Lakewood – Don’t look now, but the early leaders in the new Class 5A South Metro League (which somehow groups Colorado Springs and Jefferson County) are Doherty, which came over from the Continental, and Lakewood, a program playing its first big-school ball since 1989.
Lakewood, which knocked off perennial power Columbine in Week 1, flexed its muscles again in a 60-14 crushing of Sand Creek on Saturday afternoon at Jeffco Stadium.
The Tigers (2-0) broke open a close game behind quarterback Lawrence Montoya and do-everything receiver Donnie Reed, scoring seven consecutive touchdowns.
Montoya was masterful as he ran for two touchdowns and was 18-of-22 passing for 333 yards and five touchdowns. Three of those scoring tosses went to Reed, who added a 68-yard interception return and a 52-yard run for touchdowns.
“(Reed) is a heck of a player. He pretty much did everything,” Scorpions coach Mark Fisher said.
“It was awesome,” Reed said after nabbing 11 receptions for 160 yards. “The plays were coming my way.”
Reed, being wooed by Colorado, Colorado State and Northern Colorado, turned in acrobatic catches and assorted moves on catch-and-runs. But even he has trouble keeping up with the new league.
“It’s hard to hate those teams and hard to get pumped up and play them because we don’t know them,” Reed said.
But, he added, “it feels great jumping up from 4A to 5A and playing with those guys.”
Montoya was money throughout. He began with a 67-yard touchdown pass to Erik Ferrel on what appeared to be a simple sideline pass, scored on runs of 46 and 10 yards and benefited from a number of other moves after receptions, mostly by Reed.
Lakewood coach Mark Robinson said running back Jarrad McKay was limited to defense after a knee injury, so getting the Montoya-to-Reed connection going was vital.
“We were trying to see if we could get those one-on-one matchups,” Robinson said.
“Anything my way I wanted to get my hands on,” Reed said.
Sand Creek (0-2), without injured running back Eddie Cooks, stayed close early. Quarterback Andrew Ward had a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown on Sand Creek’s first touch. It was 14-14 with 7:46 remaining in the second quarter before Lakewood took control.
Sand Creek 7 7 0 0 – 14
Lakewood 14 19 7 20 – 60
L – Ferrel 67 pass from Montoya (kick failed). SC – Ward 95 kickoff return (Reeves kick). L – Montoya 46 run (Falls pass from Montoya). SC – Cantwell 5 run (Reeves kick). L – Montoya 10 run (Hecht kick). L – Reed 29 pass from Montoya ( kick blocked). L – Reed 13 pass from Montoya (pass failed). L – Reed 4 pass from Montoya (Hecht kick). L – Larson 3 pass from Montoya (kick failed). L – Reed 68 pass interception (Hecht kick). L – Reed 52 run (Hecht kick).
Neil H. Devlin can be reached at 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com.
