CORTEZ – For programs with staying power in high school football, the old saying goes, “they don’t rebuild, they reload.”
Add Montezuma-Cortez to that list of programs.
Friday night’s season opener against Crownpoint showcased both the present and the future of Panthers football as M-CHS cruised to a 48-0 win over the Eagles. While their defense of the Intermountain League title won’t officially begin until early October, M-CHS validated the early season buzz around Panther Stadium that another special season is in the making.
Six of the Panthers seven touchdowns came from their senior class, with do-everything tailback, defensive safety, and punt returner Parker Conrad accounting for three of those scores. He bookended the first half with a 64-yard dash to open the scoring before striking on a 50-yard punt return to cap off a dominant first half with M-CHS in front, 35-0.
Conrad tallied over 100 yards rushing and added an interception to his day’s work before handing the baton to the Panthers’ second unit for much of the second half. Classmate Rusty Snyder added two scores of his own, including a seven-yard reception from junior quarterback Cody Case for the first of two passing scores for M-CHS on the night.
Snyder also enjoyed a co-interception with classmate Cooper Sopha – the duo collectively came down with one of the four interceptions on the night for the M-CHS secondary as M-CHS blanked Crownpoint for the second straight year. Senior Kallan Wirth tallied another takeaway while junior Jude Overton snuffed out the only Eagles threat of the night with an interception.
It made for a three-phases victory for second-year head coach Tyler Worley and the Panthers – with domination from the offense, defense, and special teams to lift the homestanding Panthers to their third home-opening victory in the past five years.
“If you’ve got good kids, it goes a long way,” said Worley, “we’ve been building the kids up through our camps and summer programs – if they believe in each other, they can do some great things.”
Among the many storylines for Panther fans to watch this upcoming season became evident on Friday night – the Class of 2028 is something special. The starting defensive line in the Panthers 3-4 alignment included three sophomores with Zebulun LeBlanc, Nathan Brown, and team captain Zane Coffey taking charge of the game from the opening snap.
“I’m excited to see those sophomores grow,” said Worley, “they’ve stepped into some big roles on this team, and they’re just going to keep getting better.”
Their efforts made life difficult for the Eagles’ run-first offense, opening gaps for the linebackers to roam freely in the Crownpoint backfield, limiting the Eagles to just two first downs before the game had entered the mercy-rule running clock phase.
Fellow sophomore Kendrick MacPherson scored the first of two second half touchdowns, while senior Wyatt Oliver found himself on the receiving end of two large chunk connections from Case, with the second finding paydirt to solidify the final scoreline.
“I liked how involved everyone was on the sideline,” said Worley, as the Panthers were able to see virtually everyone who dressed in a varsity uniform get to see some action on the field, “and I’m appreciative of that depth on both sides of the ball.”
The difficulty level amps up heading into the next two weekends for M-CHS, as the Panthers travel to 2A top-ten opponent Strasburg on Saturday, Sept. 6 at 11 a.m. before returning home to face state runner-up Wellington on Sept. 13 at 11 a.m. at Panther Stadium.
“We believe that we can compete with these teams from up north,” said Worley of the tough road ahead, “and we want our guys to know that we’re a part an elite conference, too, and they can play with the top dogs in our classification.”
