The Pagosa Springs High School Pirate football team lost in the final seconds of its game against the Bayfield Wolverines last Thursday, Oct. 10, at Golden Peaks Stadium.
The Pirates jumped out in front 14-0 in the second quarter with two rushing touchdowns — an 11-yard from Creede Dozier and a 53-yard from Colton Lucero — and took that lead into halftime.
Bayfield was able to get on the board in the third quarter with a 51-yard touchdown pass. A successful extra-point attempt brought the score to 14-7, with the Pirates leading.
The Pirates were able to hit back on their next offensive possession with another rushing touchdown from Lucero, going for 26 yards, extending their lead back to a two-possession game at 21-7.
Bayfield opened the scoring in the fourth quarter, finding the end zone from a 15-yard rushing touchdown with about 10 minutes remaining to make the score 21-14 and make it where the Wolverines could tie the game with one score.
The Pirates would then put together another scoring drive, taking off almost six minutes on the clock, that was capped off by another Lucero rushing touchdown, this time for 33 yards.
Another successful extra-point attempt put the Pirates back up by two scores at 28-14.
Bayfield would go on to score on its next possession with a 48-yard touchdown pass to bring the score to 21-28 with just over three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
On the next possession for the Pirates, multiple penalties were called that ended up putting Pagosa in a third down and long situation with more than 20 yards needed for a first down.
Lucero was able to pick up about 15 yards on a carry to make it fourth down and about 5 yards to go for a first down with the ball just inside of the Wolverines’ territory.
The Pirates elected to go for it rather than punt.
The play was blown up by the Wolverines, tackling Lucero in the backfield for a loss on the play and a turnover on downs.
With just over two minutes left, the Wolverines took over possession and were able to move the ball downfield quickly.
A handful of penalties on the drive, including a defensive pass interference call and a horse-collar tackle on the Pirates also contributed to the Wolverines’ getting the ball down inside of the Pirates’ 10-yard line.
The Pirates’ defense was able to hold the Wolverines at the goal line and force a fourth-and-goal situation from the 5-yard line.
After an incomplete pass attempt from the Wolverines on fourth down, the Pirates were set to get the ball back with a turnover on downs, but penalties from both teams on the play resulted in the down being replayed, setting up another fourth-and-goal situation.
This time the Wolverines were able to get into the end zone with a 5-yard rushing touchdown, leaving only 21 seconds left in the game.
With the score at 28-27, the Wolverines elected to go for a two-point extra-point attempt, which the Pirates denied.
Bayfield then lined up for an onside kick attempt and were able to come up with the recovery to keep possession and start their drive from about the 50-yard line.
Bayfield was able to run two plays and move the ball to within field goal range.
A successful 42-yard field goal attempt put the Wolverines up 30-28 with three seconds left in the game.
After a touchback on the kickoff, the Pirates were able to run one play before time ran out.
“I thought we played well enough to win,” coach Nathan Morales said, mentioning that “the ball didn’t bounce our way the last four minutes.”
Morales mentioned he was pleased with the way the Pirates played, noting they had a few younger players step up and fill in.
Morales also noted that the Pirates were prepared for the Wolverines’ onside kick attempt and that the Pirates’ hands team was on the field for the kick, but was unable to recover the football.
“I was real pleased in the way they played and the way they fought,” he said.
When asked about the penalties called against the Pirates during the game, Morales explained that the delay-of-game calls did not affect them as much as offensive holding penalties.
“Those ones didn’t bother us,” Morales said about the delay-of-game penalties, explaining the Pirates need to work on being more disciplined with blocking correctly.
He added, “I gotta do a better job and make sure we’re coached up and not doing those things.”
Morales also commented that the Pirates generally do a good job of responding to setbacks like penalties, noting the Pirates had to deal with first and 20 or first and 25 multiple times on the night and were still able to come up with first downs.
“We just gotta be more disciplined, and that’s something I’ll have to shore up this week,” he said.
Morales also mentioned Bayfield fought hard and is coached well.
“I still think we played well enough to win, and I think we should’ve won the game,” Morales added.
The Pirates ended the night with a total of 555 yards of offense, with Lucero leading the team in yards.
Lucero rushed for 400 yards and three touchdowns on 33 carries on the night.
According to stats from the Colorado High School Activities Association, Lucero currently leads the state across all divisions in total rushing yards so far this season, racking up 1,366 rushing yards through six games.
Creede Dozier ended the night with 70 rushing yards and one touchdown on seven carries. He also completed one of seven passing attempts for 4 yards to Lucero.
Dozier went down with an injury late in the first half and sat out for the majority of the second half.
Morales explained that, with Dozier out, Seth Zeigler stepped in as quarterback for the Pirates.
Zeigler ran for a total of 66 yards on 12 carries.
Alex Pacheco had one rushing attempt for 4 yards, and Jayton Ross had two rushing attempts for a total of 1 yard on the night.
Gavin Carter made four out of four extra-point attempts on the night.
The Pirates’ defense tallied a total of 36 tackles on the night, with Ross leading the team with seven solo tackles.
Zeigler recorded six solo tackles, while Jaxten Schiel, Dozier and Lucero each recorded four solo tackles.
The Pirates’ defense was able to force one turnover on the night, with Dozier recording one fumble recovery.
The Pirates now sit in fourth place of the 2A Intermountain League with an overall record of 4-2, which includes a league mark of 1-1.
Three games remain in the regular season for the Pirates, with two of those being league matchups.
The Pirates will travel to Gunnison tomorrow, Friday, Oct. 18, to take on the Gunnison Cowboys at 7 p.m.
Gunnison currently sits in sixth place of the Intermountain League with an overall record of 0-6.
“We’ll just go back to the grind here in Pagosa,” Morales said, noting that the Pirates still have three games left that will dictate their postseason seeding.
clayton@pagosasun.com
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