After losing their first game to Norwood, the Blue Jays have bounced back with wins over Rangely and, on Friday, a 20-6 win at Del Norte.

Penalties contributed to Mancos' slow start on Friday against Del Norte, but once they settled in, the Blue Jays commanded the game.

"We struggled in the first half," said co-head coach Josh Gardner. "The first half was ugly. We came off the ball hard for the first series, then we shot ourselves in the foot again."

After getting things on track, the Mancos defense continued its stifling ways, holding Del Norte to just six points on the day.

"Our defense as a whole played pretty good," Gardner said. "We've been pretty consistent."

Sophomore free safety Kaleb Hargraves forced a Tigers turnover, recording an interception in his second consecutive game.

"He had a really good game," Gardner said of Hargraves. "He's doing a good job reading the quarterback."

On the offensive side, the Blue Jays dominated the game on the ground.

Senior quarterback Drew Morgan led the team with three rushing touchdowns, and junior running back Axel Bonde also tallied a rushing score.

The Blue Jays are now 2-1 heading into their Homecoming matchup with Sanford (0-4).

"Sanford's tough," said Gardner. "They've always been tough since I've been here."

Gardner said the Blue Jays' game preparation this week will be the same as always, but that the difficult part will be keeping his team focused during the festivities of Homecoming week.

"They're pretty excited about homecoming in general," Gardner said of the team. "We make a pretty big deal of Homecoming at school. My challenge for them is to stay focused."