Haxtun notches 50-6 win over Mancos to remain on top after week 3

For the second time in just 10 months, the Haxtun Bulldogs took a commanding win over the Mancos Bluejays in a highly anticipated rematch of the State Championship match up from last November. The Bulldogs met the Bluejays in neutral territory for a third week contest in the 2022 schedule. Haxtun notched a 50-6 win that leaves the Bulldogs in the number one slot in 8-man action and 3-0 on the season.

Haxtun entered as number one and Mancos as number two in Colorado rankings and the two teams keep their rankings following the Saturday afternoon contest in Fairplay. Haxtun, the home team on the scoreboard, put up one touchdown in the first quarter, giving the Bulldogs a six point advantage early in the contest. Quarterback Ryland Wolff put his team on the board first with a one-yard run into the end zone with just over a minute left in the first.

With nine minutes on the clock in the second quarter, Grant Statz found an opening for a 25-yard touchdown run that ultimately gave the Bulldogs eight points after a successful two-point conversion. After kickoff, the Bulldogs held the Bluejays in their own territory and several plays later, Kaiden Schelling came up with an interception. Haxtun took over on offense but ended up turning the ball over on downs. In return, the defense held Mancos on downs, forcing the visiting team to punt and with less than two minutes on the clock, the Bulldogs went to work. As Haxtun marched down the field, Wolff hit Keegan Colglazier with a 45 yard pass that resulted in six points for Haxtun before the half. Wolff ran the ball in for the two-points after to give Haxtun a 22-0 lead at half time.

The Bulldogs put up 14 unanswered points in the third quarter to remain on top and in charge heading into the fourth and final quarter. Mancos scored their lone touchdown shortly after the start of the fourth with a 15-yard pass into the endzone. Haxtun answered back with two more scores before the final buzzer to take the 44 point win over the Bluejays. It's the second time in less than a year that the Haxtun team took down the Mancos team by a 40-point spread.

"The atmosphere was electric even with the travel, Bulldog country is always second to none," Head Coach JD Stone said of Saturday's contest. "The boys played extremely hard, even with adversity of the altitude and the travel. Our defense played extremely well, gap control was awesome and the execution was great."

Under center, Wolff earned a 149.3 quarterback rating on Saturday, completing six of nine passes for 166 yards in the air. Wolff averaged 27.7 yards per pass. Kyle Fryrear was on the receiving end of two of Wolff's passes. Fryrear registered 105 yards in the air including one touchdown. Colglazier caught one pass for 45 yards which resulted in a touchdown.

On the ground, Michael Gerk carried the ball 16 times for a total of 106 yards and one touchdown. He averaged 6.6 yards per carry against Mancos. Wolff registered 81 yards on the ground and one rushing touchdown. He averaged 5.8 yards per carry. Statz carried the ball five times for 65 yards and two touchdowns. Statz earned an average of 13 yards per carry.

On defense, five Bulldogs tallied double-digits in the tackles column. Kailin Kelley registered 14 tackles, three solo and 11 assisted. Maclin Tempel tallied 11 tackles including four solo and seven assisted. Statz, Colglazier and Gerk each had 10 total tackles. Tempel also tallied three sacks on the day. Jake Tori registered one.

This week the Bulldogs host Fleming in the season home-opener and the final non-league game on the schedule. The Wildcats will come to Haxtun for an 8-man match up slated for 7:30 p.m. at Adam Wernsman Field.

"We are trying to get back to the basics to prep for Fleming, because we don't know how they will adapt their offense and defensive schemes, so we need to be ready for a little bit of everything," Stone said.