intermission, as Elam Etcitty returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a score, giving the Raiders a 16-12 lead.
Then, the Bears burst out of the locker room with renewed focus, beginning a season-defining second half.
Rantz returned the opening second half kickoff. From there, the Bears took over. Rantz’s second touchdown of the half and his third of the game gave Dolores a two-score lead midway through the third quarter, 26-16.
After recovering the ball when it deflected off a Raider player on the ensuing kickoff, Dolores marched downfield behind a punishing effort from the offensive line. Traweek steered around the end and into the end zone from a yard out, and Dolores started pulling away.
Led by Hicks and senior Brett Spore, the defense fell on a bad snap for a takeaway. Moments later, Traweek cashed in from 17 yards. Bears senior Davien Pawlicki pounced on another Raider fumble, before Traweek and Rantz connected again through the air from 27 yards as the lead ballooned to 48-16.
For Spore and the seniors, breaking the decadelong Homecoming drought added an extra layer of satisfaction.
“Listening to the seniors who went before us, they always talked about how crazy it was to be doing this for the last time, and now that I’m there – so we were going into this week trying to put it all on the field,” said Spore.
The upperclassmen leadership, combined with an influx of talent from the middle school, are providing the foundation to continue their push toward playoff-level football.
“We’ve grown a lot as a team, and our younger guys have brought in a winning mentality,,” Rantz said.
Spore credits Hicks as a steadying influence on the defensive unit that limited the Raiders to one offensive touchdown all game.
“We’ve learned how to orchestrate the defense – and how to work together as a team, and a lot of that has come from watching the upperclassmen show what it means to be there for each other,” said Hicks. “We’ve been clicking as a team, and that starts with every day at practice.”
Traweek’s absence meant that multiple players had to shift positions while sophomore River Wickstrom and junior Deven Winter filled in at quarterback.
“The freshmen and sophomores have really stepped up, and they’ve all learned to play their roles well and understanding the game,” Traweek said.
Dolores will wrap up their three-game homestand this upcoming Thursday, hosting defending 8-man state champion and Mountain League foe Mancos.
“The community’s really come together, so to win this game is huge not just for us, but for the whole town,” Rantz said.
