Rocky Mountain football bounces back with win over crosstown rival Fort Collins

Rocky Mountain got one of its two injured quarterbacks back Friday night to ignite an offense that had been relatively quiet since losing Gage Brook for the season and beat crosstown rival Fort Collins 21-0 at French Field.

With junior Charlie Sparks at the controls while sharing time at quarterback with freshman Riley Honick, the Lobos (4-3, 1-1 league) scored on three of their four first-half possessions to take a 21-0 lead at the break.

And that was all they needed against the struggling Lambkins (1-6, 0-2), who lost their sixth straight game.

Sparks, who broke his left forearm playing defense in the season opener, was cleared to return Monday, and his return gave the Rocky offense some confidence that had been lacking since Brook was lost for the season with a broken ankle in the second game.

“It was a lot better,” junior running back Abe Chatila said. “He’s more comfortable with the offense. We do have a good freshman in Riley, but it’s nice to have two quarterbacks help us. There was some confidence in the air this week.”

Here are some key takeaways from the game:

Rocky Mountain relies on running game

Chatila gained more than 100 yards, as the Lobos relied on their strength.

When Chatila went to the sidelines for a series with an ankle injury, the Lobos turned to backup Cody Arnett and end-around runs by receiver Owen Powers.

It didn’t really matter who the ballcarrier was, the Lobos’ huge offensive line – led by BYU commit Ethan Thomason simply overpowered the Lambkins in the run game.

Powers ran for a 5-yard touchdown late in the first quarter to make it 14-0, and Arnett reached the end zone on an 18-yard catch and run on a pass from Sparks – his first TD pass of the season – to extend the lead to 21-0 with 4:11 remaining in the second quarter.

From that point on, all the Lobos had to do was grind it out on the ground and run out the game clock for the rest of the first half and the entire second half.

And that’s exactly what they did.

Although none of their drives reached the end zone, each one chewed up big chunks of yardage and time.

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“We came out early and we threw a couple times,” Sparks said. “But then what we needed to do was run the clock, punch it up the middle, and that’s what we did. Our run game is definitely our strength.”

Bounce-back win over a crosstown rival

Rocky Mountain was still stinging from a 34-7 beat-down by another crosstown rival, Poudre, a week earlier at Colorado State’s Canvas Stadium.

So, this win – spoiling the Lambkins’ homecoming – carried some extra meaning, Chatila said.

“We knew that we had a bad loss last week, so we needed this one going into a tough week against Fossil (Ridge, another crosstown rival),” he said. “You can’t lose all the crosstown games; you’ve got to win at least a few of them.

“We came ready to play tonight.”

Rocky Mountain capitalizes on early turnovers

Although Rocky Mountain’s first touchdown came on its opening drive of the game, the next two were set up by fumble recoveries.

Defensive lineman Will Pryor came up with the ball on a strip and sack of Fort Collins quarterback E.Z. Campos in the final seconds of the first quarter at the Lambkins’ 18-yard line, setting up Powers’ TD run a few plays later.

And linebacker Gio Marconi pounced on a loose ball after a botched handoff exchange in the Fort Collins backfield at the Lambkins’ 46-yard line, giving the Lobos the ball on a possession that ended with Arnett’s 18-yard catch and run to the end zone.

“The turnovers were huge in the first half, and we capitalized on them,” Rocky Mountain coach Mark Brook said.

Fort Collins fails to reach the end zone

Fort Collins reached the second round of the Class 5A playoffs a year ago with a high-powered and explosive offense but has struggled this year following the graduation of a large and talented senior class.

The Lambkins’ haven’t won since their season opener Aug. 19 at Denver East.

Against a solid Rocky Mountain defense, they couldn’t even get on the scoreboard.

Some nice passes from quarterback E.Z. Campos to receivers Nicky Maguire and Joe Cottingham and tight end Joe Van Metre got Fort Collins into scoring position on a couple of occasions. But the Lambkins couldn’t punch it in, backing themselves up with penalties on one possession inside the Rocky Mountain 10-yard line and getting stopped on downs on another.

“High school football’s about up front, on both side of the ball, defense and offense,” Mark Brook said. “We played great up front, so we tip our caps to their effort. It was awesome.”

It was the second shutout of the season for Rocky Mountain, which won its opener at Chaparral 20-0.

Win keeps Lobos in hunt for playoff berth

Rocky Mountain came into the game ranked No. 23 in the Colorado High School Activities Association Selection and Seeding Index for Class 5A teams and remains in the hunt for a playoff spot with the win, just its second victory in the past five games. The top 24 teams in those rankings at the end of the regular season qualify for the playoffs, with the top eight receiving byes.

The Lobos’ final three games are against Fossil Ridge (No. 18 in the rankings), Boulder (No. 42) and Fairview (No. 13).

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“You never know,” Mark Brook said. “For us, it’s just playing each day. We have obviously transformed ourselves a little bit offensively the last couple weeks, and we’ll continue to figure out who we are. But our kids are getting better each week. That’s all we can ask for.”

Windsor wins league opener

Windsor opened play in its Class 4A league with a 42-27 win over visiting Skyline in a game that was tied at halftime.

The Wizards (4-3, 1-0 league) outscored the Falcons 21-6 in the second half.

No other information was immediately available Friday night.

Wellington races past Prospect Ridge Academy

Quarterback Tanner Gray threw for one touchdown and ran for another while Caden Keller and Cash Altschwager also scored two touchdowns apiece for Wellington in a 44-8 win over visiting Prospect Ridge Academy.

Gray ran for a 10-yard touchdown and threw a 60-yard pass to Altschwager for another, while Keller scored on runs of 20 and 35 yards, according to MaxPreps.com. Lincoln Dalton also scored a touchdown for the Eagles (4-2, 1-1 league), a first-year Class 2A program playing with only sophomores and freshmen this season.

Altschwager, who missed the Eagles’ previous game with an injury, also had his sixth interception of the season.

Timnath remains winless after loss to Arvada

Timnath, another first-year program playing at the Class 2A level with only sophomores and freshmen, fell to 0-6 overall and 0-2 in league play after losing 44-7 to visiting Arvada at PSD Stadium.

Timnath actually scored first and led 7-0 after one quarter before giving up 44 unanswered points, according to MaxPreps.com.

Fossil Ridge runs winning streak to five

Sophomore quarterback Colton Pawlak threw for 125 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 107 yards and one score on seven carries to lead Fossil Ridge to a 45-10 win Thursday night at Boulder.

Jake Toschcoff ran for 80 yards and two touchdowns on six carries, according to statistics reported to MaxPreps.com. Domenic Leone caught one touchdown pass apiece from Pawlak and backup Isaac Gilliland for the SaberCats (6-1, 2-0 league).

Jackson Kohler also caught a touchdown pass for Fossil Ridge, which won its fifth straight game.

Kelly Lyell reports on CSU, high school and other local sports and topics of interest for the Coloradoan. Contact him at kellylyell@coloradoan.com, follow him on Twitter @KellyLyell and find him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/KellyLyell.news.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Rocky Mountain football bounces back with win over rival Fort Collins