They say defense wins championships. If thats any indication, the Dolores Bears could be in for a good football season.
After yielding 37 first half points at 2A Bayfield last week, the Dolores defense has since been lights out.
The 4A Kirtland Central (N.M.) junior varsity saw firsthand Thursday night in Dolores, as the Bears blanked the Broncos, 22-0.
Our defense is stout. Everybody played well on defense, said Bears junior quarterback/safety Kolton Shull.
Dolores (1-1) displayed its defensive prowess by extending its streak of shutout football to six-straight quarters. But it was the offense that had yet to get going. The Bears were shutout in Bayfield and went scoreless for the first 20 minutes on Thursday in a turnover-filled first half.
Shull intercepted a tipped Cody Merrill pass on the Broncos first drive.
However, on the ensuing Dolores drive, Shull coughed up the rock scrambling to the sideline and Kirtland Central retained possession.
Two plays later, Broncos running back Easton Sherwood bobbled the handoff and sophomore defensive end/tight end Ethan Upton recovered the fumble for the Bears.
After both teams stopped each other on downs, Dolores finally put some points on the board in the second quarter.
Strong runs from tailbacks Wyatt Wallace (senior) and Ryatt Pierce (sophomore) got the Bears to the 16-yard line. But a 5-yard loss and a holding penalty pushed the home team back to the 31. Thats when Dolores coach Tony Goodwin decided to open up the playbook. On second-and-25, Shull rolled to his right and heaved a perfect pass over the outstretched arms of a Broncos defender to Pierce, who took it in for a 31-yard touchdown reception. Pierce capped it off with the 2-point conversion run to give the Bears an 8-0 lead at the 4:06 mark of the second. Thats where the score stood at halftime.
To open the third, Dolores came out running with Wallace and freshman Miguel Perez, who got quality minutes in place of injured junior Cody Carroll. The Bears marched to the 27, but the drive was halted when they couldnt convert on fourth-and-8.
Dolores defense came up big again.
The Broncos moved the ball 30 yards on their first drive of the second half, but fumbled the pigskin back to the Bears. The hometown offense would capitalize with a 38-yard drive. Big runs by Perez and sophomore Rusher Ammon set Dolores up in the red zone. On third-and-7 from the 12, Shull threw his second touchdown pass of the game, this one going to Upton. Pierce again ran in the 2-pointer to double the Bears lead to 16-0.
In the fourth, Dolores forced a turnover on downs and then went on a timely, 57-yard drive to salt away the game. Wallace and Pierce recorded 20- and-14-yard runs in the drive. A Kirtland Central personal foul and an 8-yard Perez run set the Bears up second-and-goal at the 1. Shull sneaked it in for the touchdown to give Dolores a 22-point lead with 3:04 left. The Bears got the ball back with just over a minute to go and ran out the clock in victory formation.
Were learning that were having to be patient, Goodwin said. We tend to want to open the ball game up and throw the ball more. We can do that. Kolton did a good job throwing the ball, but we have to be patient. We have to take what the defense is giving us. Early on, we werent doing that. The kids in the second half, we started learning to take what they gave us and making the right reads, and we moved the ball pretty well.
Shull threw 4 of 6 for 56 yards and two touchdown tosses, while scoring one on the ground where he recorded 24 yards to go with his interception on defense.
It felt really great to finally get some points on the board, Shull said. I think it just kind of shows that were deadly through the air and on the ground.
Perhaps the strongest piece to the Bears is their line, which cleared the way for 217 rushing yards between Wallace (74), Pierce (72) and Perez (71). Each running back carried the ball 11 times.
Our line has made a 100 percent improvement (this season), said Shull. It took them a couple of drives to get them warmed up, but once they warmed up, they were a hell of a line.
Dolores will play another New Mexico team on the road at 2A Newcomb (2-0) next Friday at 7 p.m.
Reach Bobby Abplanalp at bobbya@cortezjournal.com.
