(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
COLORADO SPRINGS — Cashing in on mistakes is how successful football teams thrive when the temperatures start to dip and the games mean a little bit more.
The temperature had certainly dipped Thursday night at District 20 Stadium. But at the end of the night Pine Creek looked to be thriving.
The Class 4A No. 2 Eagles scored 21 points off turnovers and rode to a 41-21 win over Vista Ridge. It wrapped up an undefeated league season for Pine Creek who now turns the focus to the 4A playoffs which will begin next week.
“You enjoy the victory we had today,” coach Todd Miller said. “We won a conference championship and that needs to be cherished because that doesn’t come in every man’s football or sporting career. We go on from there and it’s one game at a time.”
After taking an early 7-0 lead, the Wolves (5-5 overall, 3-2 Southern) tied the game on a six-yard touchdown run from Emmanuel Garcia. And for a brief moment it looked like Vista Ridge was ready to seize momentum.
A defensive stop forced the Eagles (9-1, 5-0) to punt and put the ball back in the hands of what looked like an efficient Vista Ridge offense.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
Then in true Pine Creek fashion, a big defensive play got things going for the Eagles. A tipped ball was picked off by Jackson Grier and his effort was rewarded by running back David Moore III who punched one in from two yards out for his second touchdown of the night.
“It was just one play, but the defense played great as whole all night,” Grier said. “It just gave us a mood swing.”
On the very next drive, the Eagles forced another turnover and this time it was quarterback Gavin Herberg finding the end zone with his feet. In just over a minute, two Vista Ridge turnovers had given Pine Creek a 14-point lead.
“We had a game plan,” Vista Ridge coach Jerimi Calip said. “We told guys we had to take what they give us and make sure we execute. We can’t have turnovers and we came out, didn’t take what they gave us and had turnovers. We didn’t do what we were supposed to do.”
Before the first half ended, Moore would add a 32-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 27-7. He added an 80-yard score early in the second half. His night ended with over 160 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Just like in most contests this year, Moore is not a bad weapon to have.
“We just go into every game thinking we’re going to win,” he said. “I trust coach so much. We’re just confident and we don’t underestimate our opponents.”
The Eagles now play the waiting game as they awaiting their playoff seed and opponent, both of which will be revealed Sunday. Miller has a team filled with experience even if a heavy load of those veterans are just juniors.
They’ve seen enough in their time at Pine Creek to understand what the playoff environment is about. Combined with the tough opponents they’ve faced this season they’re aware of what it takes to make a playoff run.
“We also think back to the state championship game,” Moore said. “We were down and we crumbled. We’re never going to crumble again and we’re going to step up and accept the challenge.”
Simply accepting the challenge is not enough. Thursday night was a glaring example of what it takes to win games in November. Or lose them if they’re not on the right side of the mistakes that can be made and capitalized on.
“It goes both ways. You can’t make mistakes against teams that are good and not expect them to put points on the board. So when they make mistakes, you have to capitalize this time of the year. We did a good job of that tonight.”
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)