Forty-eight minutes.
The Dove Creek football team, after plenty of dominant wins during the regular season, knew that they would need to bring their best for four quarters at each step moving forward in the state postseason.
Facing perennial Eastern Plains power Merino in the eight-man state quarterfinals, the Bulldogs needed their offense to come up with big scoring drives in the second half, while their defense closed the door on the No. 10 Rams in a 26-20 victory at the Soper Sports Complex.
Keeping their unbeaten record intact for another week, Dove Creek (11-0) erased one of the few deficits that they’ve faced all season, trailing by a touchdown midway through the second quarter before two late first half touchdowns gave the Bulldogs control.
Merino (6-5) boasted one of the best ground games in the eight-man classification, as senior tailback Tyler Frank and the Rams offense looked to grind down the Bulldogs defense with between-the-tackles running.
For a while, it worked, as the Rams struck paydirt first in the second quarter, pushing the ball across the goal line on a quarterback keeper from Coen Schmidt.
Dove Creek responded in a big way, however, striking twice in the final four minutes of the first half – first on a 12-yard run from senior Kade Hankins, knotting the game up at 6-6, before Hankins turned to the air to find junior Gage Buffington from 29 yards out to take the lead for the first time, just before the break.
After a scoreless third quarter, Merino executed a lengthy drive to tie the score at 14, with Frank finding the end zone from a yard out.
DC head coach Shane Baughman and his ‘Dogs didn’t panic, though, even though the usual dose of Buffington and senior Kendall Gardner wasn’t having the same effect that it had during league play. Dove Creek, behind the nifty running of Hankins, marched down the field, before Buffington put away a 3-yard scoring run to restore the Bulldogs lead.
Then, two minutes later, the ‘Dogs scored a back-breaking touchdown on perhaps the most athletic effort of the afternoon, as Hankins sidestepped several Ram defenders en route to a 29-yard score and a two-possession advantage for the No. 2 seeded Bulldogs.
With a 12-point lead with less than three minutes to go, Dove Creek hadn’t quite closed the door, as Merino scored on an 8-yard touchdown pass, then got the football back near midfield with less than a minute to go and a chance to win the game.
On fourth down, DC senior Audric Chadd provided a sack of Schmidt to end the final Ram threat and seal the victory for Dove Creek, who advances to the state semifinal for the first time since 2020, when the ‘Dogs fell to eventual state champion Sedgwick County.
This time around, Dove Creek will get to enjoy the comforts of home, as the ‘Dogs will host the state semifinals next weekend against league rival Mancos. The Jays and Bulldogs played a thrilling regular season encounter, with Dove Creek scoring late to seal a 34-26 win – which proved to be the deciding factor in the Bulldogs’ league title.
Now, the area rivals meet with a much larger prize at stake – a trip to the CSU Thunderbowl in Pueblo to play in the eight-man state championship game on Thanksgiving weekend. Coverage of the Dove Creek-Mancos battle will be available on local radio station 98.7 KRTZ, and available online at krtzradio.com.
