Broomfield – The forecast Friday night for Broomfield was rain mixed with a lot of Snow.
After an injury to starting tailback Kevin Wegrzyn, junior Ryland Snow shouldered the burden of the running game as the Eagles plowed through an overmatched Niwot squad.
Snow carried the ball 31 times for 176 yards and scored on a 25-yard run late in the second quarter as the eighth-ranked Eagles cruised to a 26-7 Class 4A Northern League victory at Elizabeth Kennedy Stadium.
“Everyone motivated me once I got in,” Snow said. “Me and Wegrzyn split carries and we both pound it in, but the offensive line helped me out.”
Wegrzyn carried the ball seven times for 66 yards on the game’s opening drive and helped put the Eagles up 7-0 when he cut back across the Cougars secondary for a 35-yard touchdown run.
Wegrzyn left the game in the second quarter (knee) with 70 yards on 11 carries and was joined on the sideline by quarterback Patrick Oliver (ankle) late in the third quarter.
Oliver completed four passes for 43 yards, including a 10-yard strike to Tim Halliday in the front corner of the end zone three seconds before halftime as Broomfield took a 20-0 lead.
Broomfield (7-1, 6-1 in league) won its fourth straight and its defense held its opponent to a touchdown for the fourth consecutive game.
The Eagles dominated in the trenches, partially blocked a 22-yard punt that led to a touchdown and intercepted quarterback Erik Christianson twice.
The Eagles controlled the clock and ran 75 plays compared with just 32 by Niwot.
“They moved it at will, pretty much, and it leads to less offensive plays on our part,” Cougars coach Ron Tesone said. “Kudos to them. They played a good game.”
The Cougars (5-3, 5-2) had one first down in the first half (via penalty) and finished with five. Niwot was outgained 245-6 in the first half and never got leading rusher Nick Saraceni going.
“You have to make him run sideways a little bit and then get to him,” Eagles coach Gary Davies said of Saraceni. “We told them all week if he gets a seam, we’re not going to catch him.”
Saraceni had 25 yards rushing until he broke off a 41-yard run late in the fourth quarter. He finished with 65.
Christianson scored on a 1-yard dive with 3:02 left in the third quarter as the Cougars cut the deficit to 20-7.
But the Eagles answered with their longest drive, marching 82 yards on 13 plays that fullback Casey Barlow capped with a 6-yard touchdown run.
Niwot 0 0 7 0 – 7
Broomfield 6 14 0 6 – 26
B – Wegrzyn 35 run (kick failed). B – Snow 25 run (Oliver run). B – Halliday 10 pass from Oliver (kick failed). N – Christianson 1 run (Tudor kick). B – Barlow 6 run (pass failed).
