The Haxtun-Fleming Herald - What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope

Haxtun picked up their second win of the season on Saturday in front of a home crowd at Adam Wernsman Field. The Bulldogs banked their second win of the season with a 54-6 win over Holly to improve to 2-0.

This weekend, the team is set to face off with Mancos in one of two final non-league games before moving on to face Lower Platte League teams beginning Sept. 29.

The Bulldogs took a commanding 30-0 lead in the first quarter against the Holly Wildcats on Saturday. The team added another 16 points in the second to hold a 46-0 advantage heading into half time.

Scoring slowed down some in the second half as Haxtun put just eight points on the board in the third and remained scoreless in the fourth. Holly added their lone touchdown of the game in the third quarter for their only six points in the contest.

"Our offense didn't have much work to do this week, our defense put us in great field position all day long," Head Coach JD Stone said. "We are platooning more than half of our offense and defense, so the guys are fresh. We have become a pretty good second quarter team because of it."

Quarterback Ryland Wolff completed seven of 11 passes against Holly for a total of 122 yards. He averaged 17.4 yards per pass and registered three touchdowns in the air. Wolff led the Bulldog ground game along with teammate Grant Statz; both registered 105 rushing yards. Wolff carried the ball eight times, including two trips into the end zone. Statz carried the ball 10 times while also registering two rushing touchdowns. Kailin Kelley racked up 63 yards on the ground.

Keegan Colglazier led in receiving yards against the Wildcats. He pulled down six catches for 106 and two touchdowns. Mason Bornhoft had one catch resulting in a 16-yard TD.

On defense, Kelley led the Bulldogs with 10 total tackles, four solo and four assisted. Josh Wright racked up eight total tackles followed by Statz with seven, Wolff with six and Colglazier, Braden Plumb and Zach Statz, each with three.

This week Haxtun is set to travel to Fairplay to meet up with Mancos on neutral ground. In the team's last two meetings, Haxtun came out on top; in 2022 with 50-6 win in a non-league contest early in the season and in 2021 with a 40-0 shutout in the 8-man State title game. According to MaxPreps, Mancos is currently 3-0 with wins over Melrose, N.M., Monticello, Utah, and Merino.

Several Colorado ranking sites have the Haxtun Bulldogs and the Mancos Bluejays listed as top five teams. MaxPreps lists them both in the top 10, while Colorado Preps puts Haxtun as one and Mancos as four and Mile High Prep Report has the Bulldogs as number two and Mancos number three.

"Mancos has a very dynamic rushing game with a lot of moving parts on the offensive line," said Stone. "We will have to be physical up front and fly to the ball while staying disciplined in the second level. Should be fun!"

After the meeting with Mancos, Haxtun is scheduled to travel to Fleming for a 6-man match up with the Wildcats on Saturday, Sept. 23. Thereafter, the Bulldogs schedule has a line-up against all Lower Platte League teams.

"We must take every game one step at a time, our non-league games are so crucial with the RPI," Stone said.