(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
PUEBLO — Marcell Barbee and Zach Cozzolino must be exhausted. They have to be thrilled with Pueblo South’s 53-24, league championship clinching, win over Class 4A’s No. 1 Ponderosa. But still, they must be dead tired.
The Colts’ offense was on full display on Thursday in what had been billed as one of the most anticipated showdowns of the season. The Pueblo South faithful who made their way into Dutch Clark Stadium were given a treat as Cozzolino threw for 451 yards and six touchdowns.
Three of those went to Barbee who hauled in nine total catches for 220 yards. The Colts (9-1 overall, 5-0 Foothills) wanted to make sure that everyone in the state of Colorado knows that they are not to be brushed off with the playoffs starting next week.
“(Ponderosa) was good,” Barbee said. “But I think we’re the most talented team. I have faith in my team every day. We chase excellence and we came here for this.”
The Mustangs (9-1, 4-1) won the coin toss and elected to take the ball to start the game. Before Barbee even had a chance to make a play on offense, he established the tone on defense. He intercepted a pass from Sterling Ostdahl setting up the Colts’ first touchdown, a three-yard touchdown run from Cozzolino.
“We knew coming in that this was the league championship,” Barbee said. “It’s like a playoff game for us so if we came out and played to our expectations, I think we have a chance. That interception really set the tempo.”
Ponderosa was able to drive down to the Pueblo South 32, but a field goal attempt from Isaac Power fell short.
And the Colts went right back to work. Cozzolino put his team up two touchdowns by finding Thomas Pannunzio for a 47-yard connection.
Less than halfway into the first quarter, the Pueblo South sideline was surging with energy.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
The Mustangs finally got on the board with a one-yard touchdown run from Nick Hoff. Cozzolino responded with a 80-yard bomb to Barbee for his second passing touchdown on the night.
“It felt great,” Cozzolino said. “It was just a great team effort. Everybody put in a great effort.”
Cozzolino ran for one more before the halftime buzzer and the Colts, who’s only loss this year came to Pueblo West, went into the locker room with a comfortable 25-10 lead.
“They came out and just played a great game,” Ponderosa coach Jaron Cohen said. “They have a great collection of skill guys and they made a lot of big plays.”
Pueblo South came out in the second half and maintained their rhythm of scoring two touchdowns per quarter. Their running game opened up a bit as Steve Brock broke for 65 yards, setting up a Cozzolino touchdown pass to Jeremy Cody.
By the time the Mustangs were able to find the end zone again, it was a 46-10 game and home crowd at Dutch Clark had already begun celebrating a league title.
“I thought our kids would play hard. I thought our kids would play well. I know our kids were prepared,” Colts coach Ryan Goddard said. “I didn’t expect that, because that’s the No. 1 team in the state and we have a lot of respect for what they’ve done this year.”
Both teams now await the results of the final RPI rankings and the football seeding meeting which will be held on Sunday. With the win, the Colts will be at home. Ponderosa was a top-10 RPI team coming in, so a playoff berth is likely.
The Mustangs and Colts looked like entirely different teams on Thursday night, but starting now they have one thing in common. There are no more guarantees for one more week. It’s now time to win or go home.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)