The Gunnison High School football team fell to Delta Friday, Oct. 2, making it its fifth loss in a row after starting the season out with two straight wins.
The two teams met for a league match at Delta on Friday night. Coming into the game, the Panthers were 6-0 and ranked in the top five of all of 3A, and they proved that neither their record nor their ranking was a fluke, beating the Cowboys 47-0.
“Delta's a good ball club,” said Cowboys’ head coach Chase Starman. “They got some dudes, they got a lot of numbers. They got some athletes, and they got it rolling. They got a system. So props to them, they got it going on over there in Delta.”
The Panthers scored three times in the first quarter to make it 21-0 after 12 minutes. They then added three more touchdowns in the second quarter to make it 41-0 heading into halftime. They scored once more in the third quarter and the score held at 47-0 until the final whistle blew.
Starman felt that while the team played hard, it ultimately came down to a lack of urgency on both defense and offense throughout the night.
“Delta kind of dictated what we could do or wanted to do,” said Starman. “And they over-physicaled us, they overpowered us. But again, our boys didn't quit, they played hard. They played for all four quarters.”
Quarterback Asher Woytek finished the game 0-for-5 with an interception.
Simeon Jauregui led the team with 37 rushing yards on eight carries. Nolan Witzel had 25 yards on a team-high 10 carries.
Jorge Perez and Deegan Bennett each led the team with five total tackles.
With the loss, the Cowboys now sit at 2-5 this season and are ranked 28th in 2A.
Despite being losers of five straight, Starman believes that the team is still bought in and is committed to finishing the season strong.
Their next game is against Coal Ridge (2-4, 21st in 2A) on Friday, Oct. 9. The game will be the Cowboys’ final home game and will also be the host of their senior night celebrations.
The team will be honoring this year’s group of seven seniors while also attempting to get back into the win column.
“It comes down to doing all of the little things correctly,” said Starman. “And not just little things on the field, but little things off the field. Like cleaning up after practice, cleaning up in the locker room, taking care of attendance, taking care of grades. So all the little things, if you take care of all the little things outside of the football field, and all the little things that we've been missing and been losing just by a couple of little things here and there, are all gonna now fall in our favor.”
On the field, Starman emphasized that the boys need to trust the offensive and defensive systems, execute them and communicate in order to win.
“I don't think our team and the culture has completely forfeited the season,” said Starman. “I still think there's fight. There's still desire in these boys. There's still hunger to get one.”
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