Greeley — Dayspring Christian coach Mick Holmes is not one to mince words when it comes to talking about the preseason hype his Eagles have gotten.
“Potential is like cow poop, if you don’t do something with it, it just lays around, gets in your way and stinks,” he said.
Believe the hype. Dayspring, billed by most coaches as the fastest team in 8-man football, put that on display Saturday afternoon against Nederland, blitzing the visiting Panthers 54-12 in a nonleague season opener at Brazelton Field.
After Jared Sanderford’s punt return of 47 yards was negated by a block in the back, it took the Eagles just three plays to go 55 yards for the opening score, a Dan Baer 19-yard run. Sanderford, who had an interception return and a 37-yard touchdown run negated by penalty, finally got in the end zone for real midway through the second quarter on a 75-yard sprint up the middle.
“I didn’t get on those guys too much, they knew what they did wrong,” said Sanderford, who finished with 151 yards on 11 carries. “That just shows we have a few things we still have to work on.”
Eagles senior quarterback Luke Greener completed 5-of-9 passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns to Michael Moore.
Nederland (0-1), the favorites to win the Central Division, busted out the hook-and-ladder for their only first quarter score, a Steve Vero 41 yard strike.
“They are fast,” Nederland coach Aaron Jones said. “You could tell from the first couple of plays, that it was going to be a heck of a long day for us.”
Nederland 0 6 0 6 — 12
Dayspring Christian14 21 13 6 — 54
DC — D. Baer 19 run (Greener kick). DC — Greener 17 run (Greener kick). DC — Moore 51 pass from Greener (Greener kick). DC — Sanderford 75 run (Greener kick). N — Vero 41 pass from Knight (run failed). DC — D. Baer 6 run (Greener kick). DC — Moore 11 pass from Greener (Greener kick). DC — Hill 28 interception return (kick failed). N — Brokos 13 pass from Knight (run failed). DC — Moore 2 run (kick failed).
Staff writer Jon E. Yunt can be reached at 303-954-1354 or jyunt@denverpost.com.
