Well, here’s one way to start a football season.
Aspen and Middle Park combined to score 130 points when the two teams opened the year on Friday night. That total sits just outside the CHSAA record book.
According to the Aspen Times, the Skiers racked up 707 yards of total offense, and quarterback R.J. Peshek accounted for six touchdowns.
It was a crazy night.
“Words can’t explain it,” Peshek told CHSAANow after the game. “Everyone just played out of their mind. The O-line, it wouldn’t have worked without them. It finally clicked for us.”
The two teams were tied at 20 after the first quarter, and knotted at 34 at halftime. Midway through the third quarter, it was 50-50.
But Middle Park didn’t score again in the Class 2A contest, and Aspen sure did.
“That is probably maxes out the highest score that I’ve ever been a part of,” said Peshek, who is now in his third season as Aspen’s starting quarterback. “We run a tempo-style offense, it’s all about tempo, and it gets to the point where it just wears the defense down, to the point where they’re not ready when we’re snapping the ball.”
4A: (7) Fruita Monument 36, Montrose 35
(Tom Hoganson)
The Wildcats and coach Todd Casebier avenged this loss from a season ago. Casebier spent 10 seasons as the coach at Montrose.
This game was a back-and-forth affair. It featured six lead changes, and saw Fruita Monument rally from down 27-14 at the half, according to the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.
Fruita eventually took a 28-27 lead late in the third quarter, only to see Montrose answer right back and go up 35-28.
With 2:15 to play, the Wildcats’ Braeden Graham, a senior, scored a touchdown, and Treyton Queen converted the two-point attempt.
Notables
- In another crazy game, 3A No. 3 Holy Family rallied to beat 4A Mountain View 33-27. The Tigers scored the winning touchdown with 11 seconds remaining, capping a 92-yard drive, according to BoCoPreps.com. “Zero Week is like the Twilight Zone,” Holy Family coach Mike Gabriel told the paper afterward.
- No. 7 Sterling ran away from No. 6 Resurrection Christian 33-8 in a 2A top-10 clash. Isaac Harris had a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown in helping the Tigers win.
- Alamosa beat Florence 43-0, and Katy Gallegos was 5-for-6 on her extra points. The senior also plays for the school’s girls soccer team. “We were really happy for Katy, she did an awesome job,” Alamosa coach Dillon McNamee told KSPK afterward. “I think every kick was a little more powerful, and little straighter. We love having a sister on our team, and it’s girl power, absolutely.”
- 5A No. 1 Valor Christian rallied to beat out-of-state foe Faith Lutheran from Nevada 30-21. The turning point was a crazy option pitch from Luke McCaffrey to Joshia Davis which tied the game at 21. The Eagles added a safety shortly thereafter.
- 1A No. 2 Meeker rolled to a 40-0 win over Highland. The Cowboys used 26 second-quarter points to grab a 34-0 lead at halftime.
- In 8-man, No. 2 Akron beat Granada for the second-straight season. This one came by a 46-14 score.
- 3A No. 8 Palisade beat Grand Junction Central 20-14 in overtime. It marked the first time the two teams had battled for their new rivalry hardware: The WarDog Trophy.
More coverage
- 5A No 2 Pomona got some great defense in beating No. 4 Mullen.
- No. 5 Peyton staked its claim as one of the top teams in 1A after beating Trinidad.
- 5A No. 8 Columbine beat Jeffco rival Ralston Valley.
- A replay of our live coverage from Friday night.
- This week’s top-10 scoreboard.
- A complete scoreboard for Friday night’s games, as well as Saturday’s schedule.