During a season-opening win over Montezuma-Cortez High School's junior varsity, the Dolores High School football team played well.
The Bears remain far from a finished product however, as demonstrated by the team's 47-0 defeat at the hands of Coal Ridge in New Castle, Colo., on Aug. 30.
According to head coach Chris Trusler, Dolores struggled from the get go, falling behind 27-0 to their Class 2A opponents at halftime in route to the loss.
"We didn't do a whole lot," said Trusler. "Our offense was not moving the football. We've got to get a lot better at our run blocking."
Also contributing to the Bears struggles was an injury to junior running back Branden Donaldson, who left the game in the second quarter after rushing for 31 yards.
A few Dolores players did stand out in the loss however, Kellen Gatzke, who recorded a team-high 20 tackles, and senior defensive lineman KC Davis, who registered six tackles and two sacks.
Asked how his team can improve moving forward, Trusler immediately cited conditioning.
"Halfway into the first quarter, our guys were all gassed," said Trusler. "We were trying to call in plays and a lot of the kids were (so tired) that they were not even looking to see what the defensive call was."
Trusler went on to say that he was pleased by the fact that his team avoided penalties and turnovers.
"We're not having penalties and turnovers like we did last year," said the Bears head coach.
With their record now at 1-1 on the season, Dolores will practice through a bye week before taking on Monument Valley on Sept. 12. The game will take place in Dolores at 6 p.m.
