Bayfield didn't just defeat La Junta to move into the class 2A final game tomorrow.
The Wolverines pulverized an opponent.
Even Coach Gary Heide said he had expected his team to beat La Junta, but he wasn't expecting a 47-7 thrashing against a first-time enemy, in the Class 2A Playoffs' semifinal phase.
Punctuated by a left fist high in the air as he passed the team's motivational ladder (the name of, and score against each foe carved into its ascending steps), Heide's incendiary post-game shout of a speech - filled with adjectives like 'best' and "amazing" - to his battle-hardened bunch should have been given facing northeast.
Or the direction BHS and its supporting legions will travel to witness the Wolverines challenge Platte Valley tomorrow for the 2015 State Championship. Kickoff in Kersey, a 2A football powerhouse east of Greeley, is set for 1 p.m.
"We've been working ever since when we lost to them in the semis on their field," senior Taed Heydinger said, remembering Bayfield's 2012 trip and 31-6 humbling in Weld County. "So we just want to go up there and get it; we've worked so hard for this ever since our freshman year."
All of that preparation manifested itself against LJHS in an unchecked 34-point barrage, tearing open what had been a tight 13-7 contest at halftime and leaving no doubt against the vaunted Tigers of BHS' title-worthiness.
"We didn't play very good in the first half," said senior quarterback Kelton McCoy, "but we came out in the second half knowing what we had to do ... and got it done!"
"We gave up that one touchdown - it was kind of a coverage breakdown - so we went into the locker room and Coach (Mike) Wnorowski was just like, 'Hey don't fret it. Just make sure you've got your deep halves and he's going to start throwing it up.'"
And when La Junta Tiger senior Cole Bryant tried replicating anything close to his second-quarter 30-yard touchdown throw, he struggled mightily. Managing just 2-of-8 accuracy, Bryant threw one interception to Bayfield senior Zane Phelps and another to Heydinger, with each pick positioning the Wolverines at the La Junta 35 or closer.
And each resulted in a BHS score. After Phelps' grab, Bayfield went 35 yards in seven plays, ended by an 11-yard McCoy-to-Brody McGhehey toss, and after Heydinger's theft the Wolverines (11-0) covered 31 yards in four, with the last play a six-yard Phelps dash to the far pylon and only 9:36 left in the fourth quarter.
La Junta's ensuing kickoff return, following Heydinger's fourth point-after kick in five tries, gave the Tigers one last chance to avoid falling victim to a mercy rule-hastened demise starting at their own 26. But junior Josh Westbrook smothered a botched center-QB exchange on first down, and BHS soon capitalized when McGhehey maneuvered into open space to give a hurried McCoy an open target from eight yards out.
Heydinger booted the extra point, and starting with 8:36 remaining, the clock began running uninterrupted.
"We just knew they were going to come out firing," he said. "We just had to fire harder and we came out, plays went our way - they can't do anything about it -and ... it's just so awesome! Nothing better than this here!"
At last scrapping their passing game, La Junta (11-1) went back to work on the ground, but one Wyatt Buhr carry and three by junior Dax Bender failed to move the chains and Westbrook trotted out to midfield with the Wolverines' JV offense to work the clock down to zero.
"They know they're going to have to throw it deep to get back into the game, and our DB's did a good job making plays on the ball," said McCoy. "You've got a 285-pound nose guard, they're not going to run any dives on us. Sam [Westbrook] dominated the ... center all day long, and the A-gap was gone so they had to go C-gap ... and our linebackers were there. Our defense played phenomenal once again."
And once again, Bayfield's offense set the tone from the outset. After McGhehey returned the opening kick all the way to the La Junta 41, the Wolverines were in the end zone just three snaps and 56 ticks later when Heydinger hit senior Wyatt Freier with a 32-yard receiver-option TD pass.
Phelps' two-point conversion run was stopped, but two Bryant punts later BHS struck again when McCoy finished a 6-play, 31-yard drive with a 9-yard run. Heydinger's first PAT was true and with 1:03 left in the first quarter.
Buoyed by a pass-interference call against junior Brian Mashak, La Junta managed to move from their own 32 to the BHS 24 before Wolverine senior Kyle Killough emphatically squeezed a Tiger fumble to halt the march.
"You know, I think that's what makes our team great: If one thing's not working, the other thing is," McCoy said. "And if that thing's not working, the other thing is!"
Unofficially, McCoy gained 61 yards on 11 carries and another 137 on 9-of-16 passing with five (2 rush, 3 pass) total TD's. Phelps booked 52 yards on 17, McGhehey 50 on nine, and freshman David Hawkins 18 on three.
McGhehey had six receptions for 72 yards, and Heydinger two for 54 including a 48-yard TD catch from McCoy with 0:19 left in the third quarter. Freier totaled 55 yards on two trick-play Heydinger throws.
"It just opened up more in the second half, because our offensive line was dominating, Zane was getting yards, and our option was working," McCoy said. "And when the run game's working, the passing game opens up that much more because their linebackers are flying to our running backs."
Tomorrow in a pairing of the Playoffs' 1- and 3-seeds, Bayfield will face an 11-1 Platte Valley team energized by a 29-23, come-from-behind win at Englewood Kent Denver (11-1) in last Saturday's other semifinal.
"Ever since we were little kids, this is what we've wanted!" said Heydinger. "We'd been watching the high-school football players out here.this is all we've wanted for so long, and now we've got it!"
"And all credit to our coaches because they do a great job with film, figuring out what we're going to do and all that ... it's wonderful."
"We've been working really hard to get to this spot ... it's a great feeling," McCoy said. "But I know Kent Denver, Platte Valley - whoever we play-they're going to come at us with their best. That's a good football team, no matter who we play."
DID YOU KNOW: The U.S.S. Bayfield was actually named for Bayfield County (in turn named for 19th-century British Admiral H.W. Bayfield) in northernmost Wisconsin. Originally the S.S. Sea Bass, its keel was laid in 1942 on Nov. 14-the anniversary of which coincided with the Wolverines' quarterfinals win at Brush. Today, Nov. 20, marks the anniversary of the ship's commission (in 1943) as the rechristened 'Bayfield.'
