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Hayden — The Hayden High School football team went into Friday night’s season opener in Hayden knowing little about itself and nothing of its opponent, first-year program Belleview Christian.

A deluge of early highlights and a scoreboard quickly listing heavily in favor of the home team helped solve the Belleview riddle, but no amount of scoring against the inexperienced Bruins was able to answer key questions about the Tigers.

Hayden cruised to a 70-24 victory, winning its first 8-man football game in lopsided fashion, but with No. 1 ranked Dayspring Christian Academy looming large as the Tigers’ second 8-man opponent — at 7 p.m. Friday in Hayden — even coach Shawn Baumgartner questioned what that 1-0 record meant.

“I hope we don’t go in overconfident,” he said. “I think we’ll be alright. These kids are pretty level headed, and they understand what Dayspring brings to the table.”

Even if Belleview didn’t provide much of a test, it did manage to provide Hayden plenty of highlights.

Led by senior quarterback Mark Doolin and junior running back Dan Engle — picking up his first significant varsity action after star Ryan Domson was lost for the year with a summer camp knee injury — the Tigers varsity stormed into the season.

They pushed the Bruins backward 3 yards on the game’s opening drive, then after a punt, Engle took Hayden’s first offensive snap around the right corner and 64 yards for a touchdown and, after a Doolin kick, a 7-0 lead.

“It was amazing, sweet to go in for a touchdown on the first play of the game,” Engle said.

The next Bruin possession ended on a fourth-and-24 punt, eventually leading to a 10-yard run by Doolin, who added another kick for a 14-0 lead. The rout was on.

Engle finished with 234 yards on six carries — he had an 89-yarder to make the score 34-0 — with two touchdowns.

Doolin had three touchdowns on the ground and two in the air, both coming to the hands of senior Aaron Cramer. Doolin finished with 89 yards on five carries running and 85 on 4 of 6 passing.

“It was like a track meet,” Engle said. “It was awesome.”

The first team came back briefly after a pair of Belleview touchdowns made the score 34-16, but again Hayden ran away, with Doolin finding Cramer from 26 yards, running in from 53, then connecting with Cramer again from 50.

Hayden also got touchdowns from Garrett Camilletti, who scored twice, and Greg Frentress.

For Hayden, the first night of 8-man football was long runs and big scores on offense, crunching sacks and negative yards on defense. It all amounted to an awesome display and that 1-0 record.

What do those gaudy stats and highlights mean against the bruisers from Dayspring, though? That remains to be seen.

To reach Joel Reichenberger, call 970-871-4253 or email jreichenberger@SteamboatToday.com