Thornton – Never mind the penalties, dropped passes, turnovers, missed assignments and the fact that it took nearly three hours to complete.
Fort Collins gutted out a 16-14 victory over Legacy Friday night that kept the Lambkins undefeated and atop the Front Range League.
Playing at Five Star Stadium, the Lambkins, ranked No. 3 in The Denver Post/9News Class 5A poll, improved to 6-0 overall, 4-0 in league with two games to play. The Lightning, which led for much of the game and had a terrific chance to win it late, slipped to 4-2, 3-1.
Fort Collins coach Eric Rice groused about the officiating, but will take the victory and move on.
“We found a way to win and I’m proud of our kids,” he said.
The Lambkins used three field goals by Phil Welch, including a 56-yarder with 8:43 remaining in the game, to take their first lead. They finally got to the end zone with 4:23 remaining on a 4-yard touchdown scramble by quarterback Matt Yemm.
On first-and-10 from its 33-yard line, Legacy’s trickery struck – quarterback Nick Edwards tossed a long lateral to sophomore Luke Bublitz, who then threw downfield to a wide-open Gehrick Dickson. Sixty-seven yards later, the Lighting had a wild touchdown that electrified a packed Legacy side and the conversion kick brought it within two with 4:07 remaining. The Lightning forced a three-and-out and got a break when Fort Collins managed only a 21-yard punt.
It took over at its own 41, but after three rushes by Joey Applehans netted 8 yards, Edwards faked a pitch to Applehans, then threw back across the field to him, only to find the Lambkins’ defense in position. The play netted minus-11 yards, gave the ball back to Fort Collins, and Yemm knelt three times to seal it.
“Other than their drive that resulted in a touchdown, I felt good about our defense against them,” Rice said. “We felt good about our ability to stop them.”
Legacy drove 65 yards on its opening possession, resulting in a 4-yard scoring run by David Sather, but that was just about it. In addition to their own dropped passes – the Lambkins dropped six on Yemm – the Lightning twice stalled after being stopped on third-and-short and Edwards lost a fumble.
“We just didn’t execute in some key spots and we lost the field-position battle,” Legacy coach Wayne Voorhees said. “We knew that kid could kick, and he did.
Welch also converted field goals of 27 and 40 yards.
Yemm, solid throughout the game, admitted Legacy “was definitely the better team in the first half and they were punching us in the mouth. ”
Fort Collins 0 3 3 10 – 16
Legacy 7 0 0 7 – 14
L – Sather 4 run (Smith kick). FTC – FG Welch 27. FTC – FG Welch 40. FTC – FG Welch 56. FTC – Yemm 4 run (Welch kick). FTC – Dickson 67 pass from Bublitz (Smith kick).
