Let the jockeying begin

Adam Candee

Thursday, Oct. 3, 2002 | 9:14 a.m.

There really is no extra motivation necessary when Durango and Bishop Gorman see each other listed as the opponent.

Yet Friday, the Blazers and the Gaels know that their long-standing rivalry may take a back seat to some crucial playoff jockeying in the division opener for the teams.

"The loser of this one, now you're fighting for the No. 2 seed," Durango coach John Mausbach said. "The kids realize. They know what's on the line."

The Southwest division features six teams with losing records and redefines parity.

The Blazers and Gaels, traditional powers and traditional rivals, are used to fighting for the top playoff berths. But both teams are fighting for their lives.

Durango opened 0-2 by dropping a 19-18 decision to solid Foothill before losing on the rarest of feats in high school -- a 37-yard game-winning field goal in the waning moments against Silverado.

"We're probably three plays away from being 4-0," Mausbach said.

Mausbach will get little sympathy from Gaels coach Kevin Kent as Bishop Gorman sits 1-3 after blowout losses to Foothill and Centennial and a surprising loss to Chaparral. Kent knows his team dug itself a hole that will require short memories and big efforts to overcome.

"Early in the season, you hope those games will make you better," Kent said.

Durango's Isaiah Wigham, who already has scored six touchdowns, said the rivalry between the teams does not take away from his team's preparation.

"It makes us more focused," Wigham said. "It's a big rivalry. You've got to go out there and play your hardest."

Mausbach may have an ace in the hole for this game, as playmaking linebacker Allen McIntyre is expected to be in back in the lineup after missing the past two weeks with sprained ankles suffered in the opener against Foothill.

"He's not 100 percent, but he's going to be good enough to play," Mausbach said.

A desperate Gorman squad will need an improved showing from QB Blake Sartini to turn things around. While Sartini's completion numbers are decent, six interceptions in four games have slowed the Gaels' offense.

"We really think he's doing a pretty good job," Kent said. "By and large, we ask an awful lot of him."

Still, Kent acknowledged that turnovers are a big part of Gorman's slow start.

"We have to do a better job of taking care of the football," Kent said.

If Gorman does not, count on a Blazers defense that has allowed just 13 points in the past two weeks to take advantage.

"After the one we just played, we really came together as more of a team," Wigham said.

That is exactly what Kent is hoping to spin his team's three-game losing skid into: A bonding experience that rallies the troops into a strong showing in the division.

"Durango has always been a big game, because the road to the playoffs in our division seems to go through Durango," Kent said.

With Clark, Bonanza, Sierra Vista, and Western tossed into a big scrum in the Southwest, the road to the playoffs could be a strange and winding one. Durango and Gorman offer the first glimpse into the crystal ball Friday.