IDAHO SPRINGS — It’s a stigma that all defending state champions have to endure: the dreaded “target on your back.”
Such is the case for defending Class 1A champion Yuma, which, after beating 8-man juggernaut Caliche in Zero Week, had two weeks to prepare for Hayden.
Meeting halfway — a three-hour trek for both teams — at Clear Creek’s Golddigger Stadium, Yuma did what it needed to do Saturday and escaped with a 21-14 win.
“That’s a quality team with a lot of speed,” reigning Denver Post coach of the year Keith Gille said. “Everybody we play this year is going to bring their best shot, and our kids have got to get used to that.”
Yuma (2-0) marched right down the field on its opening possession with methodical precision and looked like it might have its way with coach Shawn Baumgartner’s Tigers after Nick Lovell’s 15-yard touchdown run.
Tigers quarterback Graig Medvesk tied the game in the second quarter, busting free for a 64-yard touchdown run around the right side of the Yuma defense.
Hayden’s defense was up to the task for the next two quarters, bending but not breaking against the much bigger Indians. The Tigers stiffened for several key fourth- down stops and had Ben Williams strip the ball from quarterback Dalton McMurphy to end another drive.
“I’m just so, so proud of our guys today,” said Baumgartner, whose team is 1-1 after two games in Idaho Springs, including a 30-8 beating of Holyoke last week. “We made plays, especially in that third quarter when we needed to, but they really just wore us out in the fourth quarter.”
The Indians’ ground game, powered up front by lineman Austin Traphagen, churned out 407 yards — 234 of which came from Lovell.
“We had three really good practices this week, but this altitude (7,400 feet, compared with 4,100 in Yuma) is really tough too,” Lovell said. “We came out flat, but we also came out with the ‘W,’ and that’s all that really matters.”
Junior Tyler Korf, who finished with 81 yards, scored two fourth- quarter touchdowns that gave the Indians the cushion they needed.
Yuma 6 0 0 15 — 21
Hayden 0 6 0 8 — 14
Y — Lovell 15 run (kick failed). H — Medvesk 64 run (kick failed). Y — Korf 13 run (Korf run). Y — Korf 9 run (Lovell kick). H — Medvesk 78 kickoff return (Letlow pass from Medvesk).
