New ‘O’ line for Trailblazers

Ray Brewer

Thursday, Aug. 21, 1997 | 11:16 a.m.

Colors: Purple & gold

New division: Northwest, Sunset Division

Last year: 5-5

Coach: John Mausbach

Four to watch

Krametbauer is the Trailblazers' only returning offensive lineman for the 1997 season, forcing Durango to rely on several players from a 7-3 junior varsity squad to fill the void.

"We are going to have to have improved play from the line," coach John Mausbach said. "We lost the line to graduation (so we're) counting on the JV line."

Last season, Durango finished 5-5 and qualified for the playoffs for the first time in school history as the No. 4 Sunset Division seed. The Trailblazers nearly defeated Valley in the opening round, but squandered a late lead.

If this year's line can hold up, Durango's offense could be lethal. It returns four players who were selected to the second team all-Sunset Division team last year.

Leading the group is senior quarterback Scott Freel (5-10, 175), who threw for 1,062 yards with nine touchdowns in 1996. Freel also rushed for four TDs.

The other top returnees include junior running back Alex Dexon (5-8, 160), senior Jason Carpenter (6-1, 165) and senior Ben McDonald, who scored six touchdowns last year.

"We are on the tougher side of town," Mausbach said. "We just have to beat the right people and come to play four quarters of football."

Defensively, the Trailblazers will be anchored by Seth Doty, a 6-foot-1, 260-pound senior defensive tackle, and 5-10, 210-pound defensive end Will Davis. Look for outside linebacker Harley Hadley, a member of the Durango baseball team, to make some plays on defense.

The Trailblazers believe their style of football will be fun to watch.

"We try to mix it up," Mausbach said. "Last year we averaged 20 passes per game. We have a pretty behaved attack and play some disciplined football."

Durango is part of the new Southwest Conference of the Sunset Division along with Clark, Bishop Gorman and Bonanza.