The Dumas Demons wasted little time taking down the Bushland Falcons Friday night at Falcon Stadium hitting pay dirt in all four quarters for a 37-14 victory.
Quarterback Colton Mills had a hand in all four of Dumas’ offensive touchdowns. He put his team on the board with a 65-yard run resulting in a TD in the first. Tate Dunnam then intercepted a Falcon pass and returned it 55 yards for a Demon score. Christian Saldana’s kick was good for a 13-0 lead.
“That was a huge win for us,” Dumas head coach Aaron Dunnam said. “Bushland had beaten us the past three years, so it was good to get a win against a really good program like those guys.”
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The Demons move to 4-1 on the season with the win and will now enter a bye week before entering a grueling District 2-4A Division I schedule. Bushland’s struggles continue falling to 1-4 on the year. The Falcons travel to Perryton (3-2) on Friday.
“I’m happy where we are going into the bye week,” Dunnam said. “Getting this break will give us time to work on us and get better. We can rest up and get a little healthy and fine tune some things. I just like how hard we’re playing. We have a great locker room culture and everyone is playing for one another.”
With under a minute left in the first, the Falcons found the end zone when Kannon Aven hit Jenner King with a 79-yard scoring pass. Aven’s kick sent the Falcons into the second quarter down 13-7.
From that point forward it was all Dumas. Christian Saldana hit a 39-yard field goal, and Mills found Blake Robinson with a four-yard TD pass. Saldana’s point after kick sent the Demons to the locker room with a 23-7 advantage.
The only score in the third came on a Mills to Angel Jara pass for a 20-yard touchdown making it 30-7.
The Falcon’s wouldn’t give up however. Colton Foote gave his team a little hope when he ran in from 5-yards out early in the fourth. Aven’s kick left the Falcons trailing 30-14.
Dumas put all hopes of a Falcon come back to rest with a 47-yard Mills TD run late in the fourth. Saldana’s kick was good for the win.
Mills accounted for 271 of the Demon’s 405 offensive yards. He rushed the ball eight times for 176 yards and two TD’s, while he was successful on 13 of 21 pass attempts for 95 yards. ZJ Jara also had a big night rushing with 141 yards on 21 carries. Blake Robinson was Mills’ favorite receiver of the night with five catches for 29 yards and a score. Saldana’s foot was good for 7 points in the win. He booted in four point after kicks, as well as a field goal.
“The offensive line was tremendous all night,” Dunnam said. “They were nasty. That allowed ZJ (Jara) and Colton (Mills) to get loose and make some big run plays.”
Aven finished the game 12-of-27 for 186 yards with a touchdown and an interception for Bushland. King was the favorite target for the Falcons on the night with nine catches for 174 yards with a score.