The Dolores Bears ran away with an emphatic 52-6 win over the Whitehorse Raiders in their homecoming game on Friday night.
The Raiders got five free yards off a Dolores penalty on their opening drive, but their offense was unable to produce much else in the first half against the stingy Bears defense as Dolores went to the break with a 46-0 lead.
The Dolores offense operated at will early, and the Bears were able to turn five of their six first-half possessions into touchdowns.
Junior quarterback Justin Purkat found Logan Fuller on a play-action pass on the Bears’ first possession. And using downfield blocks by Matt McCoy, Fuller sprung the short reception for a 30-yard touchdown to go ahead 7-0.
A big punt return by Tristan Medina set the Bears up at the Whitehorse 9-yard line for their second drive. And they would capitalize on the field position on their first play with Purkat rolling out and hitting Medina for a score.
Purkat came up with an interception on the ensuing Whitehorse possession, and after returning the pick to the Raiders 14-yard line, he capped off the short drive with a 1-yard touchdown plunge.
Dolores forced another turnover on the next drive when Hezekiah Stinson forced and recovered a Whitehorse fumble. Then the Bears put together a 53-yard drive that stretched into the second quarter, ending with a 10-yard rushing touchdown by Medina.
Medina scored again later in the second quarter on a beautiful 23-yard pump-and-go pass from Purkat. And later, Fuller tacked on a rushing score and Elena Cosner kicked in the extra point to give Dolores a commanding 39-0 lead.
The Bears’ final first-half score was a defensive one.
Junior Austin Hackney exploded into the Whitehorse backfield and smacked the QB, knocking the ball loose. And then Stinson scooped and scored from 36 yards out and Cosner split the uprights on the PAT to send the home team to halftime ahead 46-0.
Whitehorse put together a scoring drive on their first possession in the third quarter, and then Fuller answered with a 28-yard touchdown rush. And with a running clock and the reserves getting some playing time in the fourth, neither team found the end zone as Dolores cruised to a 52-6 win.
As the only senior that played on last year’s squad that lost to Center 14-6 in a heartbreaker during the 2015 homecoming, winning this year’s homecoming game and being crowned homecoming king was extra sweet for Medina, who had three scores in the contest.
“Last year it was pretty defeating being homecoming with a big crowd,” he said. “But we came back and showed what we’ve got. It’s awesome. Getting crowned king, a lot of distractions this week with peach fuzz and powder puff and not much time to practice. We really just put in the work when we had time and it showed.”
After dropping their first game of the season to Hotchkiss 40-8, the Bears have ripped off three solid victories to move to 3-1 on the year.
“It’s great for the community and for the kids for us to get the last three games in the W column,” said head coach Chris Trusler. “And it’s a good motivator for us before we get into league play. Competition is going to be tough in league, and we’ve still got a lot of things to work on.”
The Bears will open Southern Peaks League play next Saturday at home against John Mall (1-2) at noon.
