Broomfield – Well-spoken and athletically well-rounded – meet Greeley West’s Morgan brothers.
Broomfield certainly saw enough of them Friday night.
Blake Morgan scored three touchdowns, caught six passes for 102 yards, ran for 45 and had an interception. Meanwhile, younger brother Rex threw for 164 yards and two touchdowns as the No. 3 Spartans outclassed seventh-ranked Broomfield 35-14 to clinch the Class 4A Northern League.
In a battle between two of the state’s better defenses, the Spartans (10-0, 9-0 in league) had the benefit of a two-dimensional offense, while the Eagles (8-2, 7-2) seemed to run out of options.
“They were real good against the run,” Blake Morgan said. “They were flying around and smacking people. So I got to give credit to Rex for really stepping up.”
Throw Clay Pottorff into the mix as well. The 6-foot-3 senior came up with three big plays in the second half to sink the Eagles nearly single-handedly.
Greeley West’s 21-7 halftime lead grew by a touchdown when Pottorff intercepted quarterback Trevor Oliver on the third play of the third quarter and ran it back 23 yards.
Pottorff had a 73-yard touchdown nullified by a penalty but came back to intercept backup quarterback Matt Anderson in the end zone and haul in a 44-yard catch midway through the fourth quarter. The latter set up Blake Morgan’s 7-yard touchdown to kill off any hopes of a Broomfield rally.
“We got one of the better players in the state in Blake, he’s just a straight-up stud,” Pottorff said. “Our line has dominated pretty much everyone they’ve played all year, so that makes it pretty easy to pass and run.
“And our quarterback is real good, too.”
Rex Morgan’s first pass wasn’t very pretty as it sailed high and was intercepted by Chris Grandinetti, who returned it 23 yards to the Spartans 3. Broomfield went up 7-0 after Oliver’s 1-yard TD but gave it right back two minutes later when Kevin Wegrzyn fumbled on the Broomfield 6.
Blake Morgan scored two plays later to make 7-7 as Greeley West scored the next 21 points.
“You can’t do that against a team like that,” Eagles coach Gary Davies said. “Let alone turnovers that turn into scores.”
The Eagles had just eight yards rushing in the first half but got the ground game going in the third quarter behind Ryland Snow, who ran for 74 yards on 14 carries.
Greeley West 14 7 7 7 – 35
Broomfield 7 0 7 0 – 14
B – Oliver 1 run (Grandinetti kick). GW – B. Morgan 2 run (Wright kick). GW – B. Morgan 45 pass from R. Morgan (Wright kick). GW – Miller 4 pass from R. Morgan (Wright kick). GW – Pottorff 23 interception return (Wright kick). B – Halliday 8 pass from Anderson (Grandinetti kick). GW – B. Morgan 7 run (Wright kick).
