Canyon del Oro beat Pueblo 49-14 at home Friday night but the game was very much up in the air early on with the Dorados clinging to a 21-14 lead at the half. The Warriors scored first on a short run from Miguel Moreira with 6:41 left in the first quarter and Elijah Duran scored with 6 seconds left in the half to help overcome the arm of CDO Jr. QB Tristen McClelland.

McClelland hit Chance Cassel from 10 yards out to tie the game up at 7-7 and he followed that up with a 72-yard strike to Daylon Beck to put the Dorados up 14-7 moments into the second quarter. A scoring run from Kendric Astacio put Canyon del Oro 21-7 with 5:18 left in the half but the late scoring drive by the Warriors put the game in doubt heading into the locker room.

McClelland put all worries to rest midway through the third quarter on a 30-yard pass to Ryan Madsen and a 51-yard touchdown pass to Beck. Jose Alba scored from 3-yards out and the Dorados led 42-14 with 3:59 left in the third. Vijay King added a rushing TD in the fourth quarter for the 49-14 final.

McClelland finished with 237 yards passing and 4 TDs and Beck pulled in 152 yards receiving on 6 catches. The Dorados were also proficient on the ground with Jordan Thomas rushing for 72 yards on 10 carries and Alba collecting 70 yards on 10 carries.

The victory moved the No. 3 Dorados to 6-1 on the year and the next set of rankings in the 4A Conference might see some shifting with No. 2 ALA Gilbert North beating No. 1 AZ College Prep 47-7. Canyon del Oro will travel to No. 20 Vista Grande (6-2) next week

For No. 26 Pueblo, things got more difficult as far as a possible playoff berth is concerned but the Warriors are also going for the first winning season since 2019. A tough battle against No. 32 Mica Mountain (3-4) is on tap next Friday. Diego Ramirez had 148 yards passing to lead Pueblo and Moreira had 54 yards receiving.

 

TEAM SCORING

 

FIRST QUARTER
PUE: Miguel Moreira 3 RUN (Israel Noriega Kick) 7-0 (6:41)

CDO: Tristen McClelland 10 PASS Chance Cassel (Alex Zillman Kick) 7-7 (:14)

 

SECOND QUARTER

CDO: McClelland 72 PASS Daylon Beck (Zillman) 14-7 (10:48)

CDO: Kendric Astacio 3 RUN (Zillman) 21-7 (5:18)

PUE: Elijah Duron 2 RUN (Noriega) 21-14 (:06)

 

THIRD QUARTER

CDO: McClelland 30 PASS Ryan Madsen (Zillman) 28-14 (6:57)

CDO: McClelland 51 PASS Beck (Zillman) 35-14 (6:12)

CDO: Jose Alba 3 RUN (Zillman) 42-14 (3:59)

 

FOURTH QUARTER

CDO: Vijay King 4 RUN (Zillman) 49-14 (10:34)