Montezuma Cortez knocked off Pagosa Springs 10-7 on Friday for its second win of the season.
The Panthers put together a 56-yard touchdown drive on their second possession against the Pirates to grab a 7-0 lead with just over two minutes remaining in the first quarter.
Quarterback Cordell Ridings connected with Coby Baer for a 10-yard pass on fourth down to keep the drive alive, and later hit senior Austin Bayles for a 24-yard pickup.
Sol Carver runs in the red zone moved the ball to the 1-yard line, and then Baer dragged two defenders with him into the end zone for a touchdown rush.
Carver finished with 17 carries for 54 yards and Baer had eight carries for 15 yards and the score. Ridings led the Panthers on the ground with 77 yards on 20 carries.
After trading punts, Pagosa Springs converted a screen pass for a touchdown on fourth-and-goal to cap off a 45-yard drive, and the teams went into halftime knotted 7-7.
The Panthers controlled the third quarter by riding Carver for a long, time-consuming drive, before turning the ball over on downs at the Pagosa Springs 10-yard line.
After forcing a Pirates’ punt, M-CHS put together another long drive – spanning into the fourth quarter – and again found itself in the red zone.
Facing another fourth down, the Panthers made sure to put points on the board with a 23-yard field goal by Baer.
The Panthers’ defense held Pagosa Springs scoreless, forcing a punt and two turnovers in the final seven minutes to hang on for a 10-7 victory.
Elisha Vaquera forced a fumble and Josh Ramos pulled down an interception for the Panthers two takeways.
Tanner Desrosiers leads the state in Class 2 in total tackles on the season with 73, and he again led the Panthers in tackles with 14.
Junior linebackers Zach McDonald and Vaquera each had two sacks, with McDonald totaling 13 tackles, including five tackles-for-loss.
