KREMMLING – A couple of mid-season offensive stumbles had the Mancos offense at a crossroads. Head coach Josh Gardner and the Jays knew that if they wanted to make noise in the 8-man postseason, their solution had to be simple – get back to the basics of Mancos football.
Churning behind their all-state offensive linemen, the Bluejays got the message – or rather they sent the message to No. 8 seed West Grand in their opening round 56-26 rout of the Mustangs. Mancos rolled for over 300 yards on the ground highlighted by a decisive stretch where Mancos scored 36 unanswered points between the first and third quarters.
West Grand (8-2), led by the winningest coach in Colorado high school football history – Chris Brown – entered the matchup of programs with rich traditions, and it was the Northwest League champs who posted the first big plays of the game. After returning the game’s opening kickoff into Bluejays territory, the host Mustangs cashed in less than two minutes later with a score from their leading rusher Landon Lockhart to take an 8-0 advantage.
Rather than be dismayed, Mancos relied on their seniors for composure to answer right back – and it would be Class of ’26 running back Jonah Ritter’s signature game as a Bluejay to lead the charge.
Ritter and the Bluejays marched back down the field – covering 85 yards in over five minutes – to answer right back and level the score. They may not have known it at the time, but the Mustangs would learn Ritter’s name the hard way. His first score would just be the initial appetizer for a full dose of Mancos backs running down the throats of the hosts.
“I thought our offensive and defensive line played really well,” said Gardner after the win, “we knew that we’d have to dominate the line of scrimmage – and we did that.”
After the teams exchanged punts late in the first quarter, Mancos (7-3) seized control of the game, scoring on each of four consecutive possessions – Ritter accounting for three more touchdowns in that span – to turn the early deficit into a 36-8 lead early in the third quarter.
All the while, the Mancos defense rediscovered the dominance that lifted them to a 5-1 start to the season. A couple forced punts added to a pair of recovered kickoffs kept the visitors on the front foot. Ritter’s 58-yard burst gave Mancos the lead, then after the Mustangs muffed the ensuing kickoff, Mancos scored just moments later to take a 24-8 lead, with Ritter once again following behind the blocking of fellow seniors Colten Vannest and Adam Martinez as well as sophomore Vaughn Bankston to find pay dirt from 11 yards away.
On either side of halftime, Mancos appeared to put the game away with another Ritter score with seconds remaining in the second quarter, then another TD on the opening drive of the second half (Resner from 65 yards) to gain a 36-8 lead.
A pair of Mustangs scores late in the third quarter gave the home team hope, closing the margin to 36-20, but another quick two-score flurry ended the comeback hopes. After Resner connected with junior James Potts for the team’s lone passing score (68 yards) of the afternoon, another kickoff recovery and quick score (Ritter 45-yard run – his fifth scoring run) built the lead back to 28, and the Bluejays could smell the quarterfinals early in the fourth quarter.
“Jonah [Ritter] ran really hard – once he got past the second level, nobody was going to catch him – he looked fresh,” said Gardner after Ritter posted a career-high five scores on the afternoon.
Potts put the icing on the cake after West Grand once again inched within three scores, as the junior ran in from six yards out to send the Bluejays above the half-century mark on the scoreboard.
The Mancos defense did their job against one of the top offenses in the state, with the return of senior Jacob Martin coming at the right time for the blue-and-white. Martin – who missed the regular season due to injury – played an active role, covering a fumble and playing his usual role of wreaking havoc in the opponent’s backfield.
“We had a game plan for how we were going to manage their starting quarterback (320 lb. senior Blake Terryberry), so when he went out of the game, we had to make some adjustments,” added Gardner.
Having Martin back in the fold brings a game-breaking element that Mancos knows that they’ll need for the challenges ahead. “The rest of the guys love having him out the field, he’s so dynamic and hard to block,” said Gardner of his senior defensive standout.
The Jays move on to the quarterfinal round where they will face off with the state’s No. 1 seed Akron (10-0) next Saturday, Nov. 15, with an opportunity for Mancos to extend their state-best active state semifinal string (four straight years). The Mountain League advanced three teams to the state quarters (Sanford and Norwood won), while the Plains League sent four representatives to the final eight. Two of the state quarterfinal matchups will pit the powerhouse leagues against one another, with No. 4 Sanford facing No. 5 Dayspring Christian while the Jays and Rams collide. The winners of those two clashes will meet in the state semifinals on Nov. 22.
