Castle Rock – Consider it confirmed – once again, Columbine is big and bad up front, and its new skill corps can play.
The Rebels weathered an anxious moment Friday night after the opening kickoff, then methodically – as they always seem to do – wore down their opponent with superior line play, few mistakes and substantial defense.
Columbine led all the way in a 30-3 Class 5A nonleague victory over Ponderosa at Douglas County Stadium.
Both teams lamented having to play in Zero Week – a state-sanctioned extra cycle for teams that had difficulty securing appropriate opponents – but the Rebels were able to gather themselves as Ponderosa struggled.
“At least it’s good we got one in,” Columbine coach Andy Lowry said.
Meanwhile, Ponderosa was mistake-prone, and in all areas. The Mustangs botched a chance to take an early lead when they returned the opening kickoff to the Columbine 23-yard line, had a penalty on their first play from scrimmage, gave up a safety when Seth Jarboe inadvertently took a knee to gather a low snap on a punt, had to call timeout twice on punts because they didn’t have enough players on the field, committed three turnovers and …
“Everything we could do wrong, we did in Zero Week,” Mustangs coach Jamie Woodruff said.
The Rebels gladly took advantage. Senior quarterback John Fink gained more confidence as the game progressed – he had runs of 43, 44 and 49 yards, the last of which came in the third quarter, when the Rebels put it away.
Junior C.J. Gillman had a catch-and-run reception in between two Mustangs defenders that he turned into a 20-yard touchdown.
And Joel Buschmann, Matt Ground, Ryan Miller, Ty Rogers, Ryan Shucard and Ryan Steele led the Rebels’ fronts that opened holes on offense and closed them on defense.
“We played well against a good team,” Fink said.
In all, Columbine rolled to 297 yards rushing. The Rebels implemented a wave of backs, including Jeff Cicchinelli, who scored the game’s first touchdown.
