ARVADA — A lot of their crazy friends came out on Monday night.
“Yeah, a lot of them did to see how I was playing,” Arvada West quarterback Taylor Connors said.
What they saw at the North Area Athletic Complex was more than a Zero Week game. They saw what is believed to be the first regularly scheduled Monday night game in Colorado schoolboy football history as well as a glimpse at Arvada West, a state semifinalist a year ago.
And they saw that Connors, who played quarterback his first two seasons for the Wildcats before competing exclusively in the secondary, has a chance to be a top-flight player in a potent offense.
Connors, a 6-foot-2, 171-pound senior, threw for three touchdowns and ran for two others as the Class 5A Wildcats, ranked No. 3 in The Denver Post/9News poll, humbled Longmont 38-7, routing the past season’s 4A state runner-up, now ranked No. 3.
“It was good. It felt real good,” Connors said after scoring the game’s first touchdown on a 2-yard run, completing TD throws of 32, 22 and 16 yards, then running in for another late — one for 16 yards.
“Obviously, scoring right before halftime was big for us,” A-West coach Casey Coons said of Connors’ second scoring pass. “But (the Trojans) are a good football team, and it was our first night out.”
It should get more interesting for the ‘Cats, who suffered through 80 yards in penalties, but established superiority up front and throughout the skill positions, blocked a couple of punts and were hit with only one scoring drive that came late in the first quarter. A-West is on a stretch in which it will play four games in 18 days, but Longmont coach Doug Johnson foresees the ‘Cats handling it.
“They’re very good,” an emotional Johnson said after overseeing his first game since the February death of his father, the legendary John “Jet” Johnson. “I didn’t have us ready. Bottom line, this one’s on me.”
Isaac Fairbairn rushed for 85 yards for A-West. Chad Campbell, Isaac Romero and Alex Turner added scoring receptions. For Longmont, Mikal Merrill scored on a 23-yard run.
“I was nervous coming into this game,” Coons said. “But I thought Taylor and the kids did a great job.”
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Longmont 7 0 0 0 — 7
Arvada West 7 13 8 10 — 38
AW — Connors 2 run (Lucernoni kick). L — Merrill 23 run (Bergner kick). AW — Romero 32 pass from Connors (kick failed). AW — Turner 22 pass from Connors (Lucernoni kick). AW — Campbell 16 pass from Connors (Connors run). AW — FG Lucernoni 32. AW — Connors 16 run (Lucernoni kick).
Neil H. Devlin: ndevlin@denverpost.com or 303-954-1714
