Aurora — The Greeley West Spartans put on a show early Friday night.
Mother Nature then put on her own show for two hours before giving Aurora Public Schools Stadium back to the Spartans so they could finish up.
Eli Swick ran the opening kickoff back 96 yards for a touchdown and Rex Morgan threw for 194 yards and ran for a touchdown before halftime as the Spartans torched the Hinkley Thunderbirds 48-13 in a game that was delayed two hours by lightning.
“It was a crazy game,” Spartans coach Mark Roggy said of the Class 4A nonleague game that lasted nearly four hours despite a running clock throughout the second half. “As a coach, you wonder if you can keep your guys motivated, but we ended up doing a pretty good job of it.”
The start, at least, went quickly with Swick going around the left side, breaking an arm tackle and then waiting for his blockers to sweep the sideline clean. The junior might have celebrated had he been able to breathe.
“I wasn’t happy when I got down there, I was so tired,” he said.
The fourth-ranked Spartans performed as expected by utilizing a variety of running backs and passing targets for Morgan, who completed 7-of-9 passes and rushed for 35 yards.
The Spartans (1-0), state semifinalists last year, were crisp in their execution while the Thunderbirds (0-1) made enough bad plays to outweigh their gains.
Ethan Schmitt ran for 68 yards on 11 carries and scored twice, while sophomore Max Morgan ran for 33 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown run around the left side to help put the Spartans up 21-0. The game was halted after the ensuing kickoff with 2:07 remaining in the first quarter.
When play resumed, Thunderbirds running back Justin McCash broke off a 63-yard touchdown scamper down the right sideline on fourth-and-2 to give the home team life.
The Spartans, however, had several answers.
Rex Morgan connected with Preston Becker on a 58-yard touchdown strike as the defending Northern League champions rattled off 20 unanswered points before halftime.
After an abbreviated halftime, the Spartans pulled most of their starters and extended their lead to 48-7 on an 11-yard touchdown run by sophomore Steffen Bunting.
Hinkley found some rhythm in the fast second half as quarterback Pat Benedetto completed five passes, including an 18-yard touchdown strike to Donnie Jones.
“Once we get our offense set we’ll be good to go,” said Benedetto, who threw for 86 yards and ran for 19. “We got our first-game jitters out of the way.”
Greeley West 27 14 7 0 — 48
Hinkley 7 0 6 0 — 13
GW — Swick 96 kickoff return (Wright kick). GW — Schmitt 1 run (Wright kick). GW — M. Morgan 10 run (Wright kick). H — McCash 63 run (Irwin kick). GW — Becker 58 pass from R. Morgan (kick failed). GW — Schmitt 4 run (Wright kick). GW — R. Morgan 8 run (Wright kick). GW — Bunting 11 run (Wright kick). H — Jones 18 pass from Benedetto (kick failed).
