La Junta won't be short-handed when it comes to players looking to spring another upset of Bayfield on Saturday.
Several of the 2A playoffs' 4-seed Tigers were underclassmen when their school stunned BHS in the Class 3A-District 4 baseball tournament back in May 2014. That was when their 11-10 team was ranked 28th against fifth-ranked Bayfield.
Such a playoff performance would be key if the Otero County crew hopes to prevail in their first football semifinals appearance since 1989.
"La Junta's going to be a tough team," stated BHS senior defensive back Cash Snooks. "We have to be ready.and fighting-scratching-for every inch we can get!"
Quarterback Cole Bryant will run the Tigers' show, building on last year when he passed for more than 1,000 yards and rushed for more than 500. Juniors Dax Bender and Carlos Triana - all three had essential roles in the aforementioned baseball affair - are also capable of carrying the football.
Last week La Junta (11-0, 5-0 Tri-Peaks Conference) crushed 5-seed Sterling 34-13, with Bryant gaining 134 yards on 19 carries and Bender 65 on 14 with each scoring two touchdowns. Bender also caught an eight-yard score as Bryant was 6-of-18 passing for 85 yards to help LJHS go up 3-2 all-time against Sterling. The teams hadn't met since LJ prevailed 8-7 on the road in 1972.
Most importantly for La Junta, it was their 11th win for the first time since the 1951 squad went 12-1 and won the Class 'A' State Championship 31-14 over Alamosa. They beat Alamosa again 39-0 on Nov. 7 to start postseason play.
Key defensive players the Wolverines will watch include junior Jeremy Carrillo (at least three sacks), Bender, sophomore Wyatt Buhr and junior Joe Martinez. Junior Apela Furtado-Tom had three interceptions for LJ against Sterling. Sterling did manage nearly 300 yards aerially.
Furtado-Tom was also 4-of-5 in point-after-touchdown kicks in the victory. Averaging 35.4 points (390 total) per game in seeking the school's first football crown since copping the 1958 Class 'AA' title 14-0 over Cañon City, the Tigers will enter Wolverine Country Stadium allowing only 5.7 points per game.
"It's going to be awesome," Bayfield senior quarterback Kelton McCoy said. "The community's behind us, and they're going to have to travel. But that's a part of state playoffs football.and they'll come down here, to Bayfield, ready to beat us just like we want to beat them."
After the BHS road victory, Head Coach Gary Heide seconded his boys' thanks to the area for supporting the team.
"I want to thank all the community members that came and supported us, and obviously I want to thank my assistant coaches. I want to thank those players-they're a special group-and I'm very honored and fortunate to be able to coach with these coaches, and to coach this group."
BRAIN-CHILD: La Junta head coach Clint Buderus is the son of former 28-year Florence Coach Mark Buderus, who retired from FHS after the 2012 season. He led the Huskies to a 34-0 rout of Bayfield in the ice-shrouded 2011 Class 2A state championship game in Denver.
REVERSAL OF FORTUNE: 11-for-11 this year - the most consecutive wins starting a season in program history - the Tigers were a mellow 5-5 overall in 2014, despite a second-place 4-1 record (behind Lamar) in the Tri-Peaks. One loss came 40-7 at Alamosa, and LJHS ultimately lost (as the #15 seed) 58-21 to 2-seed Englewood Kent Denver.
TAKE WHAT YOU CAN GET: Sterling salvaged some minor satisfaction in losing at La Junta. Their 13 points snapped LJHS' four-game shutout streak, which began Oct. 16 with a 6-0 defeat of Florence and ran through the aforementioned Nov. 7 blanking of AHS. All told, LJHS now has six shutouts this season-including a 47-0 win over Manitou Springs. BHS also thumped Manitou 40-0 on Nov. 7 in the first round of state playoffs.
TAKE THAT CHAT TO HEART: Before heading the rest of the way north to Brush last Saturday, Bayfield stayed overnight in Pueblo. The team had a practice and the chance to talk with the coaches of CSU-Pueblo - 2014 NCAA Division II National Champions - and it was a definite boost to the Wolverines' confidence.
"Well we started there this summer at the CSU-Pueblo Football Camp, and that's where we kind of realized, 'Hey, this year's going to be different; we're not going out in the first round this year,'" McCoy said. "And their coaches.said just keep driving-'You guys got what it takes'-and don't let up."
