Fort Collins – Oh, those crosstown-rivalry football games.
In front of an estimated 7,000 fans, a record crowd at J. Ray French Field, Fort Collins rallied from an early 13-point deficit Friday night to take down Rocky Mountain 35-23 in a Class 5A Front Range League opener.
Both teams are 3-1 overall as Fort Collins caught the Lobos by halftime, then put them away with consecutive scoring drives in the final quarter.
“Oh, they’re great,” Fort Collins speedy wide receiver Ryan Larson said of playing his Lambkins’ city rivals.
Trailing 20-7 early in the second quarter, the Lambkins never blinked behind Larson and Matt Yemm, who was making his first start at quarterback. Yemm threw for two touchdowns to Larson and ran for three.
Yemm capped a 65-yard drive with his first touchdown, a 16-yarder through traffic midway through the second quarter to bring his team within six points.
After a Rocky Mountain drive ended on an incompletion off a halfback option pass, Yemm and Larson connected on a 67-yard scoring pass to take a 21-20 lead.
“They had a great game plan and they executed very well,” Rocky Mountain coach Mark Brook said. “Hats off to them.”
Rocky Mountain, which struggled with its place-kicking, managed its final lead at 23-21 two plays into the fourth quarter on a 27-yard field goal by Micah Nielson.
Yemm scored from the 5 five plays later for a 28-23 lead, then led a 91-yard scoring drive. On third-and-8, he ran a quarterback draw for a 37-yard clincher.
“It’s so much fun to play in these games,” Yemm said.
Fort Collins coach Eric Rice, who saw his team come out on the short end of a one-point loss to No. 2 Cherry Creek the previous week, was thrilled with the turnaround.
“We took care of the ball better tonight and we finished,” Rice said.
The Lambkins had gotten down early and the Lobos flirted with blowing them out.
“They caught us in some blitzes,” Rice said.
On the first, Jared Houghton broke through for a 63-yard touchdown. On the second, Derrek Jacobsen took a dive up the middle past a stunting Lambkins crew for a 94-yard score. But the Lobos stalled from there.
Rocky Mountain 12 8 0 3 – 23
Fort Collins 7 14 0 14 – 35
RM – Houghton 63 run (kick failed). FTC – Lawson 26 pass from Yemm (Welch kick). RM – Jacobsen 94 run (kick blocked). RM – Houghton 23 run (Nichols pass from Bachman). RM – Yemm 16 run (Welch kick). FTC – Larson 67 pass from Yemm (Welch kick). RM – FG Nielson 27. FTC – Yemm 5 run (Welch kick). FTC – Yemm 37 run (Welck kick).
