Thornton – All that really mattered for the Lambkins was the final score.
Fort Collins’ Phil Welch kicked two field goals in the second half, including the winner with 2:06 left to play, to hand the Lambkins a nail-biting 19-16 Class 5A Front Range League victory over Northglenn on Saturday at Five Star Stadium.
But Norse junior quarterback Anthony Perkins, as he has done to opposing defenses this year, gave Fort Collins all it could handle.
Perkins ran for 212 yards and passed for another 142 in the game, but a critical sack by Scott Zick with 40 seconds remaining helped push the Norse out of field-goal range.
Three plays later, with 23 seconds left, Colin Nunley attempted to tie the game with a 51-yard field goal that went just wide and short.
“There were times when I was at my wits’ end trying to figure out what defense to call,” Fort Collins coach Eric Rice said. “(Perkins) is a killer. He is an impressive player.”
Fort Collins (4-1, 2-0 league), No. 8 in The Denver Post/9News 5A poll, had enough big-play firepower to outlast Northglenn (1-4, 0-2) and Perkins, who has accounted for 1,296 total yards in five games this season.
The Lambkins started the scoring in a big way with a perfectly placed 51-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Matt Yemm to Garret Houts.
“I knew I just had to put it up there and Garret would make a play. That was a great way to start the game,” Yemm said.
Yemm put up big numbers (129 yards passing, 115 rushing), but his poise on what turned out to be the game-winning drive was even more impressive.
Tied at 16 with 6:56 to play, Yemm rattled off runs of 15 and 32 yards on the first two plays of the drive to put Fort Collins in Northglenn territory. The drive seemed to stall three plays later and the Lambkins faced fourth down at the 30-yard line. Running back Brian Bello needed to pick up 5 yards – he got six.
Bello finished with 94 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.
Northglenn did stop the Lambkins three plays later, but the Norse had pushed the ball up to the 19 for Welch’s 36-yard kick.
“Welch was clutch in the end,” Yemm said.
Still, the Norse had two minutes on the clock to get in field-goal range. Two personal fouls by Fort Collins on back-to-back plays whisked Northglenn all the way down to the 21-yard line.
But an illegal shift, Zick’s huge sack for a loss of 8 yards, and a Perkins rollout that ended out of bounds for negative yardage foiled the last-minute rally try.
“We can’t make any more mistakes,” Perkins said.
“We have a good offense, and we can move the ball up and down the field. But we just keep making mistakes. It’s a mental thing.”
Fort Collins 7 6 3 3 – 19
Northglenn 3 7 6 0 – 16
FC – Houts 51 pass from Yemm (Welch kick). N – FG Nunley 29. N – Townsend 1 run (Nunley kick). FC – Bello 18 run (kick failed) N – Perkins 56 run (kick failed) FC – FG Welch 35. FC – FG Welch 36.
