MONTE VISTA — Friday night at Sargent High School field, the Farmers hosted Holly for the first round of the 8 Man state playoffs. In double-overtime the Wildcats outlasted Sargent 42-36 and will play the winner of Mancos and Merino next week.

The Sargent Farmers showed true grit this season to overcome some of the adversity they faced. And a difficult first half on Friday would not sink them either.

Farmers senior Eddie Gonzalez got the scoring started early in the first with a toss off the left side. The point after made it a 7-0 game. After the defense stifled Holly, Sargent’s offense went back to work.

Gonzalez would go in from four yards out to make it a 14-0 for the Farmers. It looked like Sargent had a firm hold on the steering wheel. Two drives later and Holly’s Kobe Davis would strike back on a sneak to cut the lead to 8 points. Sargent’s next drive was halted at their own 43-yard line by an interception from Holly’s Diego Tamayo.

After an incompletion, Davis found Gus Dominguez for a 43-yard Wildcat score. The two-point conversion tied the game. Sargent looked like they had an answer with a kick off return for a touchdown, but it was negated by a block in the back. The touchdown erasing foul wound up coming back to haunt the Farmers when a second drive was stymied by an interception.

The return put the Wildcats in Sargent territory at the 18-yard line. Two plays later it was Davis to Dominguez from 16 yards out to give Holly a 22-14 lead before the half.

Returning from the locker rooms Sargent was eager to fix things.  A three-minute 80-yard drive was capped by a two yard rush from Jacob Deacon. On the point after, Frank Torrez caught the defense sleeping with a fake field goal sneak to convert a two-point attempt and tie the game at 22 points.

Defense would prevail the remainder of the third quarter both teams trading punts and turnovers on downs. Before the fourth quarter began, Sargent's drive would span quarters and end the scoring drought. Blaine Behil put Sargent up with a 19 yard run, Deacon cashed in on the two pointer to make it 30-22 for the Farmers.

Despite a slip up from Holly’s Kobe Davis that put the Wildcats in a second and long, Sargent couldn’t capitalize. Frustration mounted and what started as a steady march became a fast track to the endzone thanks to two personal fouls from Sargent. Davis would put in another Holly score and the two-point conversion evened things up once again.

The ensuing Farmers possession would have another score erased by a costly penalty, offensive pass interference. To compound the issue, a chop block put the Farmers hopelessly out of range of finding the sticks and the drive ended with an interception.  With Holly driving within the redzone Sargent’s Gonzalez breathed new life in the Farmers with a timely interception. The Farmer’s first takeaway kept hope alive for overtime. 

Holly would get possession first in overtime. A false start pushed them back, but on their first play flow to the near side of the field left a hole on the far side and Davis hit Andy Ramos to take the lead 36-30, the two point conversion was no good.

For Sargent a run from Gonzales got them down to the five-yard line. Frank Torrez then found Chase Mortensen all alone on the near side to tie it at 36-36. Gonzalez’s PAT was no good. The Farmer’s next possession would yield no points triggering sudden death. Holly got in for six and escaped with an upset in round one to advance to the quarterfinals.

Sargent's volleyball team suffered a similar setback, losing both matches at their road triangular at Meeker on Saturday night.