Bulldogs bring home 8th State Championship football title

There is one common theme mentioned over and over again with this year's Bulldog football team and that theme is family. On Friday night, under the lights at CSU Pueblo's Thunderbowl, that football family made Haxtun history as the Fightin' Bulldogs clinched the school's eighth State Championship. And for the first time in Haxtun history, the Bulldog football program finished with an impressive, 13-0 perfect season.

After claiming the Plains League Championship, a feat all on its own, the Bulldogs went to work in the post-season, week by week advancing one step further in the 16-team bracket until eventually reaching the Championship contest. The final two teams standing would face off the day after Thanksgiving at the college stadium in Pueblo, number one ranked Haxtun versus number two ranked Mancos.

As news came of the Bulldogs' opponent in the final match up, Haxtun coaches went to work establishing a game plan.

"Mancos looked on film to us like a Plains League team from the 90s or 2000s," Head Coach JD Stone said of the Bluejays. "They had a few sets we were worried about, they had gashed everyone all year long with them but Marc (Bornhoft), Andy (Wernsman) and Bies (Garrick Biesemeier) came to me in our coach's meeting Sunday night with a great plan of attack for our defense to slow down Mancos's running game and the boys executed it perfectly."

Mancos, who entered the Championship contest perfect on the season, had taken down Fowler, Dayspring Christian Academy and Sanford for their shot at a State title. In the Bluejay's semifinal contest with Sanford, the team registered 145 yards in the air and 167 yards on the ground for a combined 312 offensive yards.

But that would not be the case in the Championship match up against the Bulldogs.

Haxtun won the toss at mid-field prior to Friday's contest and elected to defer the ball to the Bluejays. Mancos took their first offensive possession of the game and were stopped dead in their tracks as Haxtun's defense held the team on fourth down to take over on offense.

The Bulldogs found themselves in a fourth down situation, however, Haxtun capitalized on some open field space that would eventually lead to a five-yard touchdown run from senior captain Isaac Andersen. Senior Owen Knode kept the ball on the two-point conversion attempt and after sailing up and over the Mancos defense to get into the endzone, Haxtun was up 8-0 early in the contest.

Mancos tried a second attempt on offense, but the Bulldog defense held them yet again, this time on third down, forcing the Bluejays to punt. Several false start calls on Haxtun's offense pushed the team back five yards each time but a personal foul/tripping call on the Bluejays made up the yardage, and then some, putting Haxtun's offense in prime scoring position. In yet another fourth down situation, a pass to Michael Gerk gave the Bulldogs a first down inside the five-yard line.

A short break to end the first quarter and a swap in field position and Haxtun went right back to work. Just seconds into the opening of the second quarter, Gerk found a hole for a three-yard touchdown to put the Bulldogs up by another six.

The Bluejays took over possession but it seemed where ever they were, so were the Bulldogs. Haxtun senior David Avery came up with a pick at the Bulldog 38-yard line and on the very next play, Knode found junior Kyle Fryrear open in the end zone for a 38-yard touchdown. Knode made the two-point conversion on his own to put his team up, 22-0.

Mid-way through the second, Mancos found an offensive rhythm to this time make it to mid-field but on a fourth down attempt, junior Maclin Tempel flew off the line of scrimmage and sacked the Bluejays quarterback, giving Haxtun the ball back. The Bulldogs drove to the end zone and this time it was Andersen with the call for a rushing touchdown to give the Bulldogs another six points.

With just over two minutes left to play before half time, the Bulldog defense again came up with an interception, this time putting the ball inside Haxtun's 20-yard line. Osman Coss and company drove towards the end zone and eventually Coss punched in a run from the one-yard line to give Haxtun a 34-0 advantage at half time.

"At half time we just talked about finishing," Stone said. "And I told them to go out and make their mark on the history books."

That's just what the Bulldogs did.

Offensively Haxtun added one more touchdown in the third quarter to start a running clock with a 40-point lead. As the clock ticked away, the Bulldog defense denied all Bluejay attempts to get into the endzone and Haxtun shut out Mancos for an astonishing 40-0 win and a Championship trophy.

"The defense dominated Mancos," Stone said. According to reported stats, the Bulldog defense held Mancos to just 64 offensive yards in the entire contest. Prior to the Championship, the Bluejays averaged well over 200 yards in their ground game alone.

The win gives Haxtun High School's football program their eighth title in school history and the first since 2004 when then assistant coaches Wernsman, Biesemeier and Cameron Ham were all playing for the Bulldogs.

"It was better than anything I could've imagined," Andersen said of those initial moments as a Champion. "After the buzzer went off I hugged Meeks (Michael Gerk) right away. The joy I felt was overwhelming, it was hard to describe. I will never forget after hugging Meeks I just took a second to myself to look around. I won't ever forget the look in my friends eyes as they realized what we had just done."

The Championship is also the first for Head Coach Stone, who just wrapped up his 11th year in Haxtun.

"I said it all year long, we still have not played our best game, the boys played a near perfect game Friday, holding a team that had put up the numbers they had all year long, to 64 yards and zero points," Stone said. "We are so proud to bring home number eight to such a football tradition rich community. After the clock clicked to zero, I was so happy to see the pure joy in my boys and my coaches' eyes. They had all reached the summit with all the hard work in the past. When we returned to the locker room, I was able to talk to the guys. I told them everything we had done for the last 359 days was for this feeling. We preach all the time that our team is built off family values and I finished with I love you all!"

The Bulldogs completed 56 plays in Pueblo on Friday, including 17 first downs. At quarterback in his final outing as a Bulldog, Knode completed four of nine passes for 86 yards and two touchdown passes. Fryrear was on the receiving end of both of Knode's touchdown passes. He registered 54 yards in the air for an average of 27 yards per catch.

Andersen led the Bulldogs' running game with 103 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. He averaged 4.3 yards per carry in his last high school contest. Gerk tallied 47 yards on the ground and added one touchdown.

Freshman Grant Statz led the defense with nine tackles on the night. He earned his nine with four solo and five assisted tackles. Coss, Andersen, Tempel and Kailin Kelley each registered eight tackles in the Championship. Knode tallied seven followed by Gerk with five and Avery with four.

"It feels amazing to win it in my final year, like there is no other way to go out," senior captain Knode said after taking the title. I think I am going to remember when we were all on the field after the game and everyone was so happy. For me it has always been a goal of mine to win one for Haxtun, ever since I was little. I would watch the high schoolers play and I just thought they were the coolest people. To put eight on that sign is just amazing because that was the goal the whole year."

This year's team featured seven seniors who ended their high school careers on the highest note possible while marking their name in Haxtun history. Knode, Avery, Coss, Andersen, Ashton Ayala, Victor Knapp and Alex Farrel will all graduate next spring.

"We had been told all week long that the fans would not be allowed on the field after the game," Coach Stone said. "I love the fact that our crowd rushed the field! I get so much pleasure seeing the boys sing to the fans, players hugging family members and my girls running and jumping in my arms with my wife waiting in the background for her hug too."