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SPORTSTO REPORT SCORES, CALL NATE WAGGENSPACK AT 875-1795MONDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2012 PAGE 24

Craig Daily Press

CRAIG DAILY PRESS &CRAIG CRAIG DAILY PRESS BRINGS YOU “PINK” MONDAYS TO RECOGNIZE BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH

BY NATE WAGGENSPACKDAILY PRESS WRITER

Friday’s football game was not a special win for Moffat County, but it was an important way for the Bulldogs to get going at the end of their season.

The team’s 42-19 win against Montezuma-Cortez brought Moffat County back up to .500 on the season and kept the team alive in the playoff hunt.

Coach Kip Hafey liked his team’s performance, especially in the first half, which saw the Bulldogs take a 20-0 lead.

“Our offense started off the game with a great drive,” Hafey said. “We got a good return and the offense took it straight down the field and put it in the end zone. That was nice to have a touchdown on our first drive.”

The Moffat County defense also looked good, pitching a shut-out in the first half, then giving up

some scores when the game was in hand in the second.

“One of the scores we had them held, then they caught a pass we batted on fourth down for a touchdown,” Hafey said. “Another they got with like a minute and a half left in the game. I was really pleased over-all with our defensive effort. We had 10 sacks, we pressured the quarterback all night, so that was nice.”

The Bulldogs also had their fair share of sloppy play in the game, having three touchdown plays called back because of penalties. Hafey knows those will need to be corrected if Moffat County is to finish strong.

“The kids did great overcoming some of those, just some things that have haunted us throughout the year,” he said. “We’ve got to work on them and limit those and it will give us a boost in these final two games.”

Senior Conner Pogline, playing in just his second game of the year, was taken off the field in an ambulance in Cortez. Hafey said he broke his wrist and will not be playing this week but is healthy, otherwise.

“He’ll be evaluated" today, Hafey said. “It depends on the severity of the break, but there are those injuries where you can wrap it and he can play in some capacity. He won’t be at wide receiver, but it’s possible he could play at defensive back by the end of the year.”

At 4-4, the Bulldogs still are outside the Colorado 3A play-off picture, but two more wins would put them near the top 16.

That will be no easy task, though. Moffat County will close its season against two teams whose seasons have gone in opposite directions.

This Friday, the Bulldogs will

take on 0-8 Battle Mountain in the final home game of the season. Then, they will travel to Palisade (6-2) for the battle of the Bulldogs.

Hafey knows his team must win both games, so he will stress focusing on each one as they come.

“More than you would ever say, it’s one game at a time,” Hafey said. “If we win (against Battle Mountain), we’ve got our last season game at Palisade and if we were to win that, you don’t know what would hap-pen. We’ve been right there (in the past). Hopefully, this year will be different and we can pull off these last two, and the points will go in our favor.”

Nate Waggenspack can be reached at 875-1795 or nwaggens-pack@craigdailypress.com. Follow Craig Daily Press sports coverage on Twitter at @CDP_Sports.

NATE WAGGENSPACK/DAILY PRESS

MICHAEL SAMUELSON (12) CARRIES THE BALL during Moffat County's game vs. Glenwood Springs in Craig earlier this month. The Bulldogs are now 4-4 this season after beating Montezuma-Cortez Friday.

NOT DONE YETNOT DONE YET

Win puts Bulldogs in position to make postseason push

MCHS soccer misses out on playoffs

The Moffat County boys soc-cer team looked like a long shot to make the postseason, and the team’s slow start proved to be too much to overcome, as they were passed by for a play-off spot Sunday.

A Colorado High School Activities Association selec-tion committee put together a 32-team bracket Sunday night, seeding the automatic quali-fiers and wildcard teams, which were selected over the weekend.

Moffat County, which started the season 1-5 before finishing strong with a different roster and play-style, was 6-9 on the year. The Bulldogs were fourth in the Western Slope League final standings, but only three WSL teams were selected.

Coal Ridge (14-1) was seed-ed third while Basalt (9-4-1, ninth) and Roaring Fork (10-3-1, 17th) also made the playoffs.

The final wildcard team selected was Lake County, which was 7-7 this year, and was the fourth team taken from 3A’s Region 8.