By John Livingston Regional sports editor
Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020

Three interceptions, final defensive stand lead Demons to 21-14 win against Rough Riders

The Durango High School football team set out Saturday to do something no team in the history of the school had done before. To get it done, a usually explosive offensive team took on the defensive identity of its head coach.

Behind three interceptions and four consecutive fourth-quarter defensive stops, the No. 3 Durango Demons denied the No. 1 Roosevelt Rough Riders to win 21-14 in the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 3A state football championship on Saturday at the Colorado State University-Pueblo Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl Stadium.

“I love every single one of these boys, and to do this our senior year with guys we have been playing with since third grade, it means everything to me,” said DHS senior quarterback Jordan Woolverton. “It took a lot of heart. Roosevelt is a great team and played their hearts out. It took everything we had to pull out this game, and we gave everything. To be able to get that championship for Durango that we’ve always wanted, it’s incredible. It’s a special community that has had full support behind us. For us to get it done for them, it’s special.”

With two touchdown receptions of 23 and 67 yards as well as an interception with Roosevelt facing third-and-goal from the Durango 6-yard line late in the game, DHS senior Gage Mestas was named the player of the game.

“So much excitement. My body is tingling. I couldn’t be more blessed to be in this position,” Mestas said. “This is for the Durango community, the program. We have so much love for our town.”

It is Durango’s first state championship since 1954, when it tied Lamar 7-7 in the Class A championship. There were no overtime rules in that era, so the game ended in a tie with the teams declared co-champions. DHS had been 0-3-1 in title games going into Saturday with its last trip to the state championship having come in 1988.

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