With one of the last days of summer making their home opener feel more like a pressure cooker, Montezuma-Cortez head coach Tyler Worley knew that his team would have to overcome more than the elements in their rare Saturday morning home opener.
Strasburg, who cemented themselves as one of the best 1A programs in the state over the past decade, made the jump up in classification this season to join the 2A ranks. The Indians paid a visit to Panther Stadium for the first ever meeting between the two programs, and took control early in their 47-13 victory over the Panthers.
Leaning on third-string QB Marley Linch, the Panthers tried to lean on the formula that led them to a combined 107-0 scoring margin in their first two wins. However, Strasburg took advantage of M-CHS errors, so when senior Tay Wheat scored the M-CHS TDs, the game had unfortunately already been decided.
Given the Panthers dealing with the injury bug, Worley recognized that his squad continued to learn their identity even in defeat.
“Our O-line and D-line – once we got the first couple quarters out of the way – were able to start to run the way we want them, opening up gaps on offense and making tackles on defense,” said Worley.
“We also know that we’ve still got some fundamental stuff we’re needing to work on,” added Worley, “when we executed our plays, we were able to move the ball down the field – so we’re needing to focus on execution over the next couple weeks.”
M-CHS looks forward to the unique schedule that provides them back-to-back weeks without a contest, before Shiprock pays a visit to Panther Stadium on Friday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. Worley hopes that the extra time will allow his players to get healthy, “get into a rhythm” and shift their focus to the intense league schedule in October.
The Bulldogs on Friday bumped their record to 2-0, thanks to a thrilling overtime victory over a much-improved Panther squad. The Bulldogs found the end zone in the extra session and tallied the all-important conversion that provided the difference in the win. Dove Creek will hit the road for the first time this season when they face Escalante (New Mexico) on Saturday, Sept. 14 in Tierra Amarilla.
The Bears fell for the first time this season, dropping to 1-1, after the Buckaroos jumped out in front early and kept the Dolores offense at bay for the majority of their encounter on Friday. Dolores looks forward to their home opener on Friday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. when they play host to Rangely.
