Fort Collins – It seemed at first that Rocky Mountain wanted nothing to do with the football.
The turnover-prone Lobos handed over the ball to Pomona four times in the first half, but a relentless defense shut down the Panthers and Rocky Mountain rolled to a 21-3 Class 5A nonleague victory Thursday night at J. Ray French Field.
The Lobos (3-0), ranked No. 9 in The Denver Post/9News 5A poll, churned out big yards on the ground in the second half behind the running of Jared Houghton. The senior finished with 19 carries for 159 yards and two touchdowns, including a 74-yarder to clinch the game in the fourth quarter.
“Our line did an excellent job up front. Everybody did what they needed to do,” said Houghton, who also was a terror on defense with a sack and a beautiful, one-handed interception.
“Once we start going, it’s tough to stop us,” Houghton said.
Unranked Pomona (3-1) mustered just three points off of five Rocky Mountain turnovers (three fumbles and two interceptions). Vincent Cito made a 31-yard field goal on the Panthers’ first drive, which began after an interception by Kyle Mericle.
But when the Lobos twice set up Pomona on the Rocky Mountain side of the 50-yard line – both times after fumbles on bad exchanges between the quarterback and the running back – Pomona came up empty.
“Last week we got every break in the book,” Pomona coach Jay Madden said. “This week, the gods got even.”
Rocky Mountain’s offense woke up near the end of the second quarter. Two long completions from quarterback Scott Bachman to Korey Jones set up Houghton for a 1-yard score off left tackle, capping a 12-play, 72-yard drive.
“I can’t say enough about (Houghton and Bachman),” Rocky Mountain coach Mark Brook said. “But the reason those two looked so good is we were very good up front.”
Bachman completed 9-of-14 passes for 124 yards. The Lobos finished with 338 yards of total offense.
On the first play of the second half, Jones forced a fumble by Pomona running back Blake Krenke, putting the Lobos on the Panthers’ 9-yard line. Three plays later, Bachman tucked the ball away on a bootleg and scored from 7 yards to make the score 14-3.
Pomona quarterback Matt Castillo completed 6-of-14 passes for 91 yards with two interceptions.
Pomona 3 0 0 0 – 3
Rocky Mountain 0 7 7 7 – 21
P – FG Cito 31. RM – Houghton 1 run (Grondin kick). RM – Bachman 7 run (Grondin kick). RM – Houghton 74 run (Grondin kick).
