ARVADA — Max Borghi is a runaway semi-truck going downhill on a mountain road whenever he has the football. Defenders can’t stop him, and if they try, Borghi just drags them right down the field with him, careening towards the end zone.
Pomona’s junior running back stud punched in four touchdowns for Class 5A’s season-long No. 1-ranked Pomona football team on Friday night at the North Area Athletic Complex in the Panthers’ 35-8 win over Cherokee Trail.
The Panthers clinched the Mount Evans League title and closed out the season 9-1, unbeaten by Colorado teams. The Panthers’ lone loss was at the hands of Georgia’s Glynn Academy, 33-14, in the second game of the year.
The Panthers, led on offense by the 5-foot-9, 180-pound Borghi, didn’t play the best game of the season against the Cougars, but still controlled the game.
“We just kept shooting ourselves in the foot and they were making us work for everything we got,” Pomona coach Jay Madden said. “But they made us fight. Our defense did a great job and our offense found its rhythm in the second half.”
Junior quarterback Ryan Marquez overthrew two early passes to Borghi on the first possession, and the Panthers’ offense looked a little off in the beginning, but the team still remained in the lead the entire time.
The two squads traded turnovers in the sloppy, scoreless first quarter as Pomona’s fumbled ball was recovered by Cherokee Trail senior back Max Gonzales, and then CT sophomore QB Dylan James was intercepted by Cougars junior defensive back Santos Maguina.
Cam Gonzales’ big 61-yard run opened the second, but he was called on a face mask penalty. Borghi put the Panthers on the board first that same possession on a 15-yard touchdown run.
(John Priest/CHSAANow.com)
“We had a couple mistakes, but we clicked and came together overall as a team,” Borghi said. “The O-Line killed it and my backs and wide outs blocked for me. We came into the game thinking we were going to sweep ‘em, but in the second half we came in level-headed and did our jobs.”
Borghi, arguably the best player in the state, started the game off doing what he does best: slicing past defenders and bulldozing through guys on a 45-yard kickoff return.
“We gave him the ball a few more times tonight. We’ve been limiting his touches to about 10 a game to keep him healthy, but we needed him tonight. We were struggling running inside, so we had to go outside and he’s out outside runner,” Madden said.
He was nearly impossible to stop on the ground and proved to be his own biggest opponent tonight after he muffed a third quarter punt return and the ball bounced off his helmet into the hands of Cougars defensive back Tyler Kruse, who ran into the end zone, but couldn’t advance the ball for the score.
Borghi ran in his second TD on a 21-yard rush, then scored two more in the second half to finish the season with 19 TDs.
Pomona’s defense was solid and shut down Cherokee Trail, 5-5, forcing James to hold on to the ball most of the night, even though he did a good job picking up yardage on shifty dashes for the Cougars.
Panthers DB Uriah Vigil was all over the field swatting down balls and making big plays. He chased down CT senior running back Brenden Holt on what could have very well been a TD, and brought him down at the 6-yard-line.
The Cougars were able to score one TD off a James QB keeper, and then got lucky on a 2-point conversion as backup QB Ethan Leisgem strolled into the end zone completely unguarded to give CT eight points.
Brandon Micale had a sack for a loss of 8 yards and Jeremy Gonzales had another interception for the Panthers’ defense.
“It’s very true that offense does win games, but defense is going to be the one that wins championships,” Vigil said. “If we have a solid defense, and once we get our offense going, we have a good shot to keep it rolling.”
Marquez ran in a 10-yard keeper for one of the five Pomona TDs and Tyler Thimsen hit all extra point attempts for the Panthers.
Billy Pospisil also played very well for the Panthers and proved to be an extremely difficult wide receiver to bring down with some clutch receptions.
The 5A football state tournament playoff brackets come out on Sunday, and the Panthers remain focused on a mission.
“It’s been a journey,” Borghi said. “it’s been a fun journey, but everyone knows what we want: a state championship.”
(Morgan Dzak/CHSAANow.com)