Haxtun claims Plains League Championship with win over Merino

For the second consecutive year the Haxtun Bulldogs are Plains League Champions! The Bulldogs officially clinched the title with a final regular season win in Merino on Friday night. The team's 9-0 record gives them the top spot in Colorado 8-man action, a ranking the Bulldogs have held all season, and home field advantage through the post season. Haxtun remains one of five 8-man teams in the State with unblemished 9-0 records. The four others include Simla, Lyons, Crowley County and Dove Creek. Only one of those teams is on the same side of the 2022 playoff bracket as the Haxtun Bulldogs; number four ranked Simla.

"We are extremely excited to repeat as Plains conference Champs, but that is only a steppingstone to our goal," Head Coach JD Stone said. "We have celebrated some milestones, Plains champ and #1 seed, but ultimately we want to be celebrating the day after Thanksgiving."

Friday night action in Merino kicked off quick with both teams putting points on the board in the first quarter. Haxtun punched in their first touchdown with a 33-yard run from #3 senior Michael Gerk. Quarterback Ryland Wolff hit Kyle Fryrear in the end zone for the two-point conversion to give Haxtun a quick 8-0 advantage. The Bulldogs added two more touchdowns, back-to-back, one with a 54-yard run from Wolff and the other a Wolff-Fryrear connection to go up by 24 points. With just 43 seconds left on the clock, the Rams found the endzone with a 33-yard run to leave the score 24-8.

Merino got the ball with just over eight minutes on the clock in the second and while marching down the field, the Rams controlled the field and the clock until just over a minute and a half left until half time when they scored with a 25-yard touchdown pass. Haxtun answered back before the half with a 13-yard run from Gerk to maintain a 30-14 lead.

Gerk chalked up two more touchdowns in the third and Wolff added a 61-yard touchdown run for Haxtun's final six-points in the fourth to give the Bulldogs a 54-22 win. The victory over the Rams in Merino leaves the team 9-0 and with back-to-back league titles with undefeated regular seasons in both 2021 and 2022.

Gerk led the Bulldogs running game with 248 yards off 12 carries. In Merino, he averaged 20.7 yards per carry and racked up four rushing touchdowns for the Bulldogs. Wolff ran the ball nine times for 173 yards and two touchdowns.

In the air, Fryrear caught two passes for 39 yards and one TD. Keegan Colglazier had 32 yards from two catches. Under center, Wolff connected with five of eight passes for 86 yards in the air and one touchdown. He averaged 17.2 yard per pass on Friday night.

The Bulldogs registered 110 tackles on the Rams led by Gerk with a total of 18. He earned the team high with nine solo and nine assisted tackles. Kailin Kelley racked up five solo and 12 assisted tackles for a total of 17 on the night. Colglazier and Wolff each tallied 15 tackles followed by Maclin Tempel with 14 and Kaiden Schelling and Fryrear, each with 10.

Haxtun is set to face 16th ranked McClave in a Saturday afternoon match up at Adam Wernsman Field. According to MaxPreps, the McClave Cardinals are 6-3 overall and were 4-1 in their league. The team suffered losses to Crowley County, Merino and Holly this season.

"McClave throws the ball a little more than we have seen in the last few weeks, so we need to work on the defensive backfield's eyes and footwork along with our pass rush upfront," said Stone. "Defensively they are big, we will have our hands full on offense, we will try to get guys the ball in space and use our speed and athleticism."

Kick off is set for 1 p.m.