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Football roundup: No. 3 Fort Collins rallies to beat No. 8 Broomfield

Ryan Casey
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Fort Collins trailed Broomfield 21-10 at halftime, but rallied for a 30-21 win on Friday night.

“At halftime … it wasn’t really a matter of X’s and O’s and we kind of knew that from a coaching standpoint,” Fort Collins coach Eric Rice told Colorado Preps’ Scoreboard Show. “It was just more a matter of not finishing plays that we had the opportunity to.

“And so our very spirited message at halftime to the guys was, ‘Sometimes winning a football game is about playing with heart and just playing with a lot of courage.’ I really think that’s all it really took for us to get better in the second half.”

The third-ranked Lambkins actually led 10-7 with five minutes to play in the second quarter, but Broomfield struck for two quick touchdowns in a span of two-and-a-half minutes to take a 21-10 advantage into halftime.

Fort Collins responded with a touchdown on its opening drive of the second half — a 5-yard run from Kyler Sigsbee capped it.

William Bridges then gave the Lambkins a 24-21 lead later in the third quarter, and Sigsbee added another touchdown, his third of the game, with 7:16 remaining in the game to seal things.

“Really, really proud of our kids for showing their true character that they’re bunch of fighters and they got a lot of heart and they got a lot of courage and found a way to get a win tonight,” Rice said. “I actually look at tonight, and being down at halftime, as a very positive thing for us in the long run, because we might find ourselves in the playoffs here in a couple of weeks down at halftime, and we’re going to be able to draw back on this experience and say, ‘We’ve been there before.'”

The win sealed the Class 4A Northern League title for the Lambkins.

5A: Overland 50, Cherokee Trail 48 (OT)

A back-and-forth game all night long, it was fitting that this one ended up in overtime.

The game featured seven ties or lead changes, but it was Ahjon White’s score on fourth-and-goal from the 2 and Austin Conway’s subsequent two-point conversion that proved to be the difference.

Overland had leads of 14-0, 22-14, 28-20 and 36-28. Each time, Cherokee Trail battled back. The Cougars actually took at 42-36 lead in the fourth quarter, but it was Overland’s turn to respond. Josh Wright’s 20-yard touchdown with 5:26 to play tied the game.

Overland had a chance to win it with 2.8 seconds to play, but missed a field goal and the teams went to overtime.

In OT, the Trailblazers got the ball first and White scored his fourth total touchdown of the night on the fourth-down try. Conway then got the conversion on a run. It was Overland’s fifth two-point attempt of the night; they ended up converting three of them.

Cherokee Trail also scored on a fourth-and-goal from the two, but couldn’t convert for two.

Conway finished 22-of-26 with 256 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 108 yards

Cherokee Trail’s Izaiah Lottie had a big night with three touchdowns.

1A: (8) Centauri 42, (6) Monte Vista 6

The Falcons cruised to an easy win over the Pirates.

“We played well and we played together and we were able to get a big victory against a league rival and a good team,” coach Kyle Forster told the Scoreboard Show after the game. “Our first four games were against four quality teams. Three of them are in the top-4. We learned a lot early, and we were able to put it together tonight.”

Centauri closed the regular season with five-straight wins.

Short stuff

  • The playoff brackets for classes 5A, 2A, 1A, 8-man and 6-man are due out Sunday. There’s no exact time set for a release, but brackets will publish on CHSAANow.com as they are finalized. Expect late morning, mid-afternoon.
  • The latest Wild Card point standings won’t publish until either late Saturday night or early Sunday morning.
  • Speaking of Wild Card points: Manual was the beneficiary of a forfeit from Ridge View Academy earlier this week. It moved them all the way up to No. 9 in the 2A Wild Card points. But following a loss to previously winless Machebeuf on Friday night, Manual dropped to No. 15. It must hold on tight in hopes it makes the 2A playoff field.
  • Lyons wideout Austin Myers had 314 yards receiving in a win over Clear Creek on Friday night, according to BoCoPreps.com. That’s the fourth-highest single-game mark in state history.
  • Northridge upset 3A No. 9 Berthoud, 32-20.
  • Also in 3A, No. 6 Rifle held off Glenwood Springs 20-13. “As usual, we traveled well,” Rifle coach Damon Wells told the Scoreboard Show. “It was a full house. It was pretty loud. I think sometimes in the mountains in Colorado on Friday nights in the fall, it’s a pretty special environment.”
  • 2A’s top-ranked team, Brush, rolled to a 43-29 win over No. 10 Eaton.
  • St. Mary’s, No. 9 in 2A, won a rivalry game with Manitou Springs, 28-18. St. Mary’s went 1-8 last season; they’re now 7-2 in 2014. “These kids are riding high right now, playing well,” coach Nic Olney told the Scoreboard Show.
  • Here’s another good turnaround: Littleton is 5-4 after beating Ponderosa 21-19. The Lions started 1-4. They won the 4A Plains League as a result. “This is our second fall being together,” coach Kurt Krantz told the Scoreboard Show. “The kids are believing in what we’re doing. They’re starting to understand what this is about.”
  • Rangeview won the 5A South Metro League with a 29-7 win over Heritage. “I really like where our team’s at,” coach Dave Gonzales told the Scoreboard Show. “We kind of found our identity tonight. That’s kind of the team we’ve been waiting on to show up for a few weeks. Finally, everybody’s healthy and we’re kind of in a good little run.”
  • A few top-10 matchups in 8-man: No. 2 Caliche beat No. 5 Merino 37-14; No. 4 Akron beat No. 10 Sedgwick County 60-21; and No. 7 Granada beat No. 6 Springfield 28-12.
  • 6-man’s crossover games began play. Among the winners were Arickaree/Woodlin (66-0 over Miami-Yoder), Walsh (83-32 over Flagler), Fleming (48-6 over Otis) and Peetz (79-32 over Stratton/Liberty). Peetz’s win assures the classification of a new champion this year. Stratton/Liberty won the 2013 crown.

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