WALSENBURG – Only the foolhardy would doubt the strength and depth of the 8-Man Mountain League. Montezuma and Dolores Counties once again look to keep southwest Colorado as the epicenter of small school football, and with one week of the 2025 season in the books, the reputation appears to remain safely intact.
Think Ali vs. Frazier – that might be an accurate depiction of a battle of state powerhouse programs duking it out on the gridiron for the sixth time in the past decade. While last year’s encounter produced 72 points in a track meet, Friday afternoon’s encounter in Chama, NM produced the kind of physical grind that Mancos head coach Josh Gardner would be proud to say aligns with his team’s hard-nosed mentality.
Mancos trailed 6-0 at halftime, having seen their best threat of the half turned away on a fourth down stop inside the Buffaloes 10-yard line. When Melrose, the defending New Mexico state champs, denied the Bluejays again early in the third quarter just a few yards away from the goal line, the rally appeared as though it just might not be in the cards for Mancos.
However, stingy defense kept the Bluejays in the game, and finally the tide turned in the fourth quarter, where senior Jonah Ritter slashed through the right side of the Mancos offensive line for a nine-yard score to tie the game at 6-apiece.
Then, after a big stop of the Melrose offense, the Bluejays started cooking through the air, where junior quarterback Michael Resner connected on back-to-back big completions to junior James Potts, with the second of those strikes giving the Jays the lead, as Potts stretched out the reach the ball over the goal line.
The defense held strong in the final minutes, and Mancos avenged their loss to the Buffaloes to kick off their season with a gritty win. Mancos (1-0) looks forward to an encounter with Sedgwick County (0-1) on Saturday, Sept. 6 for a 1 p.m. contest in Fairplay.
For the second straight year, Dolores opened the season with an impressive victory, cruising past the Phoenix in their neutral site encounter in Walsenburg. After a rusty start to the contest, second year head coach Travis Rantz’ crew turned up the pressure as the game progressed to pull away for the comfortable win.
“The boys pulled together and came out strong in the second half,” said Rantz of his team’s surge.
Dolores (1-0) will play host to Monticello (2-0) on Friday, Sept. 5 at 7 p.m. to kick off their home slate – a contest that will be broadcast on radio station 98.7 FM KRTZ – with the Bears looking to go toe-to-toe with Utah’s 2024 8-man state runner-up.
The Brennan Banks era began on the road for the Bulldogs, as Dove Creek’s new high school head coach led his team into a tough road test against the Cowboys on Saturday afternoon. In the low scoring contest, Plateau Valley leaned on a passing attack that produced a pair of scores, while the Cowboys defense proved to be opportunistic with a pick-six while limiting a potent Bulldogs offense to just two scores.
Dove Creek (0-1) will look to bounce back as they prepare for another trip to the northwest corner of the state with a matchup against Rangely (0-0) on Friday, Sept. 5 at 7 p.m.
The Mountain League posted a 5-1 record in week one, with Sanford, Sargent, and Norwood all collecting nonleague wins for a strong start for the conference.
