After a tough season-opening loss to Tuttle and a bye week to regroup, the Guthrie Bluejays put together a dominant performance Friday night inside Jelsma Stadium, defeating the Duncan Demons 42-10.
The night didn’t start smoothly, as Duncan struck quickly with a 74-yard touchdown on their first offensive play to take a 7-0 lead. But from there, it was all Bluejays. Guthrie responded with 28 unanswered points, excelling in all three phases of the game—offense, defense, and special teams.
The defense came away with three turnovers, which resulted in 21 points for the offense.
The offense was powered on the ground by junior quarterback Daelon Rice and senior running back Elijay Smith, with sophomore Elijah Payne and junior Dereon Whitehorn contributing key short-yardage plays. Rice also found senior wide receiver Maddox Vaughn for a 22-yard touchdown on the Jays’ opening drive, capping a 65-yard, six-play series to tie the game at 7-7.
Special teams provided the spark when Whitehorn returned a punt 74 yards for a touchdown, giving Guthrie the lead for good at 14-7 late in the first quarter.
Payne added two short-yardage touchdown runs, including a 2-yarder on 4th-and-Goal in the first quarter and another from 1 yard out in the fourth. Rice used his legs as well, scoring on runs of 11 and 3 yards.
Defensively, Guthrie forced multiple turnovers. Senior Kellen Hirzel intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble, while junior defensive lineman Kade Barton stripped Duncan quarterback Sawyer Rice, leading to another Bluejay score. Whitehorn added an interception return of 31 yards, setting up Guthrie’s final touchdown drive with a 1-yard run by Payne.
For his all-around impact—including a punt return touchdown and an interception—Dereon Whitehorn was named the NorthChurch Guthrie Player of the Game.
The win evens Guthrie’s record at 1-1, while Duncan falls to 2-1 with their first loss of the season.
The Bluejays return to Jelsma Stadium next week to face Blanchard, who defeated Guthrie 33-24 in last year’s matchup.
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