Indians host Highland, Friday night

Perhaps we will have a clearer picture of the Yuma High School football team after Friday night.
The Indians have been at the extreme ends of the spectrum in their first two games — losing 40-0 at top-ranked Limon in the season opener, then returning the favor with a 43-0 thumping of Platte Canyon last Saturday afternoon in their home opener.

Now Highland comes to town for a North Central Conference game. The Huskies are 0-2, losing in overtime to seventh-ranked Holyoke in the season opener, the losing 35-0 to Limon last weekend.
However, coach Kelly Seward said Highland is big and has plenty of athletes, and will pose a serious challenge to the Indians.

“The good news is they have to come to us,” Seward said. “It’s not going to be nice, and they like to throw the ball.”
The high temperature Friday is supposed to be in the 30s, and no doubt it will be even chillier when kickoff rolls around at 7 p.m. Plus, there likely will be some wind.
Seward said the Huskies feature a good running back in senior Holden Morgan, who rushed for 160 yards in the season opener.
“We need to keep him in front us,” Seward said. “Keep him under 80 (yards) and don’t let their quarterback get going.”
The coach said the big thing about this week is some normalcy has returned. The Indians had to open their season on a Monday night, then played five days later on a Saturday afternoon.
“Now we have a normal week,” Seward said. “It will be like how we ran things last year. That’s a big deal.”

In this COVID-19 season, there are only six regular season games, and a team must play at least four to be playoff eligible. Holyoke and Burlington had to cancel their game last weekend due to cases in Burlington, meaning both teams now only have five, and it could be down to four for Burlington if the Cougars cannot play again this week. (Yuma is scheduled to play at Burlington next week.)
If all goes as planned, the Indians will have three games under their belt after Friday. However, with one conference loss already, the Indians have little wiggle room to stay in the race for one of only eight playoff berths.
“I don’t think a two-loss team will get into the playoffs,” Seward said. “It’s do or die now. You have to win today to survive for tomorrow. We don’t have any easy ones left.”

Limon and Wray both are 2-0 overall and in North Central play. Wray has been impressive in the early going, blowing out Burlington and Wiggins. Limon is stepping out of conference this week to play at Alamosa on Friday, and Holyoke, 1-0, hosts Wiggins, 1-1 and 0-1. Wray has a non-conference game at Jefferson on Saturday.
Platte Canyon had to make the long trip from Bailey to Yuma last Saturday, after getting shellacked 41-0 by No. 2 Strasburg in the season opener.
The Indians definitely had their way with the visitors, dominating from start to finish on a pleasant October afternoon.
Yuma’s defense held the Huskies to 94 total yards, 74 rushing and 20 passing, while pitching the shutout. The defense had a fumble recovery, and Joey Ross and Eddie Corral both had an interception.
Yahir Trejo was in on seven total tackles, John Smith six, Louden Blach six, Lars Sims six, Juan Cortes six, Jose Ruiz five, Lane Remmich five, Trey Stegman four, Kail Cooper three, Ross three, Kallen Blach two, Brandon Mendoza two, Nash Richardson two, Clay Robinson one, Jaxson Lungwitz one, Gabe Schulte one, Will Marshall one, Alex Lozano one, Christian Quezada one and Conner Lynch one.
Yuma played with a short field most the afternoon as nearly all of the game was played in Platte Canyon territory, partly because the Huskies’ punter had a rough afternoon.
Therefore, the offensive numbers are no overwhelming. Still, the Indians totaled 267 yards, rushing for 249 and passing for 18.
Robinson ran for 170 yards and four touchdowns on 20 carries, most of it in the first half. Trejo added 46 yards and a touchdown on six carries, Ross 18 yards on three carries, Ethan Goeglein 16 yards and a TD on five carries, and Lozano one run for eight yards. Aiden Blanco caught one pass from Trejo for 18 yards.

Robinson got the scoring started midway through the first quarter with a 25-yard run on third-and-16. Ross pounded in the two-point conversion after a bad snap, giving Yuma an 8-0 lead.
The Indians missed a field goal late in the first, but then put together a scoring drive in the second, capped by Robinson’s 1-yard run out of the Wildcat formation. Lozano kicked the PAT and Yuma led 15-0.
Yuma took over at midfield later in the quarter. Robinson picked up 25 yards on the first play, then covered the next 25 on the next play. Lozano’s PAT gave Yuma a 22-0 lead.
The Indians recovered a fumble, followed by Robinson’s 31-yard touchdown run. Lozano’s extra point made it 29-0 with 1 minute left.
Ross came up with an interception before halftime, but was hurt on the return.
With a big lead, the starting quarterback and defensive back sat out the second half.
Trejo took over at quarterback.
The offense got clicking late in the third as Trejo ran 32 yards to the Huskies’ 3-yard line, then capped the drive himself with a two-yard run. Trejo also ran in the two-point conversion for a 35-0 lead.
Yuma scored one last time early in the fourth on Goeglein’s three-yard TD run. Trejo ran in the two-point conversion again for the final score.
The youngsters then started getting on the field and helped preserve the shutout.
“We took care of business,” Seward said. “Beat teams you’re supposed to beat.”