Tau Fotu helps Durango bury Clark

Durango head coach Toby Henry told senior star Tau Fotu that his team would need him to step up if the Trailblazers were going to make a return trip to the Class 4A playoffs.

On Friday night, Fotu did his part on offense, defense and special teams.

The only thing he didn’t do was sell popcorn at halftime.

The senior workhorse did it all for the Trailblazers (4-3, 3-0 Southwest League) as he ran for 120 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries as Durango downed Clark, 29-7.

He also kicked three extra points and led a defensive charge that held the Clark to 176 yards of total offense.

“We told him that we were going to lean on him,” Henry said. “And we needed him tonight, and he came through for us.”

Fotu, however, wasn’t impressed with his performance. He was happy with the win, but felt he could have done more if he hadn’t been gassed late in the fourth quarter.

“I feel good, glory to God, is all I can say right now,” he said. “I’m in all right condition, but I need to cut out the sodas. Sorry, I just need to run more to get in better shape.”

The Trailblazers took an early first-quarter lead on Frankie Pelton’s 1-yard touchdown run. However, the Chargers (0-5, 0-2) responded when Isaiah Veal caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Isaiah Bigby to tie the score at 7-7 late in the first quarter.

The score still was 7-7 at halftime as Durango struggled with penalties and turnovers.

The Trailblazers regained the lead when Jayden Nersinger caught a 12-yard pass from Kaden Renshaw to cap off a 17-play, 60-yard drive that burned up six minutes, 59 seconds off the clock to open the second half.

“It feels good. We are 3-0,” Henry said. “We knew they are a tough team. They were giving teams tough games in the first half. I just feel like our guys are in better shape, and we just decided that we could run the ball and we thought we could just pound them.”

Fotu put the game away with his 3-yard touchdown run to push the Trailblazers lead to 21-7.

“I think our guys are in better shape, and I think (Clark) got tired,” Henry said. “It kind of showed out there in the second half.”