Durango loses 14-13 to Piedra Vista; BHS falls 12-7 to Azteca
The Durango and Bayfield soccer teams traveled to New Mexico on Friday. The Demons faced Piedra Vista, the No. 2 ranked team in New Mexico’s Class 5A, while the Wolverines played the Aztec Tigers.
However, lightning in the box caused both games to start late and then stopped both encounters in the third quarters.
Durango trailed Piedra Vista, 14-7 in the third quarter after a 7-7 tie at halftime.
Bayfield lost to Azteca, 12-7. The Bayfield game, however, was called off at around 9:45 pm giving Azteca the victory.
In Piedra Vista they waited longer for the lightning to pass, but when it was safe to resume, the stadium lights did not come back on, which further delayed the game.
Play finally resumed around 11:15 p.m. after a nearly two-hour delay.
The Demons started with the ball with 42 seconds left in the third and continued to march down the field. Jeric Baruch finally scored on a 1-yard run to cap an 18-play drive with 10:30 remaining in the quarter.
The Demons went for two, but Baruch was tackled just short of the end zone and Piedra Vista held a 14-13 lead.
Piedra Vista punted on his next possession, and then Durango punted.
Miguel Garcia Rodriguez came up with a big backfield tackle on Piedra’s next possession and Durango used his final timeout with 3:02 left.
After an incomplete pass, Piedra Vista looked for him on fourth down at the Durango 34-yard line. The Demons, however, went big and sacked the quarterback at midfield to get the ball back with 2:54 left.
Zach Haber was tackled for loss on first down. On the second down, an intentional ground ball penalty backed up the Demons and resulted in a third down and about 30. DHS was forced to go through the air and receiver Jaxon Fancher stepped on his shoulder, but the shot at him was long.
On fourth down, Tyler Harms was intercepted with 1:56 left. Piedra Vista then ran out the clock to win, 14-13.
Haber had a couple of big runs on Durango’s opening possession and DHS got a first-and-10 at the Piedra Vista 22-yard line. The Demons, however, turned the ball over on opportunities after an incomplete pass on fourth down.
A 15-yard sack helped Durango stop the Panthers on their first drive.
Piedra Vista then hit after converting a Durango fumble into a touchdown. Piedra Vista started the drive at the Durango 32-yard line and Jacob Ramsted eventually scored on a 4-yard run to go up 7-0 with 8:29 left in the second quarter. .
The Demons responded with a 7-play, 58-yard touchdown to tie the game, 7-7. Harms scored on a 4-yard run.
Piedra Vista then threatened again. However, Luke Wesley intercepted a pass from Piedra Vista in the end zone to end the first half.
Piedra Vista took the lead in the third quarter with a 31-yard touchdown pass to cap a 6-play, 71-yard drive.
Bayfield loses to Aztec in Lightning-shortened game
Bayfield took the first lead in their game against Aztec on an opening 50-yard drive. Quarterback Deegan Barnes hit Nic Twedt on a 20-yard touchdown pass up the middle and BHS jumped out to a 7-0 lead.
Azteca, however, responded immediately. Tristen McNeal returned the kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown. Bayfield stayed up 7-6 by blocking Aztec’s two-point attempt.
BHS then averted disaster when Donovan “Dante” Candelaria intercepted a Marcquis Henry jumper in the end zone with no time left in the first.
Aztec was able to take a 12-6 lead on a 5-play, 87-yard drive in the third quarter, which included Henry’s 51-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Greyeyes down the sideline. Henry scored from 1 on the next snap, but his 2-point shot fell incomplete.
However, when Aztec lined up to start, the game was delayed due to lighting in the area with 3:36 remaining in the third quarter.
The game was eventually called just before 10 pm, giving Aztec the 12-7 victory.
Joel Priest contributed to this report.