Loveland – Snatching an 18-15 victory over Pueblo South in the quarterfinals Saturday afternoon at Ray Patterson Field, the Thompson Valley Eagles soared into the semifinals for the first time in 16 years.
Third-year coach Clint Fick, an Eagles’ alum, was astounded, shaking his head and shedding tears of joy.
“I can’t believe it,” he said repeatedly after the Eagles jumped to a 10-2 record. “I can’t believe it.”
“This,” he said, “was a total team effort.”
The Eagles will need another when they travel to defending state champion ThunderRidge for Saturday’s semifinals.
From the start, though, it seemed the highly vaunted Colts, who previously were undefeated and aiming for their third straight trip to the semifinals, would have their way with the Eagles.
Senior Aaron Hernandez ran back the opening kickoff and Stephen O’Dorisio split the uprights for a 7-0 lead.
But Thompson Valley wasn’t fazed, said Rayne Rule, the Eagles’ top running back, who brought them back to within a point on a 4-yard touchdown run three minutes later.
“That was the first play of the game. We still had 47 minutes left to play,” said Rule, who was sidelined a good portion of the third quarter with a hip injury. He finished the day with 30 yards on 10 carries.
Eagle quarterback Justin Gorham also didn’t let the Colts’ quick score bother him.
“I ran over to my offensive line after that and said, ‘Hey, that can’t hurt us,”‘ he said. “We still had a whole game to play after that.”
Two minutes after Rule ran in for the first touchdown (the conversion run failed), Gorham gave Thompson Valley a 12-7 lead with a 1-yard run.
Pueblo South scored its final points late in the second quarter after recovering a fumble from punt returner Matt Schinke at the Eagles’ 6-yard-line.
On the second play of the drive, junior running back O’Dorisio scored on a 6-yard run. Quarterback Kevin Cover, who completed 9-of-10 passes for 51 yards, ran in the two-point conversion for the Colts’ 15-12 lead.
With four minutes remaining in the third quarter, Thompson Valley’s Tyler Short intercepted Cover and returned the ball 36 yards for a touchdown. But a holding call against Thompson Valley wiped out the score and put the ball back on the Colts’ 18. Five plays later, after an offside call against the Colts, junior running back Steve Skaer scored from the 3-yard-line to make it 18-15.
With 3:45 remaining in the game, the Colts’ offense, standing on their 44-yard line, gambled on fourth-and-11. But Cover overthrew wide receiver Marco Macaluso.
The Eagles got the ball with 2:25 left to play, converted on third-and-2 at the Colts’ 37 for a first down and ran out the clock.
Fick, who coached Faith Christian to the 3A title in 1998, said, “Everyone did their part.”
Pueblo South 7 8 0 0 – 15
Thompson Valley 12 0 6 0 – 18
PS – Hernandez 92 kickoff return (O’Dorisio kick). TV – Rule 4 run (run failed). TV – Gorham 1 run (run failed). PS – O’Dorisio 6 run (Cover run. TV – Skaer 3 run (kick failed).
