Team play comes into play for Demons' fortunes

    They'll make no excuses, and they'll play as a team.
    When the Dodge City High School Red Demons take on the Maize Eagles tonight, they'll get through it together.
    The Demons play the Eagles in the Class 6A South Central quarterfinals, each team fighting for a chance to advance to the state tournament. The game will be played in Maize and is set for 7 p.m.
    DCHS has made it to the quarterfinals three times in history, but have never made it to state.
    Not this year though. This year, they'll make it.
    "We still have some goals we want to accomplish," Red Demons coach Virgil Hutchcraft said. "We're not done by any means. We want to get this next victory so we get to state, which from the very beginning has been one of our goals."
    Dodge City (15-3) played Maize (17-1) earlier this season, handing the Eagles their only loss.
    Both Hutchcraft and his team are confident they can give Maize their second loss of the season tonight.
    "I feel pretty confident," senior Luis Lopez said. "We already played them once. We took out their best players and practically shut them down. We just played the game. We worked hard, and I think we deserve it. I can't wait ’til we get to state."
    Junior Aaron Arredondo says he agrees, adding that he knows they have to do it as a team.
    "I think we can beat them," Arredondo said. "We have a pretty good team. We beat them once and we can do it again. We just have to play as a team."
    Hutchcraft, although confident, says he knows it won't be an easy game.
    "It's going to be a tough game," Hutchcraft said. "I'm thinking it's probably going to be a one goal game again. I hope we are on the right side of that result. We have to come out definitely ready to play.
    "They (Maize) had a good, strong first round, where they just demolished the team and in the second one played Garden. They handled them pretty easily and every game we had against Garden was a tough one. It's definitely a test, a tough test for us."
    The Demons will be playing without one of their strongest players, Victor Millan, who is suspended for one game after earning a hard red card during the regional championship game last Thursday. Hutchcraft said he feels a small bit of apprehension about missing Millan, but not enough to believe they can't win without him.
    "We've been a team that's faced a lot of adversity," Hutchcraft said. "It seems like every game a key player has been out for one reason or another and we've overcome it. That's been one of our themes, 'no excuses.' I think we have the personality to continue to play and play strongly and be ready for the game tomorrow."
    Win or lose, the Demons are proud of where they are in the season. Both senior Javier Rojas and Arredondo say they are most proud of the fact that the Demons have become the team with the best record in DCHS soccer  history.
    "I'm pretty proud," Rojas said. "The team has done a lot to make school history. Hopefully we keep on going and playing strong."
    If the Demons win tonight, they advance to the Final Four Class 6A state tournament this weekend.
    Hutchcraft said he thinks that the Demons could be strong contenders in the state tournament.
    "Pretty much the rest of the teams that are on the east side, if you look at records, they are not as strong as us," Hutchcraft said. "We believe in this team, and we believe in each other. I would like the opportunity to show them we have a pretty good soccer team."