Montrose High School lineman Raul Martinez doesn’t mind playing in a close game. In fact, he looks forward to it.
“That’s when the intensity is up, and it’s just so much more fun out there,” he said. “... I like it because you never know what’ll happen.”
He and the rest of the Montrose team will probably be playing in such a contest soon.
The Class 4A No. 5- ranked Indians (3-0) visit the 3A sixth-ranked Palisade Bulldogs (2-1) at 7 p.m. Thursday at Stocker Stadium in Grand Junction.
Last year’s game wasn’t decided until the final seconds. Montrose fullback Cole Simmons found the endzone with about a minute left in the game to help the Indians beat the Bulldogs, 21-17.
Like last season, The Indians will look to prevent any big plays from a potent Palisade running game.
MHS coach Brett Mertens said his players have to stay disciplined if they hope to stop the Palisade offense. The Bulldogs use multiple running backs, which throws teams off guard, the Montrose coach added.
That was seen during Palisade’s last game — a 34-7 win against Grand Junction Central on Sept. 20 — in which four different players had at least 10 rush attempts, and three of them scored a touchdown.
“They like to run the football. Their option game is really good,” Mertens said, adding the Bulldogs’ offense is “unique” because the system isn’t as utilized in Colorado.
“That proposes a little bit of a problem when you gameplan for that.”
But the Indians aren’t foreign to the offense as they’ve gone up against the Bulldogs over the past few seasons.
Martinez said, from a defensive standpoint, the players have to be ready for any offensive player to get the ball.
“We just have to look at the possibilities of what they can do on that play,” he said. “... You just got to see what their side of the ball looks like offensively.”
Montrose’s defense has been locking down opponents during its first three games. The unit is allowing just about 10 points per game while the offense averages 31 ppg.
MHS has had extra time to prepare for Palisade as the Indians are coming off of a bye week.
Mertens said the time off helped the athletes rest up a few injuries while also working on a few miscues that hurt Montrose during the first three games.
“We’re able to refocus and get going for the second half of your season,” he said.
Andrew Kiser is the Montrose Daily Press’ sports/business writer. Follow him on Twitter @andrew_kpress.
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