It was another rough go for the Montezuma-Cortez Panthers on Saturday.
Hosting the No. 6 ranked Delta Panthers, the M-CHS offense went three and out on five of its six first-half drives, while Delta scored on each of its first-half possessions to enter the break with a 42-0 lead.
The Panthers had one encouraging series in the first, on their third possession.
After a kick return by Juan Arballo set them up at their own 34-yard line, senior quarterback Coby Baer connected with Tanner Desrosiers, who jetted forward for a 40-yard gain and into Delta territory. M-CHS would get help from a Delta pass interference penalty and moved all the way to the Delta 11-yard line, but the drive was cut short when Colton Galvin picked off Baer.
“We had some good stuff,” said M-CHS head coach Scott Conklin. “It was just hard to put it all together.”
The Panthers were without a boatload of players due to injuries and ineligibility issues, but they continued to fight in the second half.
Filling in for injured QBs Ike Dennison and Cole Herrmann was Baer, who was an efficient 13 of 21 for 125 yards with one interception and one touchdown, unofficially. His favorite target was his younger brother Cordell, who hauled in four passes for 18 yards.
Desrosiers had two catches for 57 yards and a score, Ray Gomez had two catches for 26 yards, Elisha Vaquera had two catches for 16, and Zeke Vargas had three catches for 8 yards.
The Panthers put together their best drive on their first possession of the third quarter.
Delta led 42-0 and subbed in many of its reserves in to start the second half, but Conklin said that his team’s second-half play was still a boost of confidence and something it can build on for next week.
After forcing the visiting Panthers to punt on their opening third-quarter possession, M-CHS put together an 89-yard scoring drive.
Baer picked up a first down on a read option run, Vaquera and Desrosiers picked up chunks on the ground, and then Gomez took a quick pass and scampered 29 yards down the sideline to the Delta 20.
Later, facing a fourth and seven in the red zone, Baer stood tall in the pocket and delivered a strike across the middle to Desrosiers, who took it 17 yards for an M-CHS touchdown as the third quarter expired.
With a running clock, neither team found the end zone in the fourth quarter and the Delta Panthers came out on top, 42-6.
“We ended this game on somewhat of a positive,” said Conklin. “We’ve just got to get healthy and finish strong and build for next year.”
The Panthers (1-6, 0-3 Intermountain League) will travel to Gunnison on Friday to take on the Cowboys (3-4, 1-2 IML) in what Conklin expects to be a more competitive game.
“It should be a close contest,” he said. “They’re a power run team. We’ve got to figure out our defensive line – we’ve got some new kids in there – and we need to work hard this week.”