There are multiple story lines in the Dove Creek Bulldogs’ (7-2) playoff game against the West Grand Mustangs (8-1) on Saturday.
Last week, the Mustangs’ junior quarterback, JD Guess, was killed in a single-vehicle accident while driving home from practice.
And after the team rallied together to win its game against Vail Christian the next day, head coach Chris Brown is tied for most career coaching wins in Colorado high school football history with 306.
Dove Creek head coach Shane Baughman understands the amount of attention that will be on the Mustangs in the matchup, and how the events could be a distraction.
The Bulldogs must also travel nearly seven hours and stay overnight before the game.
Baughman said on Tuesday that the Bulldogs would show tribute to Guess and the Mustangs by wearing a purple No. 9 patch on their helmets, but he isn’t concerned with the travel.
“Honestly, our kids here are so used to travel,” he said. “With other sports too, we just travel. They’re used to it, so we usually don’t even talk about it.”
Baughman and the Bulldogs will try to remain focused on the aspects of the game, like the Mustangs’ unusually wide splits on the line.
“Their splits are way wider than normal,” Baughman noted. “And it’s just to create angles.”
He explained that while it may appear simple to blitz through the gaps, that it is nearly impossible, and instead of easily breaking through the line, you can blitz yourself out of the play.
“We’re going to stay with our regular defense,” he said. “It’s gotten us this far.”
The Bulldogs will see a lot of read-option plays, and the Mustangs pull guards frequently, while averaging 310 rushing yards per game.
However, with Spencer Gatlin, Beau Hemphill and Dante Gallegos up front, the Bulldogs have a size advantage.
They will just need to be disciplined and stay in their lanes during deceiving read-option plays.
The Bulldogs average 250 rushing yards per game themselves, but last week against Mancos they opened it up, with Jordan Ernst completing 16-of-21 passes for 241 yards.
Baughman noted that with the return of Colin Hobbs – who hauled in 13 catches for 183 yards and two scores last week – the Bulldogs’ passing game has more options.
However, it doesn’t mean that they will be changing their offense to an air raid.
“We’re just going to go in there and see what’s open and what’s working,” Baughman said.
Dove Creek will stay overnight on Friday, with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday in Kremmling.