ARVADA — Fourth-quarter touchdown runs to cement victories are getting to be a habit for Pomona’s Tyler Pace.
A week ago, the senior scored down the stretch for the deciding points against Regis. On Thursday night, his stellar 77-yard touchdown secured a victory over Chatfield, and he topped it later with a 26-yard scoring run as the Panthers blew away the Chargers 42-21 at the North Area Athletic Complex as Colorado said hello to winter weather.
“I guess so,” Pace said in noting his late heroics. “It’s the best time to run. Fourth quarter, kill ’em.”
Kill ’em Pomona did in improving to 6-0 overall. The Panthers also put a vise grip on the No. 2 ranking in The Denver Post/9News Class 5A poll and took firm command of the 5A Big 8 League. They’re 4-0 with three games to play.
Pomona was as complete as a LEGO set. If the Panthers needed to run the ball, they ran it. If they needed quarterback Nathan Grimes to complete a pass, he completed it. If the offensive line needed to make holes, it was an auger. And if the defense needed a stop, it either generated a turnover or bottled up the likes of third-ranked Chatfield’s Sam Stratton, Shaw Gifford and Kyle Slavin when it counted.
“Except for one special-teams snafu, we played great,” Panthers coach Jay Madden said.
Save for Erik Gayton’s 99-yard kickoff return that answered Pomona’s early lead, the Panthers rode big nights by Pace (207 yards rushing, three touchdowns) and Grimes (148 yards passing, 128 rushing and three touchdowns).
Grimes was guilty of three interceptions, but, as Madden said, “Who cares? He was making plays.”
Grimes completed a 46-yarder to Drew Ebner on third-and-10 in the second quarter, then ran 40 yards for a touchdown.
Defensively, Madden added, “we executed the game plan and it was awesome to watch.”
Swift linebacker Daijon Tyler, running mates Tanner Ryan and Dylan McCormick, and ends Ryan Duman and Trey Reynolds had their names called early and often.
Chatfield (5-1, 3-1) and coach Bret McGatlin didn’t disagree.
“That’s a good football team,” he said of the Panthers. “I was telling people all week that you to pick your poison with them.”
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
