Durango gets second shot at Cimarron

Steve Cunningham

Thursday, Nov. 6, 1997 | 10:21 a.m.

The Durango football team's 42-7 defeat at the hands of Cimarron-Memorial on Oct. 9 started as a small snowball and turned into one fierce avalanche.

The Spartans' Arnold Parker scored on an eight-yard run, then a one-yarder, and Charles Sanford returned an interception 39 yards for a touchdown ... all in the first eight minutes of the game. Before Durango got settled on the sidelines, the Trailblazers were down 22-0.

Durango and Cimarron meet again Friday night in the second round of the 4A Southern Conference playoffs. Durango coach John Mausbach didn't have to say much to his squad after the October debacle and doesn't expect to say much before the rematch.

"They knew they played a bad game," Mausbach said of his team. "We approached that game knowing we couldn't make mistakes against a team like Cimarron and hope to win. They are pretty confident right now. The season's not over for them. They want to keep winning."

The Trailblazers have won three straight games since but have their work cut out if they are to stretch the streak to four. Parker rushed for 145 yards in that first meeting and fullback Leonard DeRoche was effective, as well. In addition, Cimarron quarterback Toby Smeltzer completed 9 of 15 passes for 176 yards.

Cimarron's offense has put up big numbers all year and it's the Durango offense, said Mausbach, not the defense, which has to counter that.

"If our offense has the ball, they can't score," he said. "We have to get some consistency on offense."

When Durango is rolling, Alex Dixon is running well enough that quarterback Scott Freel can mix things up and throw the ball. In that first game, Cimarron bottled up Dixon, holding him to just 43, forcing Freel to the airwaves. He did complete 13 passes for 171 yards but he was intercepted four times.

"We couldn't get the ground game going and we had to pass," Mausbach said. "Cimarron played great on defense ... it just wasn't our night."

The Spartans definitely are the favorites but Durango was in the same role just last week. The Trailblazers responded by surprising Chaparral, 20-6, in their playoff opener. Mausbach knows the kinds of hurdles his team has to get over to win.

"Cimarron's good," he said. "They are big, strong aggressive kids. They are well coached and they've got some athletes. We've got to find a way to solve Parker and Smeltzer's a good quarterback."

Durango (7-3) at Cimarron-Memorial (9-1)

[ Friday, 7 p.m.

THE MATCHUP: Cimarron had little trouble with the Trailblazers during the regular season, running back two interceptions for touchdowns in a 42-7 victory. The Spartans' defense will try to harass Durango quarterback Scott Freel all night long and if successful, will make it a long game for the Trailblazers. Durango's defense must perform well to keep Cimarron's potent offense, led by Arnold Parker and Toby Smeltzer, off the field.

THE PICK: Cimarron 35, Durango 14