Durango faces Cheyenne tonight

Steve Cunningham

Friday, Sept. 12, 1997 | 9:25 a.m.

If John Mausbach had a weak stomach before the football season started, imagine how the old gut's been twisting and turning the past two Fridays.

His Durango Trailblazers spotted Rancho a 12-0 advantage in the opener, but rallied to win, 20-12. Seven days later, the Trailblazers led Valley heading into the fourth quarter, watched the Vikings score twice to take the lead, then won the game when Scott Freel hit Jason Carpenter with a 27-yard touchdown pass with 15 seconds to play, sealing a 33-28 victory.

Those heroics have Durango sitting at 2-0 heading into tonight's Sunset Division opener at Cheyenne (2-0). Mausbach says that while his team's performances have been a bit unsettling, it shows the character the Trailblazers possess.

"That's the big thing. They never give up," he said of his squad. "They came back against Rancho even though we had eight turnovers and they came back after letting Valley back in the game."

Falling behind and trying to play catch up won't be a solid plan against a talented Cheyenne team. The Desert Shields are tough on the defensive side of the ball, have good overall speed and have plenty of athletes on the roster. Mausbach says the Trailblazers can't afford to turn the ball over or allow Cheyenne big plays.

Unbelievably, this is the lone Valley matchup tonight pitting undefeated teams. Mausback knows how nice it would be to get that first Division victory under the Trailblazers' belt and he feels his team is ready.

"If we can get a win this week, it's a good start on the road to the playoffs even though there are a lot of games left," he said. "It's something if you can beat a Cheyenne team. We've had a good week of practice and are pumped up."

Other Sunset Division match ups tonight include Clark (1-1) at Bishop Gorman (2-0) and Bonanza (0-2) at Cimarron-Memorial (2-0). That contest was originally scheduled to be at Bonanza but poor field conditions prompted the move.

Another Sunset member, Western (1-1) , has a nonconference battle at home against Antelope Valley, Calif.

In the Sunrise Division, Green Valley (2-0) travels to Las Vegas (1-1) and Silverado (2-0) plays at Basic (1-1). Eldorado (1-1) hosts Valley (1-1) and Chaparral (0-2) meets up with Rancho (0-1).