Greenwood Village – To stay away from the outdated, hackneyed phrase of it being “a statement game,” Fort Collins felt it had something to prove in Friday afternoon’s Class 5A nonleague matchup at Cherry Creek.
Apparently, the point made was the following: The Lambkins are a legitimate contender.
Despite a lackluster offense, the Lambkins used their defense, particularly up front, and considerable kicking game to easily handle the Bruins 33-14 at the Stutler Bowl.
Fort Collins, ranked No. 5 in The Denver Post/9News 5A poll, won its second consecutive game in 2006. No. 3 Cherry Creek dipped to 1-1.
Cherry Creek threatened early, but did not get on the scoreboard until the fourth quarter. By that time, the Lambkins had blocked two punts, sacked Jack Elway seven times, pinned Cherry Creek deep in its own territory through superior kicking and finally got a couple of their individual offensive stars untracked.
“A lot of nice things have been said about us in the papers and we have a high ranking, but that doesn’t mean anything until we back it up,” Fort Collins coach Eric Rice said.
“Our mission this week was to get that done and prove that we belong in the state-recognized stage where people have us ranked. If we couldn’t do that, we don’t even belong in the top 10 right now.”
The Lambkins belong.
Phil Welch boomed field goals of 43 and 47 yards – and all but one of his kickoffs resulted in touchbacks – and Zach Donaldson, son of former University of Colorado and Houston Oilers star Jeff Donaldson, returned a punt 52 yards and scored another on a 4-yard run for a 19-0 lead before the Lambkins recorded their third first down.
They also cruised after halftime as Garret Houts added touchdown runs of 7 and 4 yards to build a commanding 33-0 lead.
“Our playmakers made me look like a genius,” Rice said.
One of them, Donaldson, helped break things open by adding 84 yards rushing.
“We were struggling offensively and our defense definitely made a difference,” Donaldson said.
In particular, the Lambkins’ front of Chance Crawford, Dan Byers (brother of The Denver Post 2003 Gold Helmet winner Jeff Byers, now at Southern California) and Justin Hanks easily went through the Cherry Creek protection. Elway either found himself on the run or getting knocked down on nearly every attempt (he finished 19-of-31 for 178 yards).
“We were putting him on the ground quite a bit,” Donaldson said.
In addition, Crawford twice blocked Bruins’ punts, the second setting up a touchdown.
Lambkins quarterback Matt Yemm was only 5-of-18 for 33 yards and suffered two interceptions, but it didn’t matter.
“If we don’t use this as a launching pad, then we’re crazy,” Rice said.
Fort Collins 0 19 14 0 – 33
Cherry Creek 0 0 0 14 – 14
FTC – FG Welch 43. FTC – Donaldson 52 run (kick failed). FTC – FG Welch 47. FTC – Donaldson 4 run (Welch kick). FTC – Houts 7 run (Welch kick). FTC – Houts 4 run (Welch kick). CC – Elway 14 run (Boryla kick). CC – Hunter 4 run (Boryla kick).
Neil H. Devlin can be reached at 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com.
