ARVADA — The shootout turned into a blowout.
The Wheat Ridge football team trailed by three points at halftime Saturday night but, guided by an unbelievable performance by quarterback Nick Ossello, the Farmers trampled No. 4 Longmont in the second half en route to a 62-37 Class 4A nonleague win.
Ossello broke loose for 236 yards and five touchdowns on 12 carries and also threw for a touchdown on a night when the No. 2 Farmers (3-0) emphatically wiped out a 31-28 halftime deficit at the North Area Athletic Complex.
“Our line does a great job blocking downfield, and what I’ve learned to do is anticipate where our line’s going to go,” said Ossello, whose touchdowns included long ones of 59, 26 and 36 yards.
“They really bust their butts downfield, making plays on the linebackers, and that gives me the room.”
Torched for 300 yards and two long touchdowns by Cameron Herbert in the first half, the Wheat Ridge defense held stout in the second as the Farmers reeled off the first 34 points.
“We have a lot of young guys playing, and the defense kind of got knocked around in the first half,” Farmers coach Reid Kahl said. “They just relaxed and played in the second half.”
The tide seemed to sway when Longmont began the second half with a 94-yard touchdown catch by Nick Chopp that was called back. The Trojans (2-2) then snapped the ball out of the end zone to cut their lead to 31-30.
Wheat Ridge went on to score on its first five possessions of the half.
“They just had great halftime adjustments, and we just couldn’t adjust on offense,” said Herbert, who led Longmont with 117 yards rushing and added a 63-yard touchdown reception. “We felt great about having the ball first in the second half, thinking we could go up by a couple scores, but a few things went wrong.”
Also key for Wheat Ridge was tailback Nick Swanson, who darted for 156 of the Farmers’ 476 rushing yards.
Longmont sophomore quarterback Forrest Wetterstrom was particularly impressive in the first half and finished with 235 passing yards, a touchdown and two second-half interceptions.
“Coach (Tommy) Dowd put in the right personnel and just called a great second half,” Ossello said of the Farmers defensive coordinator.
Ossello’s second half, or game, for that matter, wasn’t so shabby itself.
Longmont 10 21 0 6 — 37
Wheat Ridge 14 14 15 19 — 62
WR — Ossello 59 run (Strickler kick). WR — Ossello 26 run (Strickler kick). L — Herbert 83 run (Cinea kick). L — FG Bergner 27. L — Herbert 63 pass from Wetterstrom (Bergner kick). WR — Yontz 16 pass from Ossello (Strickler kick). L — Wetterstrom 7 run (Bergner kick). WR — Ossello 2 run (Strickler kick). L — Hart 10 pass from Wetterstrom (Bergner kick). WR — Safety, ball snapped out of end zone. WR — Ossello 1 run (run failed). WR — Ossello 36 run (Strickler kick). WR — Brake 12 run (run failed). WR — Swanson 1 run (Strickler kick). WR — Carter 1 run (kick failed). L — Finley-Garcia 8 run (kick failed).
