Denair High’s varsity football team lost for the first time this season, falling to Amador 28-20 in the Coyotes’ final non-conference football game.

“Amador is a pretty physical team,” said DHS head coach Anthony Armas. “We were missing four starters this week, and our young men really rallied the troops. We really took on a ‘next-man-up’ mentality and played well.

“Even with the loss, I think we improved as a team. We scheduled Amador because we wanted to face a school that is bigger and one that plays a more physical brand of football. We believe that makes us better for league play and, hopefully, for a playoff run.”

Denair fell behind 7-0 in the first quarter but quickly tied the score on Connor Hart’s 24-yard scoring jaunt, then took a 14-7 lead in the second quarter after Noah Chavez capped a 92-yard drive with his 6-yard touchdown run.

The Coyotes fumbled the kickoff to start the second half, and the Buffaloes capitalized for a 21-14 advantage. Amador stretched the lead to 28-14 in the fourth quarter before Denair cut the margin to 28-20 on Chavez’s 86-yard TD run.

Individually for the Coyotes, Chavez carried the ball 11 times for 140 yards and two scores, while Hart amassed 125 yards and one TD on 16 carries. Quarterback Derek Potter completed 7 of 15 tosses for 134 yards, with three of those completions going to Harlan Brown (80 yards).

“Amador came out running the option (offense), which they didn’t do last year,” said Armas. “There are still some things we need to work on, as we do every season at this time of year, but we were really pleased with the effort of our team Friday night.”

After a bye this week, the Coyotes will open Southern League play on Sept. 25 in Atwater against Stone Ridge Christian (2-1), which tied with Denair and Mariposa for the SL crown last season. 

The Knights, after a 23-22 road loss to Pacheco (Los Banos) to start the season, have notched wins against Yosemite (44-40) and 2024 state champ Summerville (35-27).