’Prep, eager to play, dismantles Crownpoint

FARMINGTON

The Navajo Prep football team didn’t play a snap last year because of restrictions caused by the ongoing pandemic.

Despite not playing for 16 months, the Eagles are riding a 3-1 record after dismantling Crownpoint by a 42-6 count on Sept. 9.

“They were really upset that we didn’t have a season last year,” Navajo Prep coach Roderick Denetso said. “We had some really good players that didn’t play last season and it’s really taught them to not take things for granted.

“I think during the long break we had, they’ve learned to love and appreciate football,” he added. “They’re enjoying it now because a year ago they were sitting at home wanting to do something.”

Denetso said the coronavirus pandemic may have them pulled apart last year, but it’s made them stronger.

“It’s made them really close,” he said. “It’s made them tighter even though we were apart.”

Against Crownpoint, the hometown Eagles used speed to rack up 397 yards of offense, including 296 on the ground.

“We just gave our guys some space to run,” Denetso said. “That was the game plan going in because (Crownpoint) is big in the middle. We wanted to run them side to side, and we used angles in attacking them.”

Of those rushing yards, senior Kyler Clitso had 105, which included a 20-yard score for the game’s opening TD. That score capped a 75-yard scoring drive for the Eagles.

“With our speed we like to run the ball and stretch out the defense,” Clitso said. “Our linemen do a really good job because we can go inside and can get to the outside.”

Navajo Prep forced the visiting Eagles to punt the ball and with a short field they went up 12-0 following a 37-yard TD run from senior quarterback Dontrelle Denetso.

The Navajo Prep quarterback was involved with three more scores to end the half as he hit Clitso with a 30-yard reception in the early going of the second quarter.

With just over 7 minutes, he found junior Lucius Hale for a 32-yard TD for a 28-0 advantage.

Dontrelle then capped the half by running in the final 9 yards of a 72-yard drive to push the lead to 34-0 at the half.

“Losing my junior year was big, so I just want to go out with a big bang my senior year,” Dontrelle said of his exploits, which included 152 yards of offense.

“I’m just happy to finally be out here,” he said. “Not playing last year gave me the push to keep going, to keep striving.”

Dontrelle completed 5-of-8 passes for 94 yards and two TDs and on the ground he carried the ball four times for 63 yards on two scores.

In the second half, senior Alex Wells tacked on Navajo Prep’s last touchdown.

Crownpoint, meanwhile, got a 45-yard TD when backup quarterback Tydon Tsosie found wideout Kordell McMillian for a score.

“He ran untouched,” Crownpoint coach Roderick Harlan said. “We were hoping for more of that tonight but came out a little flat. This is a team that can be very good, but I’m not sure what happened tonight. It’s the mental game that is killing us.”

In the opening half, the visiting Eagles had a couple of promising drives that were stalled deep in Navajo Prep’s territory.

One drive was stopped at the 16-yard line on a failed fourth-down conversion and on the other Tsosie was picked off near the red zone.

“That’s been the case to where we don’t have that consistency of moving the ball forward,” said Harlan, whose team dropped to 1-2 overall. “We just shoot ourselves in the foot and that’s the same thing that happened to us (two weeks ago).

“We did a little better tonight but it’s not enough to work on the scoreboard,” he said. “We know that we can compete, and this is the first time they’ve shellacked us like that. I think all we can do is learn from our mistakes and move forward.”

Crownpoint will host Newcomb on Friday while Navajo Prep plays at Ignacio.

“Ignacio is going to be tough,” Roderick Denetso said. “They’re physical, and they’re big and playing them is going to get us ready for district.”

In the revamped district placement, Navajo Prep will compete with Newcomb, Tohatchi and Zuni in District 1-3A.

“We have some pretty good teams in our district, but I think that if we continue to work hard and do what we need to do we’ll be OK,” the Navajo Prep coach said, while noting that they have to win the league outright to host a state playoff game.

“If we don’t we’re going to play Hope Christian in the first round,” he said. “We need to win the games we’re supposed to win because we don’t want to travel.”

Harlan is just as enthusiastic about his teams’ chances of winning District 5-3A, which includes Cuba, Thoreau and Wingate.

“I think we have a good chance,” Harlan said of winning the district. “We just have to put all of our ducks in a row. I think we have a good chance and hopefully when district rolls around we’ll make a run for the district championship.”

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