Lakewood – The expected high winds showed up later than predicted Saturday afternoon at Jefferson County Stadium, but Columbine needed little help in blowing past Doherty 35-6.
Ranked No. 8 in The Denver Post/9News Class 5A poll, Columbine used a 21-point second quarter and 359 yards rushing by its starting backfield to knock No. 10 Doherty from the undefeated ranks in the South Metro League.
As a matter of fact, no South Metro team is without a loss in the standings less than a month into the season. Both Columbine and Doherty are 2-1.
“It’s a crazy league,” Doherty coach Mike Sirko said.
And Columbine seems to be Columbine again.
After losing 18-3 to Lakewood in their opener, the Rebels looked better in a 35-20 victory over Palmer in Week 2, then returned to more of their glory days Saturday by rushing for 399 yards, controlling the ball and turning in a big defensive effort – by halftime, Columbine, Colorado champion in 1999, 2000 and 2002, led 28-0 and held the Spartans to minus-5 rushing.
Behind a Ryan Miller-led offensive line, junior running backs Jeff Cicchinelli and Chad Korodaj teamed with senior quarterback C.J. Gillman to give the Rebels their usual offensive output.
Cicchinelli rushed for 170 yards and two touchdowns, and Korodaj had 89 yards and two touchdowns. Gillman, in his first season taking snaps, contributed 100 yards and a touchdown.
“The O-line was opening up holes all day,” Cicchinelli said. “We got into more of a rhythm.”
Columbine struck deliberately (with a scoring drive of 72 yards), quickly (Gillman had a 65-yard touchdown run and Cicchinelli’s first carry covered 49) and advantageously (the Rebels turned a bad snap on a punt attempt by Doherty into a 25-yard touchdown drive).
“Week 1 was a learning experience and we got our butts kicked,” Columbine coach Andy Lowry said. “But we’ve simplified some things and we need to just keep on pounding.”
With only 14 seniors and several inexperienced players on both sides of the ball, Lowry isn’t surprised his team has had some struggles at the outset, but now’s the time to get it going.
“We have to grind it out,” Lowry said. “We’re getting better and we’re moving some people around (winning the line of scrimmage).”
Doherty showed a couple of flashes, but never got anything together until it was too late. The Spartans, one of the 5A surprises by taking the league’s early lead, avoided the shutout when Jarell Reece scored on an 11-yard run, but there was only 6:53 to play and they already had given up 35 points.
“We ran into a buzz saw,” Sirko said. “(The Rebels) are starting to find themselves a little now.
“For us, we weren’t ready to play – I don’t know why – and we have to go back to the drawing board. I told the kids that they were still playing Columbine, which has a lot of tradition.”
Doherty 0 0 0 6 – 6
Columbine 7 21 0 7 – 35
C – Cicchinelli 49 run (Anundsen kick). C – Korodaj 3 run (kick failed). C – Cicchinelli 5 run (Cicchinelli run). C – Korodaj 1 run (Anundsen kick). C – Gillman 65 run (Anundsen kick). D – Reece 11 run (kick failed).
Neil H. Devlin can be reached at 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com.
